How can a shirt show us what people did for fun back in the day?

Bowling got its start at least as far back as the Middle Ages, but the game we know today became big in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and Wisconsin got in on the game. Bowlers like Earlene Fuller made and wore custom-made shirts and sets that matched their team, showing fashion and cultural connections to bring them luck at the lanes.

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.

What do stories of kids running away to join the circus tell us about Wisconsin’s history?

Circus shows were in their golden age during the late 1800s. Behind the amazing feats and fun the shows promised was a major business enterprise. Circus workers formed a traveling city that was on the road nearly every day from spring through fall, thanks to the railroad. Today, Circus World stands at the site where circus history began right here in Wisconsin!

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 amateur newspapers document the experiences of young people during the Progressive Era?

Young people writing and printing their own newspapers became popular in the late 1860s and 70s. This was a time of significant industrialization in the United States. With the invention of a small, hobby printing press, young people could make and share news via their own newspapers and grow communities by printing and swapping them.

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.

What do hit records tell us about life and business in post-WWI Wisconsin?

After World War I, factories and mass production were booming—and so was the record business! People had income to buy records and record players, and companies took notice. Paramount Records, started by the Wisconsin Chair Company based in Port Washington, sold records by well-known musicians of the time until the Great Depression crashed the party.

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.

This collection of essays includes the biographies of many different people from different backgrounds who made major contributions to Wisconsin History. Each grade-level essay below is designed for a single class period. When reading, students should consider the following questions:

Who (or what) are the main subjects and where did they live (or originate)?
How did they respond to the challenges they faced?
What role do each play in our shared story?
How have their actions or stories affected present-day Wisconsin? How have they affected your life?

Airplanes are more than just a way to get from one place to another quickly—they are historical artifacts! To keep those planes flying high and on the right route, lighted airway beacons and radio communications were developed during the “Golden Age of Aviation” between World War I and World War II. Even during the challenging years of the Great Depression, these innovations propelled the use of planes by services like the United States Postal Service to get mail across the state, country, and world faster than ever before.

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 faked photos on postcards poke fun at the reality of life in the Midwest over 100 years ago?

Tall-tale postcards—photographic postcards showing greatly exaggerated produce and animals–emerged as part of the “postcard mania” in the United States in the late 1800s to the 1920s. Life on the plains and prairies at that time was tough. Droughts, storms, swarms of insects, and other disasters plagued places like Wisconsin and made growing food far from easy. The tall-tale postcard emerged as a humorous response–with supersized fruits and vegetables making the Midwest seem like the land of plenty and problem-free.

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 does toast tell us about the time of the fur trade in Wisconsin?

Before and after the American Revolutionary War, French explorers were coming to the area we now know as Wisconsin. One of those people was a blacksmith named Joseph Jourdain. He and other blacksmiths used fire to heat metal so it could be shaped into tools like an iron toaster, which was used to make toast over a fire.

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.

The Look Back is a series made for learners in grades 4-6 that explores eras from Wisconsin’s history through artifacts. The series 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.

The series is a collaboration between PBS Wisconsin Education, the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Rebecca M. Blank Center for Campus History, University of Wisconsin–Madison Libraries, Wisconsin educators and learners, and museums and historical preservation and interpretation organizations throughout Wisconsin.

© 2024 Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System

Funding Provided By
Timothy William Trout Education Fund a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout
Eleanor and Thomas Wildrick Family
Focus Fund for Education
Friends of PBS Wisconsin

How can a sculpture shape ideas about a well-known leader and the ending of slavery?

After Thomas Ball learned that President Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated in 1865, he decided to make a statue in his honor. His work helped form Lincoln’s legacy as ‘The Great Emancipator,’ but a closer look at the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation and responses to the sculpture help shape a more complex story about the freeing of enslaved people.

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.

Explore the Society's online exhibits to uncover unique facets of Wisconsin history. Exhibits are based on past gallery exhibits at the Wisconsin Historical Museum and include curated images, trivia and brief historical essays.

Note that the viewing of the resource does not meet social studies standards. Teachers are encouraged to consider the use of primary source analysis documents such as those from the Library of Congress and the National Archives in order to help students access social studies curricular objectives.

How can a bike help us travel through time?

When bikes became available to more people in the late 1800s, they offered a way of getting around for lots of people who couldn’t afford a horse. While cars have grown in popularity over the years, bikes continue to be used for recreation, sport, and travel. What’s more, bicycle production has put Wisconsin on the map.

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.

Cartoons in Sunday comic strips make us laugh. Political cartoons in the front section of the newspaper challenge us to think.

Because political cartoons present a particular point of view or story through symbolism and caricature, they are a particularly effective method for teaching history.

By interpreting political cartoons, students are encouraged to discover different points of view on the same historical event.

The three political cartoons in this section focus on Robert M. La Follette; they offer an additional opportunity to explore the progressive era in Wisconsin. Suggested activities, brief histories of each cartoon, a one-page biography of La Follette, and an introduction to cartoon analysis are also included.

In this lesson, students will understand some of the struggles and prejudices Native Americans faced
in 19th-century Wisconsin. They will also be able to articulate the various concerns expressed in 19th-century
petitions as they relate to the Native American relationship with white Colonizers.

Note: Primary source materials such as petitions, letters, and diaries capture history as it happened, and
many customs, terms, social mores, and attitudes that are considered offensive now were
commonplace at the time. Please read through the primary source material before assigning it to
your class.

How do bunk beds hold the history of agricultural production in Wisconsin?

After World War II, agricultural production in Wisconsin was growing, and farms needed more workers. Large companies brought in workers from southern states to harvest fruits and vegetables, which spurred the creation of migrant worker camps. Harsh working conditions and poor accommodations led workers to organize and demand better from their employers.

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.

Jeff Kannel is the author of Make Way for Liberty: Wisconsin African Americans in the Civil War. He has been a volunteer and tour guide at the Civil War Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, since 2012 and speaks around the state about the role of Wisconsin African American soldiers and employees during the Civil War.

How do the stitches of a sampler tell us about the past?

Using a needle and thread was considered a necessary household skill for girls and women in the 1800s. They made samplers to practice stitches and show off what they could do. Margaret Miekel’s sampler helps us stitch together the living and learning in the area before Wisconsin was officially a state!

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 does a sundial compass give us direction about people coming to the area that is now Wisconsin?

The first Europeans in the area that is now Wisconsin were likely French explorers and fur traders who began arriving in the 1600s and continued trading in the area after the French and Indian War. The Le Maire Sundial points us to this time and the history of northeastern Wisconsin.

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.

Students are encouraged to read at home, where parents help them track their reading minutes, then teachers record their reading minutes in portfolios where minutes turn into "miles. " They visit sixteen cities around the state to collect clues and solve eight crimes. This activity weaves facts into the crimes that students are trying to solve as they travel their reading miles.

Students will:
Increase reading fluency with time spent reading at home
Review addition and subtraction as they add minutes into their portfolios and then subtract them as miles when they travel in Wisconsin
Use map-reading skills to trace their routes from city to city on a Wisconsin road map
Apply problem-solving skills to match their collected clues to the descriptions of the criminals in their game packets