History

The Circuitous Path Toward Affordable Solar Energy

WisContext

Solar energy is cheaper, more efficient and more widely available than ever, but its viability was never assured. Technologies that enable the conversion of sunlight into usable electricity are the products of an uncoordinated, decades-long series of events that followed a circuitous and halting path

12 Top WisContext Stories Of 2019

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

WisContext is focused on the long haul. Examining how Wisconsin's history shapes its contemporary issues and looking forward at how these trends may develop was a consistent element of our coverage in 2019.

The Heyday Of The Ice Harvesting Industry In Madison

Will Cushman

WisContext

Before the widespread availability of electricity allowed Americans to cool food with the flip of a switch, they relied on iceboxes.

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

When Deer Hunting In Wisconsin Shifted From Slaughter To Sport

Robert C. Willging

Hardly more than a century ago, deer were not to be found across broad swaths of southern and eastern parts of Wisconsin, with their dwindling ranks limited to its northern stretches after decades of mass hunts for hide and meat markets in the latter half of the 1800s.

Why Wisconsin Schools Teach Native History And Culture

Will Cushman

WisContext

In 1989, a long simmering conflict over American Indian treaty rights helped prompt a landmark educational law in Wisconsin.

Series: Extreme Precipitation And Wisconsin's Climate

When Big Storms Inundate Wisconsin, How Could Wetlands 'Slow The Flow'?

Will Cushman

WisContext

The connection between Wisconsin's rivers and the wetlands that feed them has become increasingly tenuous. Its consequences for human communities come into clearer focus when heavy rains transform streams and rivers into forces of wanton destruction.

Series: The Yahara Watershed

Series: Phosphorus In Wisconsin's Land And Water

A Twist In The Tale Told By Muck At The Bottom Of Lake Mendota

Jake Walsh

UW-Madison

The vast majority of what happens under the surface of lakes goes unrecorded, meaning potentially important ecological stories are often lost to history.

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

What Happened To Wisconsin's Once-Thriving Smaller Jewish Communities?

Sheila Terman Cohen

Jews living in prosperous small-town communities in the mid-20th century saw large population declines over several decades as the next generation favored the opportunities that larger cities presented.

Series: The Dairy State Economy

Series: CAFOs, Manure And Water

Wisconsin Is America's Dairy Goat Land

Will Cushman

WisContext

Wisconsin's self-proclaimed moniker as "America's Dairyland" is taking on fresh meaning in the 21st century thanks to a growing market for milk from an animal that bleats rather than moos.

Series: The Dairy State Economy

Series: Wisconsin's Rural-Urban Continuum

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

A Midcentury Revolution In Farming Would Change Wisconsin Forever

Jerry Apps

Technological changes — electricity and mechanization — in the mid-20th century would revolutionize the practice and business of agriculture in Wisconsin, and set into motion economic and demographic changes that continue well into the 21st century.