The Top 10 of 2005
Senator Gaylord Nelson, William Proxmire and
Supreme Court Cheif Justice
William Rehnquist
(photos courtesy of Wikipedia; Proxmire image
from WHI 34251) In what has become a year-end tradition, members
of the Wisconsin Historical Society staff take a
retrospective look at history-making stories that
have unfolded over the past 12 months and identify
the top 10 with a Wisconsin connection. This year's
stories run the gamut from political, legal and
war news to history-making weather stories.
Top 10 Wisconsin
History-Making News Stories
- Wisconsin Natives Rehnquist and Nelson Represented Best of Badger State
Former Governor Gaylord Nelson died at 89 on July 3, 2005. Nelson served as governor
from 1959 to 1963 and represented Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate from
1963 to 1981. Best known as the founder of Earth Day, he became a key
figure in the national environmental movement. U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice
William Rehnquist died at 80 on September 3, 2005. Nominated
to the court by Richard Nixon in 1971 and elevated to
chief justice by Ronald Reagan in 1986,
Rehnquist helped shift the court to the right, presided over the
impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, and played a key role in the election
of George W. Bush as president.
- Fifty-One Wisconsin Soldiers Killed in Iraq War
Andy Stevens, a 29-year-old Marine from Tomah, became the 51st member of the
armed forces from Wisconsin killed in Iraq. Stevens died along with nine other
Marines on December 1 when a roadside bomb exploded as the soldiers were on nighttime
foot patrol near Falluja. The U.S. military reached a grim milestone in the two-and
one-half year war on October 25 with 2,000 combat deaths reported in Iraq.
- Tornados Do $40 Million in Damage in Wisconsin, No Federal
Disaster Aid
Mother Nature was visibly angry in 2005. Natural disasters including tsunamis
and hurricanes left shocking devastation worldwide. On August 18, 27 tornadoes
tore through Wisconsin, killing one man and causing more than $40 million in
property damage. The Federal Emergency Management Administration, under intense
criticism for its inadequate response to Hurricane Katrina, denied federal aid
to Wisconsin residents who suffered damage to property from the twisters.
- Chai Vang Murder Trial and Conviction
Minnesotan Chai Vang was tried and convicted
on six counts of first-degree intentional homicide
and three counts of attempted homicide for
killing six Wisconsin hunters in Sawyer County
in November 2004. The case brought national
attention to Wisconsin's deer hunting
culture and the sensitive issue of race relations.
- Gas Prices Reach $3.57 in Wisconsin Following Hurricane Katrina
After Hurricane Katrina slammed into Gulf Coast refineries and oil facilities,
gas prices soared within days. By the end of August, gas prices at some Wisconsin
gas stations reached $3.57 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas. As motorists
cut back, gas prices began drifting down to under $2.20 by late fall.
- DNA Evidence Freed Steven Avery in 2003, Led to Murder
Charges in 2005
DNA evidence proved Steven Avery of Mishicot,
Wisconsin, was innocent of his 1985 sexual assault
conviction, for which he served 18 years in prison,
and resulted in his release in 2003. In November,
authorities charged Avery with murder in the
death of Teresa Halbach based on DNA evidence
taken from human remains found on Avery's
property. Authorities believe the DNA is Halbach's.
- Stellar Year for Wisconsin College Sports
The University of Wisconsin Badgers made the NCAA men's basketball Elite
Eight and the UW-Milwaukee Panthers made the Sweet 16. Twenty-two players from
Wisconsin — more
than any other state — competed on teams in the Sweet 16. The UW won the
men's team title at the 2005 NCAA Division 1 National Cross Country Championships
by 37 points on November 21. UW football coach Barry Alvarez coached his final
home game on November 25. After 16 years of coaching with 117 wins and three
Rose Bowl victories, Alvarez became the most successful coach in UW history.
Halfway through the season, the UW men's hockey team is 13-1-2 overall and
the top-ranked team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard Produce Most
CEOs;
UW is Top Research University
The University of Wisconsin joined Harvard in a 2005 Spencer Stuart study as
the most common university attended by Standard & Poor's 500 Chief
Executive Officers. Three percent of S&P 500 CEOs received their undergraduate
degrees from UW, the same number as from Harvard. UW-Madison was also named the
nation's top research university based on the total number of science and engineering
doctorates and research expenditures in 2004. UW-Madison graduated 445 science
and engineering doctorates and spent $662 million on research.
- Lance Armstrong Wins Seventh Tour de France on Trek Bike
Texan Lance Armstrong achieved a previously unthinkable goal: on July 24, Armstrong
won his seventh consecutive Tour de France road race. Armstrong and the Discovery
Channel cycling team raced on Trek Madone SSLx road and TTX time-trial bikes
designed and manufactured by Trek Bicycle Corporation of Waterloo, Wisconsin.
- Cultural Institutions Weather Tough Times
Wisconsin 's cultural landscape changed
dramatically this year when county-owned
Milwaukee Public Museum, a venerable Wisconsin
cultural institution, revealed massive debt and
endowment depletion. The news resulted in the
museum president's resignation, mass staff layoffs,
forced emergency help from the county to keep
the century-old museum afloat, and led to an
investigation of museum practices. Baraboo's
Circus World Museum continued belt-tightening
as consequences of the demise of the Great
Circus Parade in Milwaukee continued to take
a toll on the museum and its staff. Staging the
parade in Baraboo in 2004 and 2005 could not
provide sufficient revenue, and it became
evident that without an annual parade in Milwaukee,
the museum must establish a new business model
to ensure sustainability. The museum's president
and CEO resigned, staff was laid off, plans for
a 2006 Great Circus Parade were scrapped, and
a new approach to the 2006 summer show has been
developed.
Recommended Reads
- 1776 by David McCullough
- Mai Ya's Long Journey by Sheila Cohen Buy it at WHS
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham
Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in 18th-Century Manhattan by Jill Lepore
- Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of Segregation in America By James Loewen
- 1491 by Charles C. Mann
- Women's Wisconsin: From Native Matriarchies to
the New Millennium, edited by Genevieve G. McBride Buy
it at WHS
- Henry Adams and the Making of America by Garry Wills
- The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln by Sean Wilentz
- A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 by Simon Winchester
Websites Worth Clicking
- Center for History
and New Media
A portal of history projects and a listing of the resources it takes to put significant projects together.
- Papers of George Washington
A collection of primary sources like letters, diaries
and documents Washington wrote himself as well
wide swaths of material written about America's
first president, from his ear for music to his
wooden teeth and infertility.
- Historical Census Browser
1790-1960 Census data you can query in a million
different ways. Not easy, but a treasure trove
of primary source goodness.
- Common-Place
A place for exploring and exchanging ideas about
early American history and culture. Easier to
read than a journal, but with historical gravitas,
nonetheless.
- Jim Crow Museum
Objects of racial segregation and civil rights like caricatures and cartoons that made Jim Crow seem so normal at the time.
- Feeding America
Cookbooks from the 18th century and beyond. From
The Cook Not Mad (a scientific/rational cookbook
... a 19th-century Alton Brown) to The Ideal
Bartender fron
1917.
- Dead or Alive?
Is Abe Vigoda dead or alive? What about Michael Debakey? Or Aaron Copeland? Find out here!
- DoHistory
How to peice together the past from the fragments left behind.
- Popular Songs in American History
While you probably won't hear The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington sung on American Idol, you will find drinking songs, ballads, tales of murder and songs of love. Complete with lyrics to read as your hear the songs played for you.
- Early Wisconsin Artists from the West Bend Art Museum
An encyclopedia of early Wisconsin artists from Alexander Marquis (1829-1884) to Susan Frackelton (1851-1932).
Other Great Online History Resources:
Top 10 Objects
Acquired for the State History Collection
- Shirt Given to 7-Year-Old Orphan Frank
Drewezicki at St. Joseph Orphanage, Milwaukee,
1920
(Museum object #2005.82.1)
Donated by David H.B. Drake
More information
- Green Bay Packers Football Jersey Worn
by Brett Favre During a Game Against the Chicago
Bears on January 2, 2005
(Museum object #2005.83.1)
Donated by the Green Bay Packers
More information
- Kehl School of Dancing’s "Midget
Wedding" Costume, 1940
(Museum object #2005.108.1A-C)
Donated by Jo Jean Kehl Janus
More information
- Baseball Bat Issued to Milwaukee Braves
Second Baseman Red Schoendienst for the 1957
World Series
(Museum object #2005.128.1)
More information
- Frank Lloyd Wright House Model Featured
in Life Magazine, 1938
(Museum object #2005.133.1)
Acquired through the generosity of Jerome and Gail Fox in memory of Bernard and Fern Schwartz
More information
- Bonded Carbon/Aluminum Racing Bicycle,
Made by Trek Bicycle Corporation, Waterloo,
Wisconsin, 1988
(Museum object # 2005.135.1)
More information
- Racing Skin Worn by Speedskater Casey
FitzRandolph, 2003
(Museum object #2005.146.1)
Donated by Casey FitzRandolph
FitzRandolph wore this skin at the 2003 World Cup
championships, where he placed sixth overall and
first among the Americans in the 500 meters. He
also won a gold medal in the same race at the 2002
Winter Olympics at Salt Lake City. Casey was born
in Madison, Wisconsin, and grew up in nearby Verona.
More information
- Deer Hide Jacket of Ruel Garnich Baldwin,
c. 1915
(Museum object #2005.147.1)
Donated by Margaret Pieplow
More information
- Winning Entry for the First Alice in
Dairyland Dress Design, 1948
(Museum object #2005.157.1)
Donated by Celia Demo
More information
- Evergleam Christmas Tree, Made by Aluminum
Specialty Company, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, c. 1964
(Museum object #2005.174.1)
More information
Top 10 Library-Archives Acquisitions
The library and archives acquire recorded information,
in many formats, that document the history of Wisconsin,
the United States, and Canada. This is done with
both published and unpublished papers, books, newspapers
and periodicals from private sources as well as
state and national governments. Over the past 12
months, the library and archives acquired more
than 6,500 new books, more than 5,000 nonprint
items such as video and microfiche, and more than
5,500 Wisconsin state, U.S. federal, and Canadian
government publications. During the same time,
the library and archives accepted more than 350
collections of private records as well as Wisconsin
state and local government records.
Information about all of our books and collections
is available online through either the library
catalog or the archives
catalog.
Additionally, some of our holdings are also digitally
accessible by patrons from their own desktops.
The following list, compiled by library and archives
staff, reflects some of the highlights of the past
year's work in our various acquisitions areas.
Archival Manuscript and Photograph Collections
- Frank Lloyd Wright Taliesin Album
This
bound album,
dating from 1911-1912, contains early and rare
photographs of the buildings at architect Frank
Lloyd Wright's Taliesin, his Spring Green home
and studio. The album includes photographs of the
landscape around Taliesin; the exterior of the
building including construction photographs and
the courtyard; interior views of the living room,
dining room, workroom and a dormitory space; and
a group of men, possibly workmen, in front of a
fireplace. All the images from the Taliesin
album can be viewed on Wisconsin
Historical Images.
- Philleo Nash Papers
The papers of this Wisconsin Rapids
native detail his life and career as lieutenant
governor of Wisconsin in the 1950s and his service
in important federal positions from the 1940s
to the 1960s. His career included work during
World War II analyzing racial unrest for the
Office of War Information. Working as a special
assistantfor President Truman, Nash was instrumental
in creating the policy to desegrate the Armed
Forces. Under President Kennedy he served as
commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
During the 1950s Nash fought off Senator Joseph
McCarthy's accusations of supposed Communist
leanings, and he was instrumental in reviving
and revitalizing the Wisconsin Democratic Party
organization.
- James Potter Photograph Collection
James A. Potter, an architect and native
Madisonian, combined his architectural background
and his skills as a photographer into a photo feature
for the Wisconsin State Journal titled "Have
you seen this Madison?" This popular feature
ran from 1969 to 1977. The photographs
captured the unusual and the ordinary, concentrating
on architectural details, often unnoticed by the
casual observer. The archives accepted
the collection, and work is underway
to scan and catalog more than 200 views.
Many of them are already online at Wisconsin
Historical Images.
Wisconsin State and Local Government Records
- Department of Justice. Lac Courte Oreilles Treaty Rights Case Records.
These records created by the Wisconsin
Department of Justice begin with various hunting
violation cases of the late 1970s and span
the many phases of the treaty rights trial held
before the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Wisconsin, which resulted in the 1991
final agreement. The records consist of correspondence,
legal briefs, witness testimony transcripts, and
historical research created and used by offices
of the various assistant attorneys general assigned
to the case. The final agreement settled questions
regarding the rights of tribes to use natural resources
including deer, fish and timber.
- Bayfield County Court. Probate Case Files, 1874-1924.
This collection includes documents filed
in Bayfield County Court concerning the settlement
of deceased individuals' estates and the filing
of wills. Included are petitions, orders, letters
of administration, wills, inventories of estates,
and additional legal documents. This series consists
of probate or estate case files from approximately
the time when the present boundaries of Bayfield
were set through 1924. Research uses of probate
records are varied and include the study of demographics,
social and economic research topics, and family
history. Case files contain detailed information
about the family of the deceased and can provide
an intimate glimpse into the lifestyles of an ancestor.
Library Acquisitions
(books, newspapers, periodicals, microfilm, and digital materials)
- Die Grundung und Entwicklung der Kolonie Neu Glarus (The Founding and Development of the Colony of New Glarus).
This German language pamphlet was published in
Zurich, Switzerland, in 1894. Written by a teacher
named D. Durst, it is an early history of the
town of New Glarus and its
founding by Swiss immigrants in the 1840s. Included
with the pamphlet are plat maps and a rare bird's-eye
view of the town.
- Digital Back Files of the Chicago
Tribune, 1849-1985.
This digital resource was acquired in
cooperation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Library System. As an electronic access tool, it
offers full-text searching and retrieval for every
single issue of the Chicago Tribune from 1849 to
1985. It is available to all patrons from any computer
located in the Society's library or anywhere else
on the UW-Madison campus.
- Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports from State Offices and County Agents, 1913-1944.
This acquisition, from the holdings of
the National Archives, consists of 49 microfilm
reels documenting the work of county agricultural
agents in Wisconsin during the first half of the
20th century. These documents allow users to read
and understand many of the changes
in agricultural practices that occurred throughout
the state as reported annually to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
Wisconsin State Government and U.S. Federal Government Publications
- Wisconsin Office of State Employment Relations.
The History of the Wisconsin Civil Service, 1905-2005
This history
of the Wisconsin state civil service system provides
an overview of the changes that have taken place
in state government employment since Governor Robert
M. La Follette signed one of the nation's first
civil service bills into law in 1905. In addition
to chapters tracing the evolution of the civil
service system in Wisconsin, there are also sections
on Wisconsin state employee labor history and affirmative
action.
- President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, D.C.
Taking Care: Ethical Caregiving in our Aging Society
Taking
Care is a 2005 report to the president by the
Council on Bioethics. It addresses the challenges
of care giving in our rapidly aging society, with
an emphasis on the problems associated with dementia.
It provides guidance to caregivers, families, and
professionals, and encourages policymakers to take
up these complicated issues.
Places Worth Preserving
- Adelman, Albert and Edith, House, Fox Point, Milwaukee
Noted architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed this home for the Adelman family in 1948. More Information
- Appomattox Shipwreck, Shorewood, Milwaukee County
This highly intact shipwreck was the largest wooden steam bulk freighter ever to ply the Great Lakes. More Information
- Big Sand Lake Club, Town of Phelps, Vilas County
Built as a Northwoods escape for wealthy Chicago businessmen, the club was known in the 1920s as one of the finest resort retreats in the Midwest. More Information
- Copper Falls State Park, Town of Morse, Ashland County
The state of Wisconsin purchased the initial acreage for this state park in 1929. Between 1935 and 1941, through the federal CCC and WPA programs, the park was improved with buildings, bridges, scenic trails, and reforestation.
- Freitag Homestead, Town of Washington, Green County
This property has been the home of the Freitag family and their descendants since 1869. That same year, Nikolaus Gerber started the first Swiss cheese factory in Wisconsin at the Freitag farm. More Information
- Greendale Historic District, Greendale, Milwaukee County
Greendale is one of three "greenbelt towns" built by the federal government during the Great Depression. This planned community reflects the influence of the English Garden City model on American town planning. More Information
- Nohl, Mary, Art Environment, Fox Point, Milwaukee County
Artist Mary Nohl transformed her family home into a unique art environment using concrete, stone, wood, and found and used objects. More Information
- Northwestern Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District, Milwaukee, Milwaukee County
Designated in 1866 as one of three branches of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the Northwestern Branch in Milwaukee has served the needs of veterans since 1867. More Information
- White Potato Lake Garden Beds Site
These intact garden beds tell the story of pre-contact agricultural practices and may yield scientific data on early plant species. More Information
- Wisconsin Concrete Park
Between 1948 and 1964, retired lumberjack Fred Smith transformed his home and adjacent tavern property with sculptural groupings depicting people, animals and events from local, regional and national history. More Information
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