Reclaiming Space: Downtown, Industrial Menomonee Valley Redevelopment and National Home for Disabled Veterans Bus Tour

Thursday, April 19, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Guides: Kathy Kean, Nicolet High School, retired, and Laura Bray, Executive Director of Renewthevalley.org
Cost: $20

Join Historic Milwaukee, Inc. on a bus tour through the downtown, lakefront and riverfront, and adjacent neighborhoods to trace the historic evolution of an early nineteenth-century trading post to twenty-first-century city that is rehabbing many of its factories and breweries from their former glory days into vibrant new condo and office space. See how the three original settlements were transformed into the national grain center during the Civil War and how rapid commercial and industrial expansion resulted in financing a remarkable collection of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century buildings as well as several intact working-class ethnic neighborhoods, still visible today. Learn about recent award-winning projects that have successfully reclaimed decades-old abandoned industrial brownfields and transformed them into new opportunities for businesses and recreation using sustainable green design in the former industrial river valley corridor. The tour will finish with a brief visit to the grounds of the National Home for Disabled Veterans, an institution signed into law five days before Lincoln’s death in April 1865. Recently, this one-of-a-kind, thirty-five-acre complex of late nineteenth-century buildings and original landscape design was named to the 2011 list of “America’s Eleven Most Endangered Historic Places” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Labor History Bus Tour

Thursday, April 19, 3:30 pm — 5:30 pm

Guides: Steve Meyer and Michael Gordon, both professors emeriti, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, who specialize in labor history.
Cost: $20

Tour key sites in Milwaukee working-class history, including ethnic working-class neighborhoods; brewery, tanning, shipping, and heavy manufacturing districts; and locations of important strikes. For example, the tour will visit the sites of the infamous 1886 “massacre” in nearby Bay View where state troops fired on workers demonstrating for an eight-hour day at the North Chicago Rolling Mills; the huge Allis-Chalmers plant noted as an engineering wonder but also for its increasingly militant strikes in 1939, 1941, and 1945—1946; and some of the numerous rust belt, industrial ruins that sometimes made the fascinating transition to the new service economy of shopping malls, offices, and residential lofts.

Historic Milwaukee, Inc. Walking Tour of Downtown with Workshop on the Creation of a Local History Nonprofit

Friday, April 20, 10:00 am — 12:00 pm

Guides: Kathy Kean, Nicolet High School, retired, and Anna Opgenorth, Executive Director of Historic Milwaukee, Inc.
Cost: $18

Take a guided walking tour of downtown and visit some of the most significant civic, commercial, social, and cultural buildings in the evolution of Milwaukee. Learn how the private, nonprofit, largely volunteer organization Historic Milwaukee, Inc., has engaged the public in history for nearly forty years by combining narrative history with specific examples of Milwaukee’s architectural heritage. The tour will include interior as well as exterior spaces within walking distance of the hotels. Time for participants to share ideas and discuss the challenges of planning and managing such public history programs will be provided during a visit to the HMI office in the elaborate Second Empire—style National Landmark, formerly the Mitchell Bank Building.

Immigrant Wisconsin: Old World Wisconsin, German Immigrants, and Preservation

Friday, April 20, 1:00 pm — 6:00 pm

Guides: Martin C. Perkins, Curator of Research and Interpretation, Old World Wisconsin; and John Krugler, Professor, Department of History, Marquette University.
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Cost: $38

This tour is coupled with the panel entitled “Salvage Architecture: Preserving Wisconsin’s German American Past through Buildings.” The State Historical Society of Wisconsin created Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor ethnic/immigrant history museum, during the 1960s and 1970s. Skansen, the famous Swedish museum, and Old Sturbridge Village served as prototypes. OWW’s mission was to salvage (in the name of preservation) buildings associated with nineteenth-century immigrants that were about to disappear from the landscape. When the more-than-600-acre museum opened in 1976, it had rescued and re-erected buildings that represented Finnish, Danish, Norwegian, German, and Yankee ethnic groups. These relocated structures became stages where costumed interpreters share stories about the families who lived there and the immigrant groups they represented. Bus transportation and admission to Old World Wisconsin is included.

Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum: Local Activists Discuss Milwaukee’s Civil Rights History

Friday, April 20, 1:30 pm — 3:30 pm

Threaded to panel “Whose Civil Rights Stories on the Web?” and the “Omeka Overview” session.
Guides: Clayborn Benson, Director of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum
Maximum Number of Participants: 47
Cost: $26

Conference participants and Milwaukee activists will meet at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society/Museum for a brief tour and to discuss excerpts from the “March on Milwaukee” Civil Rights Digital History Project, which features provocative historical news video clips, oral histories, and archival documents from 1960s protests for education, housing, and self-determination. The tour is one part of a thread on civil rights and digital history, including the conference session “Whose Civil Rights Stories on the Web?” and the “Omeka Overview” session. Bus transportation and admission to the WBHS/M included.

Behind-the-Scenes Tour at the Milwaukee Public Museum Featuring the WPA collection

Friday, April 20, 1:00 pm — 2:30 pm

Guides: Claudia Jacobson, Registrar, Milwaukee Public Museum
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Cost: $10

The Milwaukee Public Museum was founded in 1882 and now boasts 150,000 square feet of exhibition space. The museum is home to the first mammalian habitat diorama created by Carl Akeley, and in the twentieth century became known for the Milwaukee-style diorama. During the WPA era, the Milwaukee Public Museum received funding for over a dozen projects. These projects included painting murals, birds, fish, and butterflies, and extended through exhibit construction, taxidermy, and even field work. Museum staff will give a behind-the-scenes walking tour of artwork and exhibit projects. The tour will begin at the Milwaukee Public Museum, which is within easy walking distance of the hotels. Admission to the Milwaukee Public Museum is included.

Revolution in Wisconsin: Socialist Milwaukee through Turner Hall Walking Tour

Friday, April 20, 3:30 pm — 5:00 pm

Guides: Aims McGuinness, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. Author of “The Revolution Begins Here: Milwaukee and the History of Socialism” in Perspectives on Milwaukee’s Past, eds. Margo Anderson and Victor Greene.
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Cost: $10

This tour will focus on Turner Hall, which was constructed in 1882 and inaugurated in 1883. One of Milwaukee’s oldest civic organizations, the Milwaukee Turners have their origins in the Turnverein movement, which was founded in Germany in the early nineteenth century. The building currently contains one of the oldest working gymnasiums in the United States, as well as restaurant space and a large, active concert hall. Milwaukee’s Turner Hall was an important source of support and mobilization for Milwaukee’s socialist political movement. All three of Milwaukee’s socialist mayors were Turners: Emil Seidel, Daniel Hoan, and Frank P. Zeidler. The tour will cover the period between the early nineteenth century and the present, with a focus on connections between Turner Hall and the history of revolution and reform, including events such as the Revolutions of 1848, the US Civil War, the great strikes of 1886, the elections of 1910, World War I, and the election of Frank P. Zeidler as the most recent socialist mayor of Milwaukee in 1948. Tour departs from Hilton Milwaukee City Center.

Riverwest: An Exploration of Milwaukee’s Tavern Culture for Grad Students Bus Tour

Friday, April 20, 5 pm — 11 pm

Guides: Joe Walzer and Dawson Barrett, Doctoral Students at the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee
Maximum Number of Participants: 46
Cost: $15

Are you a graduate student looking for an opportunity to network with other graduate students during the OAH/NCPH Annual Meeting in Milwaukee? Are you looking for a chance to experience one of Milwaukee’s culturally rich, yet often-overlooked neighborhoods? Come join us for a Graduate Student Reception and Tavern Tour in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. A significant nineteenth-century industrial, German, and Polish ethnic neighborhood, Riverwest is today home to many cultural organizations, collectively owned businesses, and large numbers of students—including many history graduate students. Bus transportation will be provided from the conference facility to a reception at the meeting hall of the Milwaukee branch of the Polish Falcons of America—a Polish American social organization that has had a branch in Riverwest for over ninety-five years. Beverages and a meal will be included with your ticket to this reception, which will highlight some of the neighborhood’s unique flavors. After the reception, there will be an optional walking tour of Riverwest, featuring a couple of the neighborhood’s distinct taverns. (A bus will take those not wishing to go on the walking tour back to the Hilton. Food and drink purchases will be on your own during this portion.) Opportunities to socialize and network with fellow graduate students will be plentiful throughout this event. Graduate students only, please.

From Paczkis to Pastelitos: Milwaukee’s Immigrant South Side Bus Tour

Saturday, April 21, 10:30 am — 1 pm

Guides: Rachel Buff, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, Coordinator of the Comparative Ethnic Studies Program and editor of Immigrant Rights in the Shadows of Citizenship, 2008. Neal Pease, Professor of History, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, who specializes in Poland and has served as Vice President of the Polish American Historical Association. Joe Rodriguez, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee and co-author of Latinos in Milwaukee: Arcadia, 2006.
Maximum Number of Participants: 29
Cost: $20

Milwaukee’s South Side has transitioned from a Polish enclave to majority Latino over the past fifty years. Come tour the old “new immigrant” landmarks, such as Saint Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church and St. Josaphat’s Basilica; and “new” immigrant sites such as United Community Center/Centro de la Comunidad Unida and Voces de la Frontera, a nonprofit leading the national struggle for immigrant rights. Guided by faculty from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, the tour will also stop for lunch to savor the delicious cuisines of the South Side. Participants will purchase their own lunch at one of several nearby restaurants.

Schlitz Park and Pabst Complex Bus Tour

Saturday, April 21, 1:30 pm — 4:45 pm

Guides: Jim Draeger, Architectural Historian at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Maximum Number of Participants: 30
Cost: $20

Jim Draeger, architectural historian with the Wisconsin Historical Society and co-author of the soon-to-be-published book, Bottom’s Up: A Toast to Wisconsin’s Historic Bars and Breweries, will lead a tour of the grounds of Pabst and Schlitz breweries. Jim will discuss brewery architecture, the historical contributions of these two giants, and efforts to preserve and adaptively re-use these large industrial complexes. The tour will end up at Best Place, the historic tasting room of the Pabst brewery, where tourgoers may sample the wares of modern day Wisconsin brewers. Participants will purchase their own drinks.

Historic Milwaukee Walking Tours

414.277.7795
www.historicmilwaukee.org
Hours: Friday, April 20 at 3 pm and at other times TBD. Watch the conference web sites in February for details
Admission: $10 (cash only)

Conference attendees are invited to explore Milwaukee’s history and architecture more closely with experienced Historic Milwaukee, Inc., guides. Learn more about the historical built environment and the evolution of Milwaukee from a trading post to major industrial Great Lakes city. Tours will explore nineteenth-and early twentieth-century public and private spaces in the downtown and learn more about the people who planned and built them. Walking tours last approximately one hour and will leave from the Hilton Milwaukee City Center at various times throughout the conference. Reservations are encouraged but not required.

Milwaukee County Historical Society

910 N. Old World Third St. (two blocks northwest of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.273.8288
www.milwaukeehistory.net
Hours: Mon-Fri, 9:30 am — 5 pm; Sat, 10 am — 5 pm; closed Sun
Admission: $4 with conference badge

The Milwaukee County Historical Society was founded in 1935 to collect, preserve, and make available materials relating to the history of the Milwaukee community.

Milwaukee Public Museum

9800 W. Wells St. (2.5 blocks east of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.278.2702
www.mpm.edu
Hours: Mon-Fri, 9 am — 5 pm; Sat, 9 am — 5:30 pm; Sun, 10 am — 6 pm
Admission: Adults—$14; Seniors (60+) and Students with ID—$11

The Milwaukee Public Museum, one of the largest in the United States, is a museum of human and natural history providing a dynamic and stimulating environment for learning, with something to excite and challenge visitors with a diversity of interests. Those attending the Friday Working Group session, “Reconstructing the New Deal,” will not have to pay an admission fee. Admission is included for those who purchase a ticket for the Milwaukee Public Museum behind-the-scenes tour on Friday afternoon.

“Lewis and Clark and the Indian Country” Traveling Exhibit from the Newberry Library

1355 W. Wisconsin Ave. on the campus of Marquette University (approximately 8 blocks east of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.288.7556
http://www.marquette.edu/library/archives/index.shtml
Hours: Call or check the web site
Admission: Adults—$14; Seniors (60+) and Students with ID—$11

A national traveling photo-panel exhibition, based on the Newberry Library’s larger exhibition about the encounters of native peoples with Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery, 1804—1806.

The Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion

2000 W. Wisconsin Ave., (approximately 1.1 miles east of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.931.0808
www.pabstmansion.com
Hours: Mon—Sat, 10 am — 4 pm; Sun, Noon — 4 pm (Guide tours on the hour; last tour at 3 pm)
Admission: Adults—$9; Seniors/Students—$8

The home of Captain Frederick Pabst, world-famous beer baron, accomplished sea captain, real estate developer, philanthropist, and patron of the arts, was considered the jewel of Milwaukee’s famous avenue of mansions called Grand Avenue and represented the epitome of America’s Gilded Age splendor in Milwaukee.

The Harley Davidson Museum

400 Canal St. (approximately 1 mile south of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.287.2789
http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/HD_Museum/Museum.jsp
Hours: Daily 10 am — 6 pm (open until 8:00 pm on Thur)
Admission: Adults—$16; Seniors(65+)—$12

Much more than a nostalgia trip for motorcycle enthusiasts, the museum offers a glimpse of American history and culture like you’ve never seen it before.

American Geographical Society Library

2311 E. Hartford Ave. (approximately 5 miles northeast of the Frontier Airlines Center on the campus of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee); 3rd Fl., East Wing of the Golda Meir Library Bldg.
414.229.6282
http://www4.uwm.edu/libraries/AGSL/index.cfm
Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 am — 4:30 pm

The American Geographical Society Library is one of North America’s foremost geography and map collections. Formerly the library and map collection of the American Geographical Society (AGS) of New York, it was transferred to the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries in 1978 following a nationwide selection process by the Society.

Milwaukee Art Museum

700 N. Art Museum Drive, Milwaukee (Approximately 1.4 miles east of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.224.3200
http://mam.org/
Hours: Tues — Sun, 10 AM — 5 PM; Thu Open until 8 PM
Admission: Adults—$15; Students(w/ID), Seniors (65+), Military (w/ID)—$12

With a history dating back to 1888, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s collection includes nearly 25,000 works from antiquity to the present, encompassing painting, drawing, sculpture, decorative arts, prints, video art and installations, and textiles. The museum’s collections of American decorative arts, German Expressionist prints and paintings, folk and Haitian art, and American art after 1960 are among the nation’s finest. In addition, the museum has become an architectural destination with the addition of the Quadracci Pavilion designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

Third Ward Neighborhood

(Approximately 1 mile southeast of the Frontier Airlines Center)
414.224.3200
http://www.historicthirdward.org/
Download PDF Walking Tour Guide

Within walking distance of the conference hotels, this neighborhood was home to Irish immigrants in the 1870s. An 1892 fire destroyed twenty square blocks and left thousands homeless. In the wake of the fire, a new neighborhood was built, housing businesses including knitting, cigar processing, paper, and printing companies. The National Register of Historic Places placed seventy buildings under the “The Historic Third Ward District.” Now home to galleries, boutiques, condos, and the Milwaukee Public Market.