Today's Odd Wisconsin

Longfellow on Madison
One of America's best poets wrote one of his worst poems about our capital. In 1876, a centennial exhibition was organized in Philadelphia to celebrate the nation's first century. The participation of Wisconsin's women was spearheaded by Mrs. J.G. Thorpe of Madison, whose son had married a daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. She persuaded the famous author to write an...