The Wisconsin Story: 150 People, Places, and Turning Points that Shaped the Badger State

by Dennis McCann

The Wisconsin 150 People, Places, and Turning Points that Shaped the Badger State offers readers engaging vignettes about everything Wisconsin. From portraits of significant figures like Robert and Belle La Follette, Golda Meir, and Edna Ferber, to stories of important events like the Black Hawk War, 1960s campus protests, and oleo smuggling, The Wisconsin Story takes readers on a fun and informative ride all across the Badger State. Where was Calvin Coolidge’s summer White House? What was the “anti-corset resolution?” And why was a cow named Ollie milked on an airplane? Award-winning newspaper columnist Dennis McCann’s talent for distilling complex subjects into brief stories that pack a punch makes this collection the perfect answer to the question “what makes Wisconsin, Wisconsin?”

Genres: Nonfiction, History

320 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2019

About the author

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Reviews

[Emily Koester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew Wisconsin could boast having the first cow to be milked on an airplane in flight? Or that the first kindergarten in the United States was in Wisconsin? Or the Badger State is known in the medical world to have the first ever recorded open heart surgery?

I do now, after reading "The Wisconsin Story: 150 People, Places, and Turning Points that Shaped the Badger State" by Dennis McCann.

Each story is short, only two or three pages long and many accompanied by a photo. This book would be perfect at the cabin for visitors and full time residents of Wisconsin alike to enjoy and learn the basics of some cool stories. Out of the 150 stories in this book, I was only familiar with eight beforehand, including Woodruff's very own Dr. Kate, the first snowmobile built by Carl Eliason in Sayner, John Dillinger and Little Bohemia, and Rhinelander's hodag. I also learned a little more scandalous history on Hurley's Silver Street.

This book is a nice, quick guide to some interesting and lesser-known history of the state of Wisconsin.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Wisconsinite should delve a bit into our history as we've got some remarkable stories. Dennis McCann, former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter tells 150 of those stories based on interesting people, places and turning points. Most of those stories will make you proud that you live in America's Dairyland, but not all will. I especially liked reading those that told of the times that Wisconsinites stood up for the rights of blacks, women, farmers and labor. No tale is longer than 3 pages, so this book is easy to pick up for a few stories, then set it down again. The book is not arranged in chronological order, so you are always moving around in history and for me, that meant each time I turned the page to a new story, I could be transported back a hundred years or maybe only a few decades. Although I knew many of the people (Father Marquette, Gaylord Nelson, Teddy Roosevelt) I always learned something new from each piece.