This year was sort of an emotional Christmas for me--and I know for others in our family, too. This is the first year in 33 years that my folks didn't have Christmas on the farm--30 years for me. It was the first Christmas in their new home, and we didn't let Covid get in the… Continue reading A Merry Christmas
Changing Gears
A few months ago I made the decision to step down from the board of directors of the Winnebago County Historical & Archaeological Society. I have been a board members since April 2014, and I felt it was my time to step away from that role and just participate as a volunteer. I've made so… Continue reading Changing Gears
2020 Review
Hello to my loyal followers. Yes, the Weekend Historian is alive and well during this pandemic we are living through. My family and I have remained safe and healthy the past few months. We did have a couple of scares, but we managed to get through unscathed. A few other family members did contract the… Continue reading 2020 Review
Why Are There SO Many Confederate Monuments?
The Confederate Monument & Pseudohistory
With the racial tension rocking our nation, what is your opinion on the monuments that commemorate the Confederacy, it's soldiers, and war leaders? These monuments started to appear near the turn of the 20th century and more were erected again in mid-century as part of the "Lost Cause" pseudohistory. Should these be left in place… Continue reading The Confederate Monument & Pseudohistory
Veteran’s Etchings in Milwaukee Soldiers Home
Veteran’s etchings from historic Milwaukee Soldiers Home tower Check out this awesome story! It’s neat when you find notes/traces of people from the past. In the old Oshkosh B’gosh factory in Oshkosh—now the Winnebago County Administration Building—there are dates and weather reports etched into some the wood paneled walls in old coal storage area in… Continue reading Veteran’s Etchings in Milwaukee Soldiers Home
Wisconsin and the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918
Never before in the history of the state has it become necessary to close schools, churches, theaters, saloons; in fact, everything except factories, offices and places of regular employment, including hotels, restaurants and stores in which food and clothing are sold were closed for periods varying from three weeks to eight weeks or more.State Board… Continue reading Wisconsin and the Great Spanish Flu Epidemic of 1918
Titanic’s Marconi Telegraph to be Salvaged from Wreck
RMS Titanic Inc. has been legally cleared to retrieve an iconic piece of equipment from the wreckage of the ill-fated ocean liner Titanic--the wireless telegraph. The ship's radio operators, Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, were the contracted employees aboard the Titanic for the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company. These young men sent and received radio messages--sent… Continue reading Titanic’s Marconi Telegraph to be Salvaged from Wreck
The Spanish Flu Experience in Winnebago County
I can't help but be interested in the parallels of our current pandemic with the one in 1918. Naturally, I have been diving into the newspapers and trying to find any information/accounts/statistics of that horrible disease that swept the world back then. I stumbled upon this paper that sheds some light on our county's… Continue reading The Spanish Flu Experience in Winnebago County
Oshkosh Contracts “Spanish Flu” October 1918
Here are some of the headlines from the local Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper on the early accounts of the "Spanish Flu" in the city.
