Current Issue of the Wisconsin Magazine of History
Fall 2017 Issue, Volume 101, Number 1
Table of Contents
A two-door Nash sedan rests in the sand off the SS Lakeland’s starboard side as underwater archaeologists swim with cameras and lights over the break in the vessel’s hull. PHOTO BY TAMARA THOMSEN View the original source document: WHI 119845
Image Essay: Solving the Mystery of the SS Lakeland
By Paul E. Recker, Tamara Thomsen, and Richard J. Boyd
Underwater archaeologists tell the story of the Lakeland, a car carrier that went down in 1924 off Sturgeon Bay under mysterious circumstances, sinking a load of brand-new Nash, Kissel, and Roland automobiles en route from Chicago to Detroit. Investigation into possible insurance fraud led to the first helium-enabled deep sea dives in Lake Michigan, allowing off-duty Naval divers to visit the wreck 206 feet below the surface to determine whether the ship was scuttled.
Peter J. Savage, editor of the Iron River Pioneer, sets type by hand at the Iron River Pioneer office, 1947. COURTESY OF ZOE VON ENDE LAPPIN
Pioneer Editor: Pete Savage and the Iron River Pioneer
By Zoe von Ende Lappin
From 1898 to 1952, Pete Savage was the editor of the small town weekly, the Iron River Pioneer. Although linotypes had been in use since before the turn of the century, Pete set his articles by hand using old-fashioned type in cases. His granddaughter Zoe von Ende Lappin chronicles Savage’s years as the editor, owner, and publisher of the paper, as well as Iron River’s municipal judge, with nods to his affable personality, informal editorial style, and love of Northern Wisconsin.
Madison activist Mary Kay Baum with children at Calle Real, a center for displaced persons on the outskirts of San Salvador, spring 1986. MARY KAY BAUM PAPERS, MASCP RECORDS
Wisconsin's Cold War Citizen Diplomats and the Salvadoran Civil War
By Molly Todd
When Reagan’s policy toward El Salvador came under scrutiny in the mid-1980s, citizens across the United States responded by developing a number of alternative approaches to diplomacy, including sistering relationships. The Madison/Arcatao Sister City Project (MASCP) was the first enduring link, formalized in April 1986. The project would attempt to model a more humane foreign policy for the United States based on solidarity and partnerships, with Wisconsinites standing hand in hand with Salvadorans suffering under a militaristic regime.
The North is often imagined to have been a place of refuge for black men and women escaping their enslavement. However, mythologizing places like Wisconsin and Canada hides the realities of racial discrimination and inequality that those seeking freedom often faced in these places. View the original source document: WHI 41426
In Search of Northern Freedom: Black History in Milwaukee and Southern Ontario, 1834-1864
By Jaclyn N. Schultz
Histories of antebellum black Milwaukee tend to focus on Joshua Glover, whose tale of escape from both slavery and the threat of re-enslavement has become an important element of the city’s collective memory. Yet complicating this story are the political and material realities of blacks in early Milwaukee. A deeper look at the history of black Milwaukeeans shows that race relations were not as good as we tend to believe, nor was the relative freedom of blacks in the city void of discrimination or outright racism. Many black residents moved to Canada, particularly southern Ontario, for what they hoped would be better opportunities. A closer look at antebellum Milwaukee demands that we reconsider current historical narratives that associate the North with racial egalitarianism.
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