History

Southern Wisconsin's Ghost Towns Leave Behind Vital Stories

WisContext

Wisconsin's roots as a state are found in a patchwork of scrappy independent settlements, interspersed with the occasional fraudulent land scheme.

Series: Disparities And Equity In Wisconsin

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

Milwaukee, Race And Public Media: An Excerpt From 'Wisconsin On The Air'

Jack W. Mitchell

UW-Madison

Pretty Soon Runs Out is a 1968 documentary about the effects of urban renewal in the inner core of Milwaukee. Its creation is detailed in the new book Wisconsin on the Air: 100 Years of Public Broadcasting in the State That Invented It .

Wisconsin's Forests Have A Dynamic History

Scott Gordon

WisContext

To many Wisconsinites, the state's northern forests are sturdy and vast swaths of land that resist the forces of the outside world and symbolize the state’s natural inheritance.

A New Wisconsin Prairie Takes Shape At Badger Ammo

Scott Gordon

WisContext

The Badger Army Ammunition Plant, located just south of Devil's Lake State Park in Sauk County, produced smokeless powder, rocket propellant and other explosive materials used in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Now, the site is in the midst of a gradual transition into its next chapter.

Series: Wisconsin's Wolves

Frequent Changes In Management Policy Escalate Wolf Debate

Scott Gordon

WisContext

For Erik Olson, an assistant professor of natural resources at Northland College in Ashland, the biggest weakness in Wisconsin's policy toward wolves hasn’t been any one particular policy decision.

Series: Milwaukee Gun Violence

'Pretty Soon Runs Out' Film Captures Failures, Frustrations Of Milwaukee Urban Renewal

Scott Gordon

WisContext

"I mean business today," a Milwaukee woman identified only as Mrs. Taylor tells an official in the Department of City Development. "I've been put off long enough."

Series: Wisconsin In The 2016 Presidential Election

4 Historic Presidential Primaries in Wisconsin History

Kristian Knutsen

WisContext

As Wisconsin heads into a hotly contested presidential primary election for both major parties, WPR has looked back at years when the state's voters played an important role in selecting parties' nominees.

Series: Wisconsin's Diverse Waves Of Immigration

Cuban-American Offers Perspectives On Normalized Relations

Scott Gordon

WisContext

Just like other Cuban-Americans around the country, those who live in Wisconsin may find themselves involved in a complex discussion as the U.S. normalizes relations with Cuba.

Series: Wisconsin In The 2016 Presidential Election

A Turning Point For Mitt Romney In Wisconsin's 2012 Primary

Scott Gordon

WisContext

The 2012 Republican presidential primary marked 100 years of Wisconsinites electing delegates to the major party conventions in open primaries — a system the state pioneered. That year's cycle also brought an increasingly rare spotlight to what is now a late-primary state.

Series: Wisconsin In The 2016 Presidential Election

Jimmy Carter Gets Detailed In Wisconsin's 1976 Primary

Scott Gordon

WisContext

None of the broad identities attached to Jimmy Carter — beaming humanitarian, peanut farmer, UFO spotter and, at least since Ronald Reagan's victorious 1980 campaign, ineffectual president — were on display when he visited La Crosse in September 1975.