It is time to begin your research. I know that you are ready to go to the internet but there are other good sources of information we should check out before we go to the internet. For example, our Library has many books about Wisconsin. Learn how to search our catalog and notice our spotlight books posted on the side of this page.
Laura Ingalls Wilder by
A biography of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is best known for her "Little House" books, plus a chapter of creative writing tips.
Tents, Tigers and the Ringling Brothers by
This new addition to the Badger Biography series for young readers features the story of the young Ringling brothers of circus fame. The book tells the inspiring story of the seven sons of German and French immigrants who were guided by their dreams to escape poverty through hard work and ambition. These entrepreneurial brothers moved with their parents to Baraboo, Wisconsin where their fantastic circus adventure began. With no circus experience, the brothers tackled one of the riskiest businesses of the time. Each brother contributed his unique talents to make their enterprise successful. The Ringling Brothers were admired for their technological innovations, strategy and devotion to education. They were also esteemed for their genuine appreciation of their audience.
Ole Evinrude and His Outboard Motor by
Wisconsin entrepreneur Ole Evinrude will inspire children in this addition to the Badger Biographies series for young readers, where the story of Ole's invention, from drawing board to factory floor, is told in a reader-friendly format that includes historic images, a glossary of terms, and sidebars explaining how an outboard motor works. Ole Evinrude was born in Norway in 1877 and immigrated to the United States when he was five years old. The Evinrude family settled in Wisconsin and began farming, but it was clear from a very young age that Ole would not follow the family tradition. Ole Evinrude was meant to work with boats. Building an outboard motor was not easy, though - Ole suffered numerous mechanical and financial setbacks along the way. After years of hard work and persistence, the Evinrude motor company was founded and Ole's outboard motors were an instant hit around the world. Ole continued to improve the design of his motor and attracted other entrepreneurs to the area, making Wisconsin the center of the outboard motor industry for decades.
A Recipe for Success by
A Recipe for Success: Lizzie Kander and her Cookbook celebrates the life of Milwaukee's early twentieth-century culinary wonder. This new addition to the Badger Biography series will introduce young readers to a remarkable young woman who made a difference in the lives of the early immigrants in Wisconsin. Kander originally created The Settlement Cookbook to assist young Jewish immigrant girls in cooking nutritious American-style meals for their families. Since its publication, several generations of household cooks have been raised on the delicious recipes of the cookbook. Proceeds from the sale of the original cookbook helped build Milwaukee's first settlement house and later the city's Jewish Community Center. The century-old cookbook is still in print today. This is a delightful biography, filled with humorous asides, wonderful period illustrations, and of course recipes
Wisconsin by 
Norwegians in Wisconsin by
This perennially popular book, now revised and expanded with additional historical photos and documents, offers a concise introduction to Wisconsin's Norwegian immigrants. The narrative examines the mass migration of Norwegians from 1837, when Ole Nattestad became the first Norwegian settler in Wisconsin, to the late nineteenth century, when Norwegian immigration largely came to a close. This volume demonstrates the efforts of immigrants to balance newfound American customs with the most treasured traditions of their homeland. New to this edition are selected letters of Ole Munch Ræder, a scholar sent by the Norwegian government in 1847 to study the American legal system. Ræder visited several Wisconsin cities and villiages and paid special attention to the Norwegian community. His compelling accounts, which appeared in newspapers in Norway, offer a contemporary view of Norwegian life in Wisconsin.
Irish in Wisconsin by
We know theirs to have been the hands that helped build the nation's canals and railroads, the transport for so many immigrant groups making their way to the newly formed state of Wisconsin in the mid-nineteenth century. Yet the stories of Irish people in Wisconsin and their role in our state's history became almost invisible as time passed. Irish in Wisconsin recounts the nature of the Irish immigrant experience in Wisconsin both in relation to other ethnic groups and to the larger story of Irish immigration into this country. David Holmes shows the impact of the Irish on the state's early development and politics. He explores the Irish cultural contribution to the state and the current resurgence in Irish pride and identity. Irish in Wisconsin tells this story with solid historical analysis, first-hand accounts, and rare photographs.
Germans in Wisconsin by
Between 1820 and 1910, nearly five and a half million German-speaking immigrants came to the United States in search of new homes, new opportunities, and freedom from European tyrannies. Most settled in the Midwest, and many came to Wisconsin, whose rich farmlands and rising cities attracted three major waves of immigrants. By 1900, German farmers, merchants, manufacturers, editors, and educators--to say nothing of German churches (both Catholic and Lutheran), cultural institutions, food, and folkways--had all set their mark upon Wisconsin. In the most recent census (1990), more than 53 percent of the state's residents considered themselves "German"--the highest of any state in the Union. In this best-selling book, now with updated text and additional historical photographs, Richard H. Zeitlin describes the values and ideas the Germans brought with them from the Old Country; highlights their achievements on the farm, in the workplace, and in the academy over the course of 150 years; and explains why their impact has been so profound and pervasive.
Swedes in Wisconsin by
The revised and expanded edition of Frederick Hale's Swedes in Wisconsin begins with the story of the state's first legal Swedish immigrants, a group of six young people and a hunting dog who set sail from Gävle, Sweden, in 1841 and established Wisconsin's first Swedish settlement, New Uppsala, along Pine Lake in Waukesha County. Hale describes the mass emigration from Sweden to the Midwest that began during the late 1860s and fundamentally changed both Sweden and the Midwest. During this time more than a million Swedes left their homeland for North America, motivated at least in part by a huge population surge that overtaxed Sweden's relatively small amount of arable land (agriculture served until the twentieth century as the Swedish economy's mainstay). Updates for the new edition include new photos and excerpts from letters Swedish novelist and feminist Fredrika Bremer wrote to her sister while touring the Wisconsin frontier in the autumn of 1850.
Danes in Wisconsin by
Wisconsin Territory’s first Dane arrived in 1829, and by 1860 the state’s Danish-born population had reached 1,150. Yet these newcomers remained only a small segment of Wisconsin’s increasingly complex cultural mosaic, and the challenges of adapting to life in this new land shaped the Danish experience in the state. In this popular book, now revised and expanded with additional historical photos and documents, Frederick Hale offers a concise introduction to Wisconsin’s Danish settlers, exploring their reasons for leaving their homeland, describing their difficult journeys, and examining their adjustments to life on Wisconsin soil. New to this edition are the selected letters of Danish immigrant Andrew Frederickson. These compelling documents, written over a forty-year span, capture the personal observations of one Dane as he made a new life in Wisconsin. Distributed for the Wisconsin Historical Society Press
Wisconsin Indians by
This best-selling short history of Wisconsin's native peoples is now updated and expanded to include events through the end of the twentieth century. From the treaty-making era to the reawakening of tribal consciousness in the 1960s to the profound changes brought about by Indian gaming, Lurie's classic account remains the best concise treatment of the subject.
The Swiss of New Glarus by
New Glarus is the only town in America founded by the Swiss Immigration Society. These early settlers, laborers in the textile industry back in Switzerland, became the famous Wisconsin dairy farmers of later generations. While embracing the American ways of their new home--adopting, for example, the midwestern vernacular and Greek Revival boomtown architecture so popular at the time--the Swiss of New Glarus never lost sight of their rich European heritage. In 1937, the town decided to present the Wilhelm Tell Pageant to the public. Performed every summer to this day, it is the longest-running play in a foreign language in the United States. The annual Wilhelm Tell Festival, along with historic Puempel's Tavern, social clubs such as the New Glarus Yodelers, and the 14-building complex called Swiss Historical Village, each seen in this book through vintage images, is testament to why New Glarus has been dubbed "America's Little Switzerland."
Oddball Wisconsin by
Chatty Belle, the World's Largest Talking Cow. The Mendota Monster. Apostles on Parade. The UFO Capital of the World. Romeo, the clown-stomping elephant. Car-washing octopi. Other travel guides suggest the same old scenic driving tours, homey bed-and-breakfasts, and the best fall foliage—Oddball Wisconsin offers offbeat travel destinations and little-known historical tidbits. Where was Liberace born? What is a hodag and where do you catch one? Who invented the hamburger? And will a Polka Hall of Fame ever be built? This is the guide to the real Wisconsin, birthplace of the snowmobile, the typewriter, and the ice cream sundae, home to Jimmy the Groundhog and home of the Rudolph Grotto and Wonder Cave—the state where people proudly wear the moniker “cheesehead.”
Wisconsin Facts and Symbols by
Presents information about the state of Wisconsin, its nickname, motto, and emblems.
It Happened in Wisconsin by
Occasionally quirky, sometimes rollicking, always affectionate, these 30 compelling stories range from the area's "discovery" by a French explorer who was hopelessly lost to the legendary shooting of a Green Bay Packer coach's dog. Read about how Wisconsin virtually seceded from the Union during Prohibition, became purgatory for rock stars, and ended the turbulent 1960s with a tragic bombing. It Happened in Wisconsin does justice to a state rich in fascinating history and colourful characters.
At the Creation by
At the Creation by Herbert Wagner brings to life the human side of Harley-Davidson's quest to motorize the bicycle and then to promote it as a powerful, fast, reliable, and thrilling means of personal transportation. This book examines the origins of two-wheeled transportation from a time when combining the gasoline engine with the bicycle was the province of dreamers and con men. This is the definitive account of the beginnings of the only American motorcycle brand to ultimately succeed and survive. Backed by a decade of research, At the Creation documents for the first time the early years of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle in its birthplace of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, an area that was an early center of motorcycle manufacturing. Previous books on Harley-Davidson have failed to adequately cover this critical period, which has been described as the "era of mystery" by Harley-Davidson company historian Martin Jack Rosenblum. At the Creation takes on several long-standing puzzles and myths, and then, through the use of period documents and original photographs, recreates the actual events of Harley's first years as they most plausibly occurred.
Lead-Mining Towns of Southwest Wisconsin by
East of the Mississippi River, and just north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border, the soil was once fertile with huge deposits of lead and zinc. White men discovered these riches in the early 1800s, well before Wisconsin became a state in 1848. Miners, farmers, and merchants flocked to the region, some bringing along their families. Towns with names like Snake Digs, Cottonwood, and Etna grew very rapidly. Roads, bridges, and railroad tunnels soon connected these towns where schools, churches, and businesses developed. Today tourists are invited to visit museums, mines, and shops in the region to explore its colorful past.
Cheese by
This is a story of farmers, milk cows, dairy barns, and green pastures. It is the story of cheese makers who work their magic and turn milk into cheese. Jerry Apps narrates the history of the cheese-making industry in Wisconsin from its inception in the 1940s to the present. In his compelling yet conversational style, Apps documents how the daily lives of the early cheese makers and how Wisconsin became the nation’s number one cheese producer. The experiences come from the cheese makers, milk haulers, cheese graders and buyers, with stories of snow-blocked roads and frozen milk, of fish in the milk cans, wine in the cheese cellars, and the early resistance toward "western" cheese. Apps explains the many different kinds of Wisconsin-made cheeses (including those that originated or are exclusively made in the state), and discusses the current cheese producers, their factories and technology. Apps also includes his insights into the wedge-shaped foam headgear and other cheese phenomena.
The Story of the Green Bay Packers by
The history of the Green Bay Packers professional football team from its first season in 1919 to today, spotlighting the team's greatest players and most dramatic moments.
The Milwaukee Brewers by
The Team Spirit series paints an engaging, detailed yet accessible picture of professional sports teams. By focusing on the history, great victories and memorable personalities, the books have an enduring quality that will not go out of date quickly. The text is enhanced with plenty of full color photographs as well as reproductions of vintage trading cards and team memorabilia. Each book presents the history, accomplishments and key personalities of the team. Includes timelines, quotes, maps, glossary and website. This series is Licensed by Major League Baseball and the content consultants include Hall of Fame staff.
