Named after Chief Oshkosh in 1839, Oshkosh became an established city in 1853. In its early days, Oshkosh was Wisconsin's second-largest city and the lumber capital of the world. Along with familiar Main Street views, the postcard images in this book reveal Oshkosh's forgotten sites of the past such as Electric Park, Alexian Brothers Hospital, and Northern Hospital Zoo. Many of the city's iconic sites that still stand today are also featured, including the Oshkosh Public Library, the Grand Opera House, and the Oshkosh Public Museum. This postcard collection presents a unique historical record of Oshkosh.
This is a book of collected works compiled and written by community members who chose to share their remembrances of the past. The stories take place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in the 1940s and '50s, although a few stories go before and a few beyond. They are stories of corner taverns, grocery stores, churches and self-contained neighborhoods; of sports and sport heroes, and icons of the past; of movie theatres, a dank basement, and a chance encounter with Gene Autry; of polio epidemics, iron lungs, and stories from two who were afflicted; of hoboes, fearful mothers, and orphan train drops; of the beginning of aviation, steam-driven trains, and motorcycle clubs; of walleye and white bass runs, ice shanties, and spearing sturgeons; of breweries no longer there and barbershop songfests that are; of boating, yacht clubs, and Friday night fish frys; of "regular folks" and community leaders, and others of note; of pin setting and caddying, and other teenage staples; of war rationing, blackouts, and savings bonds; of old-fashion ice houses, traveling circuses, and freshwater quarries; of YMCA's, library expansions, and civic events; of an American war hero, a diary kept, and a fallen president; and of an Oshkosh that in its "heyday" was known throughout the country as "Sawdust City." The stories you are about to read are first-hand accounts; images of another time. Ron La Point, a retired high school history teacher, has authored two previous books: A Family History, and Oshkosh: A South Sider Remembers. He and his wife, Carol, winter in Sun City West, Arizona and summer in his hometown of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Excerpt from History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, and Early History of the Northwest West is found in the history of his explorations and habitations in the Valley of the Fox; and that record, too, comprises some of the very earliest pages of American history. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
It was my intention in this book to capture an older Oshkosh from those who lived it and from a few who, in their own artistic ways, are trying to retrieve it. It's a storybook journey of an Oshkosh of horse-drawn and electric streetcars, a city of unparalleled in women's fineries, and one that saw its future in aviation. You will travel through the topsy-turvy years of the Great Depression and of the war years that follow, and read the captivating story of an Oshkosh soldier whose experiences during that first year of the Korean War is a poignant reminder of who we are and what war is really like. You will read of businesses that once were and of some that still are; of people whose gifts and contributions to the city speak volumes in their behalf, and stories of sport teams and players that turn back the clock. You will run across such luminaries as William Waters, Carl Laemmle, Charles Lindbergh, Paul "Bear" Bryant, Roger Maris, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Gene Kelly, Houdini, Al Capone, George Bush, Bill Proxmire, Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, "Minnesota Fats," and a few others whose names might bring back memories of your own. Each of these public figures, indirectly at least, have become part of this city's history.
Making a Mass Institution describes how Indianapolis, Indiana created a divided and unjust system of high schools over the course of the twentieth century, one that effectively sorted students geographically, economically, and racially. Like most U.S. cities, Indianapolis began its secondary system with a singular, decidedly academic high school, but ended the 1960s with multiple high schools with numerous paths to graduation. Some of the schools were academic, others vocational, and others still for what was eventually called “life adjustment.” This system mirrored the multiple forces of mass society that surrounded it, as it became more bureaucratic, more focused on identifying and organizing students based on perceived abilities, and more anxious about teaching conformity to middle-class values. By highlighting the experiences of the students themselves and the formation of a distinct, school-centered youth culture, Kyle P. Steele argues that high school, as it evolved into a mass institution, was never fully the domain of policy elites, school boards and administrators, or students, but a complicated and ever-changing contested meeting place of all three.
Rediscover Wisconsin history from the very beginning. A Short History of Wisconsin recounts the landscapes, people, and traditions that have made the state the multifaceted place it is today. With an approach both comprehensive and accessible, historian Erika Janik covers several centuries of Wisconsin's remarkable past, showing how the state was shaped by the same world wars, waves of new inhabitants, and upheavals in society and politics that shaped the nation. Swift, authoritative, and compulsively readable, A Short History of Wisconsin commences with the glaciers that hewed the region's breathtaking terrain, the Native American cultures who first called it home, and French explorers and traders who mapped what was once called "Mescousing." Janik moves through the Civil War and two world wars, covers advances in the rights of women, workers, African Americans, and Indians, and recent shifts involving the environmental movement and the conservative revolution of the late 20th century. Wisconsin has hosted industries from fur-trapping to mining to dairying, and its political landscape sprouted figures both renowned and reviled, from Fighting Bob La Follette to Joseph McCarthy. Janik finds the story of a state not only in the broad strokes of immigration and politics, but also in the daily lives shaped by work, leisure, sports, and culture. A Short History of Wisconsin offers a fresh understanding of how Wisconsin came into being and how Wisconsinites past and present share a deep connection to the land itself.
The museum is located at 1331 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 to 5:00, Sunday 1:00 to 5:00, and closed Mondays and national holidays. All facilities are handicap accessible and children are welcome! No admission is charged, but donations are accepted and appreciated. Book jacket.
Old Betsy to HET (Heavy Equipment Transport), 1917 to 1992, the Oshkosh truck will "Go Anywhere the Wheels Touch the Ground". This book is a celebration of the first seventy-five years of the Oshkosh Truck Corporation published with the company's full cooperation through over 200 photographs taken their archives.
