The Water is Wide
Immigration to Wisconsin:
1840 through 1920
Image ID: 28146,
Collection Name: Franz Holzlhuber, 1826-1898: Sketches and
Associated Materials, 1856-1860, 1959
For larger image click the following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=28146&qstring
1
A Look at Building a New Life in
Wisconsin
Image ID: 5348
Collection Name:
For larger image click the
following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.
org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=5
348&qstring
•
•
In 1919, a view of the stage during a Milwaukee pageant put on to
welcome the city’s newest citizens.
The woman posing as the Statue of Liberty would emigrate to Palestine
in 1921. Golda Myerson would become the famous leader Golda Meir.
2
The Stories…
• “Push and Pull”
Image ID: 41751
Collection Name: Harper’s Weekly
For larger image click the following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullR
ecord.asp?id=41751&qstring
3
Why Immigrate?
PUSH FACTORS:
“The conditions of the homeland
that convince people to leave.”
What might some of these factors be?
PULL FACTORS:
“Those factors that attract people
to settle in another country.”
What might the dreams of the immigrants include?
“German Immigrants
Boarding a Ship.”
Library of Congress image,
For larger image click the
following link:
http://www.loc.gov/rr/europ
ean/imde/germany.html
Text quotes from German
Americans by Michael V.
Uschan, p. 4.
4
Currents of Change:
Newcomers Seek Land
“In the 1820s the Indians still owned all of Wisconsin,
except for pinpoints of white settlement at Green Bay, Milwaukee,
Portage and Prairie du Chien. The arrival of land-hungry pioneers,
however, put pressure on the government to secure Indian land
cessions.”
--Norman K. Risjord, Wisconsin: The Story of the Badger State.
“The Village of Portage and
Fort Winnebago in 1831.”
Norman K. Risjord,
Wisconsin: The Story of the
Badger State. (Original
drawing by Juliette Kinzie in
her book Wau-Bun, WHi
Image ID 6125.)
5
Where Did They Come From?
Graphic from German Americans by Michael V. Uschan., p.16.
6
As the World Watches…
“Big Bluestem.”
WI DNR EEK! photo.
For larger image click
the following link:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.u
s/org/caer/ce/eek/veg/pla
nts/bigblue.htm
“The opening of public land offices at Green Bay and
Mineral Point in 1834 triggered a buying frenzy in Wisconsin lands.
First in line, quite often, were pioneers from New York, Ohio and
Indiana who had squatted on Indian lands…Congress accommodated
these people with a land act of 1836 that allowed them to “preempt”
the auction by purchasing their farms at the minimum price of $1.25
an acre.”
--Norman K. Risjord, Wisconsin the Story of the Badger State.
7
Remembering Presettlement History
“Wisconsin
1, Map 64,
1899.”
Bureau of
Ethnology.
For larger
image click
the
following
link:
http://usgw
archives.ne
t/maps/cess
ions/ilcmap
64.htm
8
Focus on Three Communities:
Fall River, Beaver Dam & Portage
• Fall River established 1846.
Alfred Brayton decides to build a mill to the east of the settlers living
by the Military Road.
• Beaver Dam established 1841.
Grubbville? Site of a sacred spring.
Dam constructed by early settlers creates
substantial lake.
• Portage established 1854.
Fort Winnebago built in 1828. Excellent location by the Fox and
Wisconsin Rivers. On December 17, 1852 the name was changed to Portage
City. (The State of Wisconsin Blue Book lists the date of incorporation as 1854, but
Portage residents celebrated their city’s centennial in 1952!)
“Badger.”
U.S. Fish and Wildlife photo. Posted on Netstate Chronicle.
For larger image click the following link:
http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/wi_symb.htm
9
Plat Map of Fall River, 1890
“Fall River.” C.M. Foote photo from the State Plate Book of Columbia County, Wisconsin, For larger image click the
following link: http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu
10
By Major Groups: Ancestry of Fall River
Residents in 2000
German - 45%
Irish - 12%
Norwegian - 7%
English - 5%
French - 4%
Dutch - 4%
Polish - 4%
Danish - 2%
French Canadian - 2%
Italian - 2%
Swedish - 2%
Swiss - 1%
Hungarian - 1%
Welsh - 1%
Czech - 1%
Black or African American - 1%
Mexican - 1%
“Spillway of the Fall River Dam.”
Hughes Family Photo.
Data from ePodunk.
For more information click the following link:
www.epodunk.com
11
Bird’s Eye View of Portage: 1868
“Bird”s Eye View of Portage, 1868.” ePodunk Place photo, for larger image click the following
link: http//www.epodunk.com
12
By Major Groups:
Ancestry of
Portage Residents in
2000
“Aerial Photo of Portage.”
Wikipedia photo. For larger image click the following
link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portage,_Wisconsin
Data from ePodunk, for more click the following link:
www.epodunk.com
German - 40%
Irish - 12%
English - 9%
Norwegian - 8%
Polish - 6%
Black or African American - 4%
French - 3%
Dutch - 2%
Scottish - 2%
Mexican - 2%
Italian - 2%
Other Hispanic or Latino - 2%
Swedish - 1%
Scotch-Irish - 1%
Welsh - 1%
Czech - 1%
Swiss - 1%
Danish - 1%
French Canadian - 1%
Scandinavian - 1%
American Indian tribes, specified - 1%
13
Bird’s-Eye View of Beaver Dam, 1867
“Bird’s-Eye View of Beaver Dam, 1867.” ePodunk photo, for larger image click the following link:
http://www.epodunk.com.
14
By Major Groups: Ancestry of
Beaver Dam Residents in 2000
German - 47%
Irish - 10%
Polish - 7%
English - 5%
French - 4%
Norwegian - 4%
Mexican - 4%
Dutch - 3%
Swiss - 1%
Swedish - 1%
Italian - 1%
Czech - 1%
Scottish - 1%
Hungarian - 1%
Welsh - 1%
Scotch-Irish - 1%
Other Hispanic/ Latino - 1%
“BDACT Building.”
Beaver Dam Area Community Theater photo.
For larger image click the following link: www.bdact.org
Data from ePodunk, for more click the following link:
www.epodunk.com
15
The Immigration Puzzle
Graphic from They Came to Wisconsin by Julia Pferdehirt, p. 29.
16
What Would German Immigrants Hope to
Find in Wisconsin?
Image ID: 37967
Collection Name: Name File
For larger image click the following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=37967&qstring
17
German Immigrants Found Hope in Wisconsin
“A Lovely Invitation Card.”
Copyright unknown. If you have information
please contact Oscar Chamberlain, History
Department, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.
“The government of Wisconsin
played an active role in attracting German
immigrants to the state.
In 1852, Wisconsin established a
Commission of Immigration with a resident
commissioner in New York whose duty it was
to distribute pamphlets extolling Wisconsin's
attributes. Disbanded in 1855, it was reestablished in 1867 during the second great
wave of German immigration.
But the greatest motivation for
German settlers was the firsthand
accounts of friends and family members
who attested to the quality of their new
lives in the state, where land was
relatively easy to come by and the
German community had firmly
established itself.”
German settlers were most comfortable in communities that had German
language newspapers, social clubs, schools and churches.
18
People Living in Ireland Faced Overwhelming
Complications in their Homeland.
Image ID: 44792
Collection Name:
For larger image click the
following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/
whi/fullRecord.asp?id=44792&qs
tring
“Irish Immigrants in Search of a Better
Future.”
Issue: 285 in 2004
Copyright: Socialist Review
For larger image click the following
link:
www.Pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/s
r285/croft.htm
19
“The House is So Empty and Sad…”
“Kilkelly Ireland, eighteen and sixty. My Dear and Loving son John:
Your good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara, so good as to write these
words down.
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England. The house is so empty and
sad.
The crop of potatoes is sorely affected, a third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Bridget and Patrick O’Donnell are goin’ to be married in June.
Your mother says not to work on the railroad, and be sure to come on home
soon.”
“Kilkelly, Ireland” by Peter & Steve Jones. Written after finding letters to their grandfather from their
great-grandfather in Ireland. http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5897
20
Graphic from They Came to Wisconsin by Julia Pferdehirt, p. 17.
It Becomes Imperative for Many to
Leave Poland Behind
“Polish Immigrants
were the Second
Largest Ethnic Group
in 1880s [in
Milwaukee].
Milwaukee County
Historical Society
photo.
www.themakingof
Milwaukee.com/class
room/
“A Polish Woman” & “On Ellis Island:
Polish Women Going from a Barge to the
Immigration Building.”
eHistory photos, “Multimedia Histories,
Americans in the Raw.”
www.eHistory.osu.edu/
21
Featured in: Sue
Krolikowski’s
and Navaz
Bhavnaagri’s
article “HomeCommunity
Visits during an
Era of Reform
(1870-1920)
Website:
http://ecrp.uiuc.
edu/v2n1/bhavn
agri.html
The Pull of
the City &
The Pull of
the Land
Copyright:
Milwaukee
Public
Television
Website:
http://www.t
hemakingof
milwaukee.c
om/classroo
m/photo_lar
ge.cfm?cat=
11&p=588
Image ID: 37888
Collection Name: Place File
For larger image click the
following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org
/whi/fullRecord.asp?id=37888&
qstring
22
Norwegian Immigrants
Look to America
“Peasants from Norway on the Roof
Awaiting Deportation.”
eHiistory photo.
www.eHistory.osu.edu/
“Rosemaled Norwegian Immigrant
Trunk.”
Museum Object: 2000.77.1
For more information and to view larger
image click the following link:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/
artifacts/archives/002140.asp
23
“People in Norway Were Forced to Farm on Rocky, Hilly Land.”
Photo from They Came to Wisconsin by Julia Pferdehirt, p. 10
”Norwegian American Farmers.”
The Promise of America, Norwegian Emigrant
Museum photo.
http://www.nb.no/emigrasjon/emigration/
Finding
a New
Way
of Life
24
What About the “English”
Immigrant or the “Yankee?”
“A cartoon in Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper argues for
immigration restriction. Showing a
lonely figure (reminiscent of the
national symbol Uncle Sam)
surrounded by a range of ethnic and
racial stereotypes, the cartoon's
caption read: “A Possible Curiosity of
the Twentieth Century:
‘The Last Yankee’ Matthew
Somerville Morgan, Frank Leslie's
Illustrated Newspaper, September 8,
1888.”
“The Last Yankee.”
American Social History Project, CUNY." “The World They Came To” text & graphic.
http://www.ashp.cuny.edu/video/heaven/fworldto.html
25
How Would You Convince Someone to
Come to Fall River?
“Two Immigrant Kids (photo by Augustus F. Sherman).”
Photo from Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman, p. 3.
“View of Main Street, Fall River, Wis.”
Childs, Chicago, vintage Hughes Family
postcard.
26
America Books, Letters, Reports from Those
Who Returned to Their Homeland…
A warning against emigrating in "Illustrert Folkeblad"
(The Illustrated People's Newspaper) May 14, 1856.
“Norwegian America Book.” & “A Warning Against
Emigrating.”
The Promise of America, Norwegian Emigrant
Museum text and graphics.
http://www.nb.no/emigrasjon/emigration/
Ole: Where are you going? Peer: I am going to
America. Ole: Go back home to your bowl of porridge,
Peer. In America you will find hard work but little food,
as you can see by looking at me. I come straight from
there now. Peer: Yes, it can't be easy to live there.
When you left, you were about the same size as I am,
and now you don't seem to me to be very bulky. I
27
think I will turn back, Ole."
Beaver Dam Beckons the New Resident
Graphic from Beaver Dam Vintage Postcards by Roger Noll, p. 9
28
Portage Also Has Appeal!
“Young Irishmen Ready for Politics.”
eHistory photo, “Multimedia Histories, Americans in the Raw.”
www.eHistory.osu/edu/
29
And the Immigration Story
Continues…
•New Residents Are Welcome:
Beaver Dam versus Portage!
•Each community will be
represented by a Seventh Grade
Social Studies class.
Do You Know This Famous
Immigrant and the Country
He Came From?
•Fourth Grade “immigrants”
will vote for where they want to
settle.
•“Immigrants” will be from
either Germany, Ireland, Poland,
Norway or Great Britain.
Library of Congress American Memory Collection
photo.
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/introducti
on.html
30
Celebration!
You, Whoever You Are You, whoever you are!...
All you continentals of Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia,
indifferent of place!
All you on the numberless islands of the archipelagoes
of the sea!
All you of centuries hence when you listen to me!
All you each and everywhere whom I specify not, but
include just the same!
Health to you! good will to you all, from me and
America sent!
Each of us is inevitable,
Each of us is limitless—each of us with his or her right
upon the earth,
Each of us allow'd the eternal purports of the earth,
Each of us here as divinely as any is here.
Walt Whitman
Poem as presented on the Library of Congress Immigration home page. Graphic from
a WPA poster by Richard Hall (Federal Dance Theatre Presents Salut au Monde)
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/introduction.html
31