Happy Birthday: 1849 – University of Wisconsin opens On this day in 1849 the University of Wisconsin began with 20 students led by Professor John W. Sterling. The first class was organized as a preparatory school in the first department of the University: a department of science, literature, and the arts. The university was initially…
History
History, Wisconsin
When a woman calmed enraged, potential draftees with crackers, refreshments
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Recall, Wisconsin
History of Recall Elections in Wisconsin
by JOHN ADAMS •
History, Wisconsin
A Wisconsin archeological blunder from 1878
by JOHN ADAMS •
When white settlers arrived in Wisconsin, they were intrigued by the ancient mounds that dotted the landscape. This sparked excitement about archaeology generally, and during the late 19th century the discovery of new “antiquities” fueled speculation about the state’s ancient past. It also led to one memorable blunder in 1878 concerning a find at Hartford, in Washington Co.…
History, Holiday
The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving Lesson
by JOHN ADAMS •
A change in rights offered a path from starvation to dependable sustenance: Faced with potential starvation in the spring of 1623, the colony decided to implement a new economic system. Every family was assigned a private parcel of land. They could then keep all they grew for themselves, but now they alone were responsible for…
History, Politics
Bob Strauss on Jimmy Carter
by JOHN ADAMS •
Not long after Jimmy Carter was elected, things began to go sour for his administration. Just about everything, including opposition from both Republicans and sometimes even the Democratic majority in Congress, bedeviled him. Carter called longtime Democratic politician Bob Strauss into the Oval Office, after the Bert Lance scandal broke. Carter found the change in…