Historian Katherine Kaliszewski will be giving a lecture on the subject of her thesis, Charles B. Whitnall at the UWM Union this Thursday, April 18th at 2pm. Stop by and learn some insight about the father of Milwaukee’s park system.
The UWM Digital Archives started a new blog earlier this year showcasing their collections and giving behind the scenes look at their work. An interesting blog post from last month shows the WTMJ Newsfilm collection and several films on Mayor Zeidler from the early 1960s.
A great segment that was broadcast in 1960 tells the story of all of the work the mayor does as part of his job and the employees that work under him.
UWM Archives also has a Youtube channel which shows these videos and several others.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week about the purchase of Civil War sketchbooks by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Bobby Tanzilo of OnMilwaukee.com found out about this book which was being sold by a dealer in Canada for over $10,000 and word must have got around to the Historical Society and they scraped together money to buy this one of a kind book for their collection.
Henry Koch spent his time during the war preparing many maps under the command of Lt. Col. G. L. Gillespie. His job was as an Assistant Cartographic Engineer and he prepared very detailed maps of various battlefields which were used for the reports of General Sheridan.
After the Civil War H.C. Koch returned to Milwaukee where he went on to become one of the city’s most famous architects. He designed the City Hall among many other well known buildings.
The Spring 2013 issue of Wisconsin Magazine of History has an article on the “Girl-Man of Milwaukee” written by Matthew Prigge. The article goes into great detail how Cora Anderson lived for several years as a man and even took a wife before being exposed by her friend to the authorities.
Surprisingly this was not unique or even rare in the turn of the century Milwaukee. One of the earliest known examples was that of Frank Blunt. He was arrested in July 1893 on suspicion of theft of money in Fond du Lac. When he was taken to the station and about to be searched he suddenly demanded to be searched by a police matron where it was found that he was actually a she. Frank turned out to be Annie Morris from Nova Scotia who had run away from home at age 15. She decided to take on the disguise of a boy and through some misadventures was adopted by an itinerant horse trader by the name of Jesse Blunt. Jesse convinced her to take on the guise of a boy to pass as his son and that is the way it remained for the next 13 years. Jesse settled in Milwaukee and opened a saloon on the South side. Frank enjoyed the company of women and hung around gambling halls as many young men did in those days. After being caught, Annie was sentenced to a year in prison at Waupun for the theft. An interesting and final note to the story was the appearance at the trial of Miss Gertrude Field who claimed to have married Frank in Eau Claire and who helped to fund the defense for Annie.
The most interesting story was that of Harry Hynes who was discovered in 1899. Police had noticed a young woman who looked strange walking downtown streets with a shabby dress, glasses, and wearing rouge. When the police finally had a chance to stop and question “Harriet Brown” in front of the Alhambra Theater they found out she was actually a 17-year old young man. The tell tale giveaway that the police noticed was the five-o-clock shadow on Harriet’s face. Otherwise, he had the practiced air of a woman’s mannerisms, wore a wig, and was found to have several dresses at his rooming house. Harry worked vaudeville theaters as a female impersonator and even managed to find part time work as a servant girl at a home on 8th & St. Paul a few weeks prior to being arrested. During questioning he explained that after his mother died two years ago he had been unable to find work as a man and had donned the attire to find other work as a woman. He ended up serving 60 days for disorderly conduct in the House of Correction and disappeared after his release, possibly to Chicago where he supposedly had relatives.
Another story very similar to that of Cora Anderson and happening virtually at the same time was that of Jessie McNeil. The 24-year old woman was discovered by police in July 1915 in men’s clothing, and with a short hair cut at 4th and Juneau. She was with Emma Jacobs, 33, an african-american woman who was living as her wife at a colored rooming house at 7th & Winnebago. Jessie told police that she dressed as a man to earn higher wages and that her parents in West Allis knew of her lifestyle. As a woman she could only work at jobs that paid $4 a week but as a man she was working at jobs paying $10 and $14 a week. Jessie was living and working in Chicago as a man but was caught by the police there and told to leave the city in early 1915. Afterwards she came to Milwaukee, met Emma and lived with her as a roommate for three months.
-Yance Marti
Milwaukee Journal, August 30, 1899
Milwaukee Journal, July 1, 1915
Milwaukee Journal, February 5, 1933
In 1911 a group of buildings was built on 206 acres of land to house the Milwaukee County School of Agriculture. These are now known as the “Eschweiler Buildings” and are part of a controversy about saving solid historic buildings to incorporate them in the UWM Foundation’s Innovation Campus. The School of Agriculture lasted from 1912 until 1928 when development in the county was encroaching on much of its farmland.
There were also arguments about the waste of resources in running such a school from the very start. A report was written by the Taxpayer’s League in 1916 which highlighted inefficiencies and failings of the school.
But there was still enough good press and good intentions to keep it running after that report was released. The following article was written in the Milwaukee Journal of May 3, 1925 and tells many details about the school to try and keep a high enrollment. It was a unique institution across the state and its likes could be very useful to build an interest in self-sufficiency even today. The buildings have a county landmark designation from 1978.
Milwaukee School Farm is Largest
Instruction in agriculture and domestic economy without tuition cost to residents of the county is provided for by the Milwaukee County School of Agriculture and Domestic Economy, maintained by Milwaukee County. Four large and well equipped buildings are located about a mile and a half west of the city of Wauwatosa, adjacent to other county institutions.
The school farm includes nearly 1,100 acres; the largest secondary school farm in the United States. This land is used to demonstrate to students the solution of practical farm problems. Eighty-five acres are devoted to fruit growing and truck farming. Eight greenhouses are used. There are six dairy barns, the school owning a dairy herd of about 250 head of cattle of the leading dairy breeds. The swine herd numbers 400 pigs, a small flock a pure bred Hampshire sheep is kept in large flocks of poultry of the leading varieties. Thirty-eight horses are used.
Four-year and two-year courses in agriculture are given, a one year course for high school graduates and a short course during the winter. Four-year and two-year courses in domestic economy are given. The courses in agriculture include animal husbandry, agronomy, entomology, poultry and academic work similar to that in regular high schools. The domestic economy course includes sewing, cooking and food study, physiology and personal hygiene, drawing and house planning, laundering, dietetics and meal planning, millinery and art needlework, child welfare and home nursing, household management, textiles, selection of dress, home decoration and furnishing.
The school also is headquarters for boy and girl club work in Milwaukee County and holds many conferences, institutes and meetings of farmers and different organizations interested in agricultural work. The faculty of 12 members is headed by T. H. Campion, superintendent.
Where now stands a large Walgreens store at the northwest corner of the intersection of 35th & Wisconsin stood a small neighborhood IGA store in 1950. Trolley buses ran down 35th and also Wisconsin avenue at the time and this gentleman waited patiently for the next bus wearing his straw boater hat on a warm summer afternoon.
Join UWM professor Amanda Seligman Wednesday night at 7:30pm as she explains the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee project at the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
Late in 1959, a film was being completed for the Schlitz Brewing Company about the history of the brewery from its founding until the present of the late 50’s. It was kind of a cheesy film for promotional use most likely during brewery tours. It included quite a few local actors playing the Uihlein family through the ages.
The film is on Youtube thanks to Kurt Conway. Be sure to watch all three parts of the 30-minute film.
This article about the film was from the Milwaukee Sentinel of October 4, 1959.
The Milwaukee County Historical Society has started to find new ways to engage the public in the last few years. With Scott Stroh as the new executive director since mid-2011, there have been many changes for the better including exhibitions and lectures which have been well attended. Because they are using more of the building space for these events, they are finding new ways to curate their collection and present history. One newer way they are doing this is with the introduction of a blog called MKE Memoirs with articles written by their archivists and curators. These blog articles allow the Society to reach a new generation with their collection of artifacts and archives. As an online blog it is easy to engage many people and to get feedback and discussion. The latest article from February 11th talks about the old Bijou Opera House and “How a Milwaukee Opera House Kick Started the Fight for Civil Rights.”
This is a view looking at the corner now occupied by Taylor’s on the southwest corner of Jefferson & Wells. The picture was taken sometime in the 1920s. Back then the corner was occupied by several businesses; a drug store, roller bearing sales, and a heating company. The single story building has gone through many changes over the years but has stayed around, unlike some of the larger, neighboring buildings such as the Court-house, the Masonic Building, and even the old Layton gallery down the street at Mason.
