Exhibits at the Wisconsin Historical Museum

Odd Wisconsin
Ongoing Exhibit

WARNING! Objects Are More Intriguing Than They First Appear!
How did a rock, a plastic pink flamingo, and a few strips of aluminum make history? Why did a family collect skunk oil in a jar? How did a Wisconsin Congressman come to possess a 7-foot-long bowie knife? From séances and college pranks to assassinations and the fight for civil rights, Odd Wisconsin features scores of curious and authentic artifacts, documents, and images which may surprise, perplex, and astonish you. Odd Wisconsin... satisfy your curiosity.

Also on Display

Fill'er Up
Feb 10 – Jun 27, 2009

Hit the road for a drive down memory lane! Fill'er Up takes you on a tour of historic Wisconsin gas stations through graphics, photos, and artifacts. Based on the Wisconsin Historical Society Press book Fill'er Up: The Glory Days of Wisconsin Gas Stations, this display will take you on a nostalgic trip through a bygone era of the automotive age.

Permanent Exhibits

People of the Woodlands: Wisconsin Indian Ways
Second Floor Galleries
Stories of native people living in Wisconsin before and after the fur trade. Enter an Aztalan-style house and discover the seasonal activities of Woodland peoples in the 1800s and 1900s. Unearth the work of archaeologists.

On Common Ground: Two Hundred Years of Wisconsin History
Third and Fourth Floor Galleries
Explore themes unique to Wisconsin history from settlement days to the present. Discover a frontier lead mine, track immigration routes to the state, explore work and play in a lumber camp, and examine Wisconsin's political heritage.

Online Exhibits

Our collection of exhibits from the past and the present, online for your enjoyment.