WISCONSINWISCONSIN 1848 Greetings from the Badger State Greetings from Wisconsin! WISCONSIN isconsin achieved statehood in 1848 and is called the Badger State because some of the state’s original settlers were lead miners who Wburrowed holes into the ground, like badgers, to serve as makeshift homes. 1848 “Bucky Badger” is also the name of the mascot for the University of Wisconsin- Madison, the state’s flagship university and one of the top research universities in the world. Madison is Wisconsin’s capital, but Milwaukee is the largest city. Helpful Contacts: The majority of Wisconsin’s 5.8 million people live in the southern part of the The State of Wisconsin state, with the heaviest concentration along the southeastern corridor, including www.wisconsin.gov Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine and Kenosha Counties. Wisconsin Manufacturers Wisconsin is called “America’s Dairyland” because of the dairy industry. Wisconsin & Commerce is second in the U.S. in total cow milk production behind California, but produces www.wmc.org more whey and cheese than any other state, which is why Wisconsinites are sometimes called “Cheeseheads.” Wisconsin is also number one in goat milk Wisconsin Department production, mink pelts, corn for silage, cranberries, ginseng and snap beans. of Tourism PO Box 7976 Wisconsin is also a leader in oats, sweet corns, tart cherries, maple syrup, green Madison, WI 53707-7976 beans, carrots, potatoes, peas, onions and cabbage production. From within the state of Wisconsin, call: 1-800-372-2737 But agriculture is not Wisconsin’s number one industry; manufacturing is. In fact, From outside the state of Wisconsin has the second most manufacturing jobs in the nation on a per capita Wisconsin, call: 1-800-432-8747 basis. Among many other things, Wisconsin companies make motorcycles (Harley Email: [email protected] Davidson), bicycles (Trek), ships and yachts (Burger), boat engines (Mercury, www.tourism.state.wi.us -OR- Evinrude), snow blowers (Ariens), lawn mowers (Briggs & Stratton), military vehicles www.travelwisconsin.com and fire apparatus (Oshkosh Corporation), mining equipment (Komatsu), tractors (J. I. Case, John Deere), bathroom fixtures (Kohler), household consumer products Wisconsin Historical Society (S.C. Johnson), soy sauce (Kikkoman) and shoes (Allen-Edmonds). 816 State Street Madison, WI 53706 Phone: 608-264-6400 Our third largest industry is tourism. People come to Wisconsin primarily from www.wisconsinhistory.org around the American Midwest to enjoy more than 12,000 lakes and many other attractions. Wisconsin’s most popular tourist destination is the Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Department which calls itself the Water Park Capital of the World. Door County (the “thumb” of of Agriculture the state) is also very popular. It has more shoreline than any other county in PO Box 8934 the U.S. Madison, WI 53708 Phone: 1-800-789-9277 www.datcp.state.wi.us State Capitol Milwaukee Apostle Islands Bucky Badger Bucky Updated March 2019 Famous Wisconsinites Wisconsin boasts many famous Americans in multiple fields, including the arts, science, architecture, politics and the military. MILITARY ENTERTAINERS Richard Bong was known as the greatest fighter ace of Don Ameche, Oscar winning actor World War II. Bong shot down 40 Japanese planes in Willem Dafoe, actor his P-38 Lighting. Heather Graham, actor James Lovell was born in Ohio, but grew up in Milwaukee. Chris Farley, comedian Lovell is best known for commanding the Apollo 13 lunar Harry Houdini, magician (born in Hungary) mission in 1970 that overcame a major malfunction. Liberace, musician Admiral Daniel Leahy was born in Iowa, but grew up Jackie Mason, comedian Wisconsin. He became the first Five-Star Fleet Admiral in Steve Miller, musician the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, Leahy Spencer Tracy, Oscar winning actor served as the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Les Paul, musician General William “Billy” Mitchell is considered the father Charles and John Ringling, circus entrepreneurs of the U.S. Air Force. He pioneered the use of aircraft as Tony Shalhoub, actor bombers, particularly against naval targets. Gene Wilder, actor Donald “Deke” Slayton was one of America’s original Orson Welles, actor/director Mercury astronauts. OTHERS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS Stephen Ambrose, historian Les Aspin was a congressman and served as Secretary Jeanne Dixon, psychic of Defense from 1993-1994. Eric Heiden, five-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater Lawrence Eagleburger served as U.S. Secretary of State Aldo Leopold, author from 1992-1993. John Muir, naturalist (born in Scotland) George F. Kennan is credited with establishing the Georgia O’Keeffe, artist American Cold War policy of “containment.” Laura Ingalls Wilder, author Melvin Laird was a congressman and served as Thornton Wilder, author Secretary of Defense from 1969-1973. Frank Lloyd Wright, architect Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel, was born in Ukraine, but grew up in Milwaukee where she received a teaching degree and taught in the public schools. Today, there is a school in Milwaukee named in her honor. ABOUT WMC William Rehnquist served as Chief Justice of the U.S. Founded in 1911, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Supreme Court from 1986-2005. Commerce (WMC) is a combination of the Wisconsin Paul Ryan served as Speaker of the House of Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers Representatives from 2017-2019, making him the highest Association and Wisconsin Safety Council. WMC is ranking member of the federal government from Wisconsin’s leading business association representing Wisconsin in state history. nearly 3,800 employers of all sizes and from every sector Tommy Thompson is Wisconsin’s longest serving governor of the economy. (1987-2001) who also served as U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from 2001-2005. Midwest Lambeau Field Cheese Manufacturing A Summary of Wisconsin History rior to the arrival of Europeans, Wisconsin was inhabited by various Indian tribes, Pincluding the Menominee, Kickapoo, Miami, Winnebago, Dakota (Sioux), Iowa, Fox, Sauk, Potawatomi and Ojibewa (Chippewa). In 1634, Frenchman Jean Nicolet was the first European explorer to reach Wisconsin via Green Bay. France lost control of Wisconsin after its defeat to Great Britain in the French and Indian War (1754-1763). Wisconsin officially became part 1910 painting of Jean Nicolet’s 1634 arrival in Wisconsin. of the United States after the British surrender at the Battle of Yorktown (1781), which ended the American Revolutionary War. Most of Wisconsin’s white settlers were fur traders until the 1820s when lead miners came to what is now the southwestern part of the state. These miners built makeshift homes by burrowing into the ground and were nicknamed “badgers.” The miners displaced native Sauk Indians who eventually attempted to return to their lands sparking the Black Hawk War in 1832. The war ended with a crushing Indian defeat at the Battle of Bad Axe. Wisconsin became the 30th state on May 29, 1848. In the early 1840s, Norwegian immigrants settled in central Wisconsin. By the late 1840s, large numbers of German immigrants made their way to the state, many settling in Milwaukee. Prior to the American Civil War, Wisconsin was a hotbed of the anti-slave or abolitionist movement, which led to the founding of the Republican Party Wisconsin lead miners, in Ripon in 1854. nicknamed “badgers,” in the 1800s. The Civil War began in 1861. Many Wisconsin units served with distinction, including the 2nd, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiments that, along with the 19th Indiana and 24th Michigan Regiments, formed the famous “Iron Brigade” or “Black Hat Brigade.” By war’s end, more than 90,000 Wisconsinites fought for the Union. During the Battle of Chattanooga in 1863, 18-year-old Lieutenant Arthur MacArthur, Jr. of the 24th Wisconsin Regiment rallied his troops during a charge up Missionary Ridge by crying “On Wisconsin!” MacArthur, who was the son of Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor and the future father of Five Star General Douglas MacArthur of World War II fame, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroics. Member of the After the war, logging dominated the economy of northern Wisconsin, while “Black Hat Brigade.” Milwaukee was fast becoming a manufacturing center that would eventually be dubbed the “machine tool capital of the world.” In much of the rest of the state dairy overtook wheat as the state’s primary agricultural product. ~ continued ~ Wisconsin championed the Progressive Era at the beginning of the 20th century. Under Governor Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette, Wisconsin became the first state to enact a statewide primary election system, the first workers compensation law and the first state-level income tax. In 1932, Wisconsin was the first state to enact an Former American Motors Lake Front Plant, Kenosha. unemployment compensation law. Wisconsin’s manufacturing sector continued to grow leading up to the beginning of World War I. Factories in Beloit, Milwaukee and Racine recruited large numbers of African American workers from the American South as part of the Great Migration. When war was declared with Germany, Wisconsin became the first state to meet its draft requirement. More than 120,000 Wisconsinites served in the military during the “Great War.” Wisconsin continued its patriotic reputation during World War II by sending more than 332,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines to fight in the European The “Dow Day Protests” at the and Pacific theatres. University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 1967. In the late 1960s, the University of Wisconsin-Madison became one of the centers of the anti-Vietnam War movement, which culminated with the bombing of the Army Math Research Center (Sterling Hall) on campus in 1970. One graduate student was killed in the blast, which was the largest act of domestic terror in the U.S. until Oklahoma City in 1995. In 2011, Madison was again the location of massive protests, this time against Republican Governor Scott Walker’s reforms to limit collective bargaining privileges for public employees to address a $3.6 billion budget deficit.