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
What is THE Wisconsin Cocktail?
When you think about a cocktail that embodies Wisconsin, what comes to mind? We posed that question to a few bartenders across Wisconsin. These are their responses.
From supper clubs to cocktail lounges to dive bars, chances are you can find an Old Fashioned just about anywhere in Wisconsin.
A Force To Be Reckoned With: Octopi’s Erica DeAnda On How Women Are Transforming Beer Culture
Erica DeAnda, a brewer at Waunakee's Octopi Brewing and chapter president of Wisconsin’s Pink Boots Society, is striving to make the brewing profession a more inviting place for women across Wisconsin.
Slingin’ Drinks: Bartending At La Crosse’s Iconic Del’s Bar
In a city with never-ending bar options, Del’s Bar in La Crosse sticks out. It’s been open since 1933 in a historic brick building downtown. Step inside on any given day and you’ll find regulars who have been coming in for 40 years, college students and tourists chatting with each other around the oval shaped bar.
Tapped In Random Lake: Company Brings Art To Tap Handles
Floor-to-ceiling cabinets run along the walls of a conference room at AJS Tap Handles in Random Lake, and packed behind the glass cabinet doors are at least 1,500 different tap handles, all pieces of art.
Mixed Martial Arts Part of American Dream for Young Guatemalan Immigrant
Felipe Martinez Donis tells the story of how he came to the United States. In 2005, Donis’ father had taken on a lot of debt to plant crops. A hurricane struck Guatemala destroying the crops and leaving the family with nothing.
A Tour Of The Spring Sky
Spring heralds earlier dawns and later sunsets. The change of season also brings a whole new set of constellations into view, including some of the oldest constellations we know. Commentator Jim Lattis takes on a tour of the spring night sky.
Rare Wisconsin Tobacco Farmers Hang On To Tradition
Tobacco used to be a major cash crop in Wisconsin, but today very few farms remain. Meet one of the rare tobacco farmers keeping this Wisconsin agricultural tradition alive, Curt Watson.
The Grand Canyon, Al Capone, And My Mom
Here’s a tale about a northern Wisconsin family’s supposed encounter with gangsters. Norman Gilliland found the connections in a family legend.
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Not long ago, by chance, I discovered the link between three things from my childhood—the Grand Canyon, Al Capone, and my mom.
Eau Claire Native Turns His Photography Into Book About Local Music
Spencer Wells grew up in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and attended college at UW-Madison. In his free time, he’s always enjoyed attending his local musician friends’ performances and documenting those moments with his camera.
Maritime Archeologist Dives Into History, Exploring Great Lake Shipwrecks
Tamara Thomsen is a maritime archeologist with the Wisconsin Historical Society. She and her team are interested in history sunken in the Great Lakes; shipwrecks resting on the bottom, hundreds of feet below the waves.
A City Got Together And Built A Place To Play
When you picture a playground the image of swings and slides and monkey bars comes to mind. But a playground can be much more than that. Crystal Chan has this story of just such a place, Little Oshkosh.
Filling The Church With Song For Over 80 Years
For nearly eight decades, one Wisconsin farm girl has followed the music along the back roads of the bluffs high above the banks of the Mississippi. As the sun rises on Sunday morning, catching the mist off the alfalfa, a pick-up truck crisscrosses the farmland on its way to morning services.
