History

Series: The Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 And Wisconsin: June 2020

How AIDS Pushed Wisconsin To Change Its Approach To Public Health

PBS Wisconsin

In the early 1980s, a new mysterious malady captured the attention of public health professionals. Initially labeled GRID, these clusters of illnesses seemed to largely be an issue only on the East and West coasts. But Wisconsin's government was taking action.

Series: The Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 And Wisconsin: May 2020

The Perennial Lessons To Learn From Public Health Policy Battles

Andy Soth

PBS Wisconsin

Many people have heard of Typhoid Mary, but far fewer know the name Mary Mallon.

Series: The Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 And Wisconsin: May 2020

When Efforts To Halt Smallpox In Milwaukee Provoked Fear And Fury

Andy Soth

PBS Wisconsin

A highly contagious disease put the population in a panic. The government's response became politicized. Less affluent neighborhoods bore the brunt of the outbreak. The best medical science of the day was doubted. An aggressive protest against public health enforcement broke out.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

Series: The Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 And Wisconsin: May 2020

Clues To Wisconsin's Coronavirus Present Echo From Its Pandemic Past

Jim Malewitz

Wisconsin Watch

"Spanish flu" ultimately killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide and 675,000 across the U.S., including 8,459 people in Wisconsin. History is resonating more than a century later as the state fights a new viral villain that has upended life across the world.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

Series: The Novel Coronavirus, COVID-19 And Wisconsin: April 2020

What Does The 1918 Flu Reveal About The Economic Impacts Of A Pandemic?

Tessa Conroy

UW-Madison

The 1918 influenza pandemic and how the ordeal played out in Wisconsin illuminates the scale at which the experience of and response to public health emergencies impact both human lives and the economy.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

While World War I Ended, UW-Madison Endured A Deadly Pandemic

Samantha Nash

PBS Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, the First World War and 1918 flu pandemic came together in a typical yet tragic way.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

The Virus That Shut Down Wisconsin: The Great Flu Pandemic of 1918

Steven B. Burg

The speed at which the novel coronavirus has raced around the world, and the severity of the disease it causes, has sparked interest in humanity's last experience with a contagion of such scale.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

What Made The Great Flu Pandemic Of 1918 So Momentous

Samantha Nash

PBS Wisconsin

When a new and dangerous respiratory disease started racing around the globe in early 2020, it had been just over a century since humankind endured the 1918 influenza pandemic.

The Traditions And Transformation Of Maple Sugaring

Will Cushman

WisContext

No matter how methods have changed over the ages, a lot of time and energy go into transforming the springtime sap flows of maple trees into sweet, sugary syrup.

The Great Migration And Beloit's African American Heritage

Will Cushman

WisContext

Beloit stands out in Wisconsin. It's a small city — home to fewer than 40,000 people — with a relatively large African American community.