WHYSCONSIN
How Did Wisconsin Get Its Name? It’s Complicated.
It turns out "How Wisconsin got its name" is a somewhat tricky question to answer. But what we do know, is that it came from the Algonquian language family — spoken by tribes in Wisconsin like the Menominee, Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Mohican.
This story is part of Wisconsin Life and WPR's WHYsconsin project. What have you always wondered about Wisconsin, its people or its culture that you want WHYsconsin to look into? You ask the questions, and we find the answers!
LATEST STORIES
Wisconsin Life # 708: Driving Passions
In Kenosha, the library comes to you! Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald renews her love of reading by checking out the Kenosha Public Library Bookmobile. To learn about how this program got its start, Angela talks with the library’s outreach coordinator, Jill Miatech.
The Buck Of A Lifetime: Hopes And The Reality Of Hunting
Wisconsin’s deer hunting season is underway with bow hunting lasting until January. Hunters plan for this time all year long, imagining the challenge of the hunt and the thrill of bagging their prey.
Dina Nina Martinez: Ready or Not, Here She Comes
Comedy can be a risky business and Dina Nina Martinez knows that all too well. Originally from Texas, Martinez along with her dog Gurdy arrived in Madison via Los Angeles. Not the most logical path to stardom but it seems to be working for Martinez.
Challenge Academy Alumnus From Kaukauna Mentors Next Generation
Joey Smith did not always feel comfortable growing up, and a chaotic time in high school brought him to the Challenge Academy—a six-month reform school run by the Wisconsin National Guard.
Chippewa Falls Teen Performs In New York City Musical About Hemophilia
Colin Orth dreams of being a traveling musician. The teenager plays trumpet in the Chippewa Falls High School jazz band. “I love how it stands out. I like how you can always hear a trumpet in a band.
Ms. Milele’s Legacy Of Telling Positive Stories About The African-American Community
“I came to Madison in 1968,” recalls 85-year-old Madison activist Milele Chikasa Anana. “In that era, when I would look at newspapers or the news, I saw only stereotypical images of black people, and I thought, ‘This story is not balanced.
Steven Salmon: The Tapping Author
Every author has their own way of writing — they get in the zone, channel their creativity, and then (hopefully!) words start flowing onto the page or screen.
There’s a writer in Madison that does this by writing in Morse code.
Wisconsin Life # 707: Living Legacy
Wisconsin Life host Angela Fitzgerald celebrates Dutch heritage with a trip to the Little Chute Windmill. She gets to see the authentic 1850s-esque construction firsthand, in a living piece of history.
Basketball Is The Hook At Mentoring Positives
For Will Green, who grew up poor at the end of the steel mill area in Gary, Indiana, basketball was a way out.
“I had a great coach and he just always taught us that what you do in life is how you’re going to be as a basketball player,” says Green.
Organ Donor Gives Kidney To Total Stranger
One day, Missy Makinia was on Facebook when something caught her attention. There was a little girl in her town of Ladysmith, Wisconsin who needed a kidney.
“My daughter look at me and said, ‘You know mom, you would match up with her blood type,’ Makinia said.
Edgar Dairy Farmers Reinvent Their Third-Generation Family Farm Into A Garden Oasis
For three generations, the Bauman family roots have run deep on this land. Dave and Debbie Bauman are not about to let that change. Their name in German means “small farmer.” And it’s what Dave always wanted to be.
Cumberland Painter Learns To Control Alcohol Ink
Jan Killian has always loved nature. “I was the kid that somebody would find a bug in our house, ‘Oh, there’s a beetle here,’ and I’d yell, ‘Don’t kill it!’ and I’d be running over and I’d grab it and I’d put it outside,” Killian says.
