How does a trunk carry the story of conserving natural resources?

The Civilian Conservation Corps, known as the CCC, was one of the programs started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It created new jobs for young American men to work on drought and wildfire relief, soil erosion, and state parks and public outdoor spaces. CCC members worked long days and lived in barracks at camps.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

Before railroad lines and highways crisscrossed the landscape, travel by water was the way to get around, and relied on lighthouses to help navigate. Throughout the 1800s, the Great Lakes saw a significant increase in shipping traffic, which meant more lighthouses were needed. The first lighthouse in what is now Wisconsin was built on Rock Island and many more followed, both in Door County and all along Wisconsin’s Great Lakes coastlines.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.

How do canoes recovered from a lake help us learn about the first people and communities in what is now Wisconsin?

Dugout canoes were used across the Americas by Native people for thousands of years for travel, fishing, transporting goods, recreation, and more. With the recovery of two dugout canoes from the bottom of Lake Mendota, more about First Nations communities has been brought to the surface for us to learn from.

This episode is part of The Look Back, a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The collection is hosted by historians who model an inquiry process: sharing artifacts, asking questions, visiting archives and museums to learn more, telling the story of their findings as they go, and making connections to our lives today.