February 2009 Odd Wisconsin
Born into slavery in North Carolina on Jan. 1, 1829, Hattie Pierce, of 1442 Williamson St. in Madison, personally experienced the social upheavals that most of her neighbors had only learned about in school. Before the Civil War, she always belonged to same family, who had also owned her parents. "I was never sold at auction or any other...
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Posted in Odd Lives on February 24, 2009
Wisconsin's first doctor, in the sense of someone paid to heal the sick, was a woman of color known simply as Aunt Mary Ann to her Prairie du Chien patients. Her full name was Mary Ann Menard, though she had had two previous husbands before marrying Charles Menard, and raised more than a dozen children from the three marriages. Near...
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Posted in Odd Lives on February 18, 2009
February 8 was the birthday of Nathaniel Tallmadge (1795-1864), Wisconsin's strangest chief executive. After serving as U.S. senator from New York, he was appointed governor of Wisconsin Territory in 1844. He served less than a year, though, losing the office when administrations changed in Washington. In addition to being a politician, Tallmadge was a medium who claimed to have many...
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Posted in Bizarre Events on February 8, 2009
Here's a pop quiz for people who think they know Wisconsin history. The record of African-American life in our state begins in the year: a. 1967, with Milwaukee's fair housing marches; b. 1866, when Ezekiel Gillespie won the right to vote; c. 1792, when Black fur traders settled at Marinette; d. 1724, when an African-American slave was killed by the...
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Posted in Curiosities on February 1, 2009
Did You Know?
The Wisconsin Historical Museum is currently featuring Odd Wisconsin objects in the latest exhibit: Odd Wisconsin. And don't miss the Odd Wisconsin book by author Erika Janik published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
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