Winter 2011 - 2012 Issue
Volume 95, Number 2
Featured Story
Stitch by Stitch: The Life and Legacy of Elizabeth Zimmermann
by Kathryn Parks and Colleen McFarland
Mary Walker Phillips (left), Zimmermann (center), and Barbara G. Walker (right) at Walker's home in 1980. Elizabeth Zimmermann inspired knitters across America during the last half of the 20th century with books, newsletters, and classes that encouraged individual knitters' creative abilities. Having learned how to knit from her female relatives as a child in England, Zimmermann developed a clear, distinctive style that she was able to transmit to others seeking to learn the craft. "Stitch by Stitch" traces Zimmermann's life, from her childhood in England, to her art-school days and work as a nanny in Central Europe, and finally to her marriage and immigration to the U.S. at the outbreak of World War II, when she began to show American knitters how to develop their skills.
Table of Contents
 A view of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home, formerly the Harvey Hospital, ca. 1870. The home opened in 1866.
Wisconsin's Reluctant Heroine: Cordelia Perrine Harvey
by Anne Beiser Allen
Cordelia Harvey, widow of one-time Wisconsin Governor, Louis P. Harvey, was referred to in the press as "Wisconsin's Florence Nightingale," notoriety she abhorred. But her efforts on behalf of the state's wounded soldiers in the Civil War had earned her the title. This story chronicles Cordelia Harvey's life after the loss of her husband, including her work in the field on behalf of Wisconsin soldiers. One of her most significant accomplishments was to convince President Lincoln that soldiers would heal better and return to their posts if they were sent home for treatment. As a result, a general hospital for 300 patients was established. She remarried later, and led a quiet life in Buffalo, NY. Twenty years after that she returned to Wisconsin, where she slipped away quietly. But history will not allow her to be forgotten.
 Students stand in front of Hilcrest school in Waukesha Co., ca. 1933.
Culture Wars in the Countryside: The Fight For Rural Schools
by Campbell F. Scribner
In rural Wisconsin, where the school is usually the largest public institution, battles over censorship, sex education, and school prayer have often reflected deeper struggles over democratic participation. As school governance centralized and professionalized over the course of the 20th century, individual communities were left with fewer choices about how to educate children. Rural residents resisted what they perceived as an encroaching state bureaucracy with illiberal tactics like banning books or firing teachers. Some even threatened violence. While these actions are troubling, they should not be confused with provincialism or straightforward intolerance. Rather, the language of moral propriety and parental rights voiced by angry parents in many small, rural towns in Wisconsin represented a longstanding effort to preserve local, democratic prerogative over school administration and
curriculum.
![Draftsmen at the workroom in Taliesin, 1911.]](/wmh/images/talisan100.jpg) Draftsmen at the workroom in Taliesin, 1911.
Taliesin at 100
by John O. Holzhueter
Now having turned 100, Taliesin is a quintessential example of how architectural history and biography can blend into a single entity, each helping to explain the other. So famous has the building become that original prints of photographs of the 1911-12 Taliesin are sufficiently rare and costly as to have led to public efforts in 2005 and 2011 to acquire collections of them for the Wisconsin Historical Society, which now possesses what is arguably the best assemblage of these images anywhere.
 Pencil on velum exterior perspective of Seymour Dolnick Residence, named "Woodwind," by architect John Randal McDonald, Fox Point, Wisconsin, 1956.
The Architectural Drawings of John Randal McDonald
by David Benjamin
John Randal McDonald was unique in that he could create architectural drawings that are both useful for construction and beautiful to look at. Establishing an architectural practice in Racine, Wisconsin, during the 1940s, McDonald designed a number of modest projects for clients who appreciated modern aesthetics but could not afford the high price tag of a custom-designed modern home. And while he never studied with Frank Lloyd Wright, McDonald was often referred to as the "poor man's Frank Lloyd Wright," because his designs used the same architectural grammar found in Wright's Prairie School architecture but without the costly decorative masonry, art glass, or detailed woodwork.
BOOK EXCERPT
History Afield: Stories from the Golden Age of Wisconsin Sporting Life
by Robert C. Willging
Stories of sportsmen past come to life in "History Afield," an account of the many and varied sporting pursuits that are part of the Wisconsin tradition. Author and outdoorsman Robert Willging shares more than two dozen tales of Wisconsin sporting history, highlighting the hunt for waterfowl, upland birds, and deer; trout fishing in wild northern rivers; and recreating at early Wisconsin lakeside resorts.
Learn more about this book
Award of Merit Winner
The "Wisconsin Magazine of History" is the proud recipient of a prestigious 2010 Award of Merit from the American Association of State and Local History's Leadership in History Awards. The awards are presented for excellence in history programs, projects and people when compared with similar activities nationwide.
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