Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

WisContext presents excerpts from books published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press to provide a deeper look at how the history of the state has influenced its contemporary landscape. These selections focus on events and experiences that illustrate historical changes in Wisconsin related to demographics, health, the economy and the environment — issues that have left an imprint on the state and continue to resonate in the 21st century.

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.

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: 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.

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

When The University Of Wisconsin Persecuted Gay Students

R. Richard Wagner

For nearly two decades after World War II, leaders at the University of Wisconsin-Madison systematically outed gay students to their families, extended harsh punishments for suspected homosexual activity and participated in harmful attempts at psychiatric treatment.

Series: Wisconsin's Diverse Waves Of Immigration

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

Wisconsin's Early Norwegian Press Was A Cohesive Force For Immigrants

Richard J. Fapso

When large numbers of emigrants from Norway started making their way to the United States in the mid-19th century, Wisconsin was one of the first places they settled.

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

What A 1977 Inferno In The North Woods Left In Its Wake

Bill Matthias

The drought-parched spring of 1977 was a particularly dangerous season of wildfire, with a trio of big burns in west-central Wisconsin and the Five Mile Tower Fire in the state's northwest corner.

Series: Refugee Resettlement In Wisconsin

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

A Tibetan Refugee Starts Anew, One Small Paycheck At A Time

Madeline Uraneck

When the first 88 Tibetan newcomers arrived in Madison from India and Nepal in 1993, family sponsors and organizers of the Tibetan Resettlement Project helped them find jobs.

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

The Past Wholesale Destruction Of Bird Life Across The Midwest

Michael Edmonds

Wisconsin Historical Society

Over the course of just a few decades at the end of the 19th century, millions upon millions of birds were killed in a spree of hunting for food and feathers.

Series: Wisconsin's Diverse Waves Of Immigration

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

Immigration, Documentation And The Growth Of Wisconsin's Mexican-American Communities

Sergio M. González

UW-Madison

Mexican immigrants and their descendants born in the United States comprise a growing and increasingly visible group of communities around Wisconsin.

Series: The Flu And Wisconsin's Public Health

Series: Wisconsin Historical Society Press Excerpts

When The 1918 Influenza Pandemic Struck Wisconsin

Richard L. Pifer

Marjorie Hannon Pifer

In 1918, the Spanish flu attacked young, otherwise healthy adults, killed quickly and often, and leapt from Europe to Wisconsin with unimaginable speed. Its cause was unknown; its mode of transmission was unknown; how to stop it was unknown.