Water Works

Latest Episodes:

The River Keepers Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

Though we can tell a history of Milwaukee's environmental movement, the effort to clean up and preserve our waters is also a story of the present. In this episode of Water Works, our season's finale, historian Jonathon Stuever tells the story of Milwaukee's river keepers.
Water Works is a production of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of History and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Cleaning Up Our Act Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

As we've seen, the history of Milwaukee's relationship with water has been in many ways defined by the damage Milwaukeeans have done to its rivers, lakes, and streams. In this episode of Water Works, we begin to focus on Milwaukee's concerted efforts to clean up the messes it has made by charting the history of our environmental movement.
Water Works is a production of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of History and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

The Battle for Blue Space Mar 14, 2022

Show notes

Milwaukee is widely known for its ample public beach space. But the lakefront was not always this accessible. In this episode of Water Works, produce Marisa Camacho explores how Milwaukee's abundance of blue spaces is in many ways a legacy of the Socialist Party's rise in the early 1900s.
Water Works is a production of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of History and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Under the Surface Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Do you know where the water you drink comes from? And do you know where it goes when it flows down the drain? Well, on this episode of Water Works we not only explain how Milwaukee's water infrastructure works, we also explain how it came to be.
For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Shipwrecks Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

The Lady Elgin often has an outsized presence in Milwaukee's maritime history. The boat's fateful voyage in 1860 took place in the midst of several local and national conflicts, while the ship's wreckage remains a destination for divers to this day. On this episode of Water Works we parse fact from fiction in the sinking of the Lady Elgin, and ask what shipwrecks can tell us about Milwaukee history more broadly.
For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Bridge War Feb 16, 2022

Show notes

Milwaukee is a city born of conflict. Though, it might not be the conflict you'd expect. The city's charter took shape over a fight over bridges, and the result of this fight is still visible on any map of Milwaukee today. Today's show is produced by public history student Oscar Harding.
For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Millennial Thinking Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

Last episode on Water Works, we looked at the ways Milwaukee's first peoples articulated their deep admiration for the waters of the area through the effigy mounds they constructed in the time before European contact. This episode, we explore how Wisconsin's native communities sought to conserve and preserve their relationship with water in the era after white settlers began forcibly removing them from their land. The episode was produced by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee public history student Elizabeth Loomer.
For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out milwaukeehistory.net/podcast.

Water Spirits Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

The first peoples who called the land we call Milwaukee home recognized the centrality of water to the region. Beyond relying on the rivers and lakes to survive, the area's Indigenous communities also revered water. In this episode of Water Works, public historian David Zeh documents how effigy mounds built throughout Milwaukee and Wisconsin reveal a deep connection been life and the water that sustains it.
For more information about the show, including photographs and documents from the era, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

Water Works: A Preview Jan 31, 2022

Show notes

A preview of the new season of a podcast from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Department of History and the Milwaukee County Historical Society. Last season looked at the 1918-1919 Influenza outbreak in Milwaukee, and asked what that history could teach us about navigating the coronavirus pandemic today. This season we look at Milwaukee's unique relationship with the waters that surround. The season takes its inspiration from the Milwaukee County Historical Society's new exhibit, "Milwaukee: Where the Waters Meet," which is on display until April 23, 2022.

Episode 7: The Healthiest City Apr 20, 2021

Show notes

By the end of the epidemic, the United States had lost 0.6% of the population to the Spanish Flu, with around 675,000 deaths. Yet Milwaukee suffered a relatively low death rate. In 1918, Milwaukee was the thirteenth largest city in the US and one of the nation’s most densely populated cities. Perhaps Milwaukee’s response can account for some of this discrepancy; per capita, the city outspent 9 of the 12 most populous cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, on health and sanitation. In this episode, we explore the global impact of the epidemic and the personal experience of Wisconsinites whose families lived through it.
For more information about the show, including images and documents from 1918, check out https://milwaukeehistory.net/podcast/.

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