Milwaukee County Historical Society

Past Exhibits

Milwaukee Outdoors: A Century of the County Parks System

If you missed this exhibit you can see a traveling version of it at Boerner Botanical Gardens. Explore how Milwaukeeans have enjoyed and used local parks over the last 100 years. Milwaukee Outdoors will look at how the outdoors builds the physical, mental, natural, and economic health of our community.

Look back to the early private beer gardens and amusement parks and how they Swimming Areaset a standard for later public parks. The story of the city and county park systems are told through the parks themselves—Lake, Juneau, Riverside, Kosciuszko, Humboldt, Grant, Mitchell, Washington, Estabrook, Brown Deer, and Whitnall. Included are artifacts and photographs related to golfing, lawn bowling, skiing, skating, fishing, tennis, bird watching, baseball, and tobogganing.

The effects of major historical events, including the impact of the Great Depression, and the decision to transfer the parks to the county are all explored. Learn about the county’s extended use of federal works projects under the New Deal program helped shape the parks we enjoy today. Other stories include the building of a new baseball stadium, the zoo, and war memorial that all came as a result of the Post World War II economic Parksboom and community feeling of optimism.

The turbulence of the 1960s race relations played out in Kosciuszko Park as part of Father Groppi’s open housing marches. Mitchell Park is today part of the current debate about immigration law as thousands of protestors rallied at this years’ “A Day Without Latinos” event.

Urban Wilderness: A Paradox
Eddee Daniel, a fine art photographer, writer, activist and arts educator, documents nature within the city of Milwaukee. His on-going project started in 1999, includes photography of area riversides and streams. Titled Urban Wilderness, this exhibit explores the paradox of wilderness in the city. Daniel’s mission is to celebrate the joy of experiencing nature in an urban environment and to infuse a sense of personal responsibility in viewers and the role they may play in the conservation of the land, water, and its creatures . You can learn more about Eddee Daniel at his website.

Major League Milwaukee

Braves and BrewersBraves, Brewers, Baseball

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the World Series win by the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the 25th anniversary of the Brewers win in the 1982 American League Championship. Celebrate baseball in Milwaukee today with a trip into the past.

The major leagues came to Milwaukee in 1953 when the Boston Braves became the Milwaukee Braves. The team left for Atlanta in 1965 and only five years later, another team took its place when the Seattle Pilots became the Milwaukee Brewers.

Over 100 objects and a similar number of photographs help tell the story of baseball excitement, pride, fame, struggle, and even bitter disappointment. From the story come legends such as Henry Aaron, Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and Lou Burdette of the Braves and Paul Molitor, Gorman Thomas, Robin Yount, and Jim Gantner of the Brewers

Included in the exhibit are baseball bats used by Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, and Gorman Thomas, a signed uniform from Ben Oglivie, a signed batting helmet from Cecil Cooper, and signed balls and baseball cards from many of the other players. Fan souvenirs and business advertisements represent a major part of the exhibit: booster pins and buttons; a player ring made by Max Margolis of the Columbia Family Clothing Stores; Spic and Span and Johnston Cookies baseball cards; an Old Milwaukee bar score board; score cards, pennants and bobble heads; a turn stile from Milwaukee County Stadium, and much more. Listen to original radio broadcasts of the 1957 series and view television footage of both the Braves in 1957 and Brewers in 1982. Hands-on activities for kids include an interactive that shows the differences between player gloves, a dress up area to put on fan gear, and baseball pin ball game.