Milwaukee County Historical Society

2007 Awards

MERIT AWARD

Milwaukee Public Television for the website and curriculum materials developed in conjunction with the five-hour television series The Making of Milwaukee extending the usefulness of The Making of Milwaukee to classroom teachers and students.

COMMENDATION AWARD

The Cudahy Historical Society for their leadership in planning and developing the Immigrant Family Park immediately adjacent to their headquarters in the Cudahy railroad depot as part of their community’s Centennial.

The Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum for their innovative efforts to cast in concrete important events from the history of Milwaukee’s African-American community. As part of the re-construction of Milwaukee’s Marquette Interchange, bas-reliefs of runaway slaves Joshua Glover and Caroline Quarles are now on the walls of the Fond du Lac underpass, the street which once served as the main route through Milwaukee for the Underground Railroad. In addition, a tribute to Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood – destroyed by the original construction of the freeway – appears on the Walnut Street Bridge where busts of Felmers Chaney and Bernice Lindsay are juxtaposed with a series of Ghanan Adinkra symbols, designed by artist Muneer Bahauddeen with the help of Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts students.

RECOGNITION AWARD

Darryl Heron and Bob Cowan, for their work on behalf of Trimborn Farm

Patricia Lynch and Laura Rinaldi for their work on behalf of the “Soldiers’ Home” historic district, the original Civil War-era home for disabled soldiers, predecessor to the nearby Clement Zablocki Veterans Administration Hospital.

GAMBRINUS PRIZE

H. Robert Baker for his publication The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution, and the Coming of the Civil War.

MARION G. OGDEN PRIZE

David Schroeder for his article Paddling Their Own Canoe: Wisconsin Synod Lutherans in Milwaukee during the Bennett Law Contest.

FREDERICK I. OLSON PRESERVATION AWARD

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the school’s community-oriented restoration of the Kenilworth Building. Originally constructed in 1914 by the Ford Motor Company as an automobile assembly plant, the Farwell Avenue segment of the building was used to build Model T’s until 1942.The Farwell Avenue building has transformed into the 174-unit Kenilworth Square Apartments, providing housing for up to 374 UW-M students. The Prospect Avenue facility, is now an auxiliary facility for the Peck School of the Arts.

COURTLAND R. CONLEE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD

Mario Carini for his work researching Milwaukee’s Italian community which has earned him eighteen copyrights, has provided other researchers much easier access to the history of Milwaukee’s Italian community.

WITNESS TO HISTORY

Dante Navarro, for his selfless service to the Milwaukee Latino community. Creator of The Spanish Radio Hour in 1949, He continued to host and produce the show for 33 years. Dante Navarro became active in various efforts to provide educational opportunities, civil rights, and economic support for members of Milwaukee’s small Latino community. In 1956, he established local councils of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Waukesha. During the 1960s, Navarro assisted the United Migrant Opportunity Service (UMOS) of Milwaukee and Waukesha in developing programs for farm workers. He also established the Mexican Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin during this same period. During the 1970s, Dante Navarro also helped to start Fiesta Mexicana, now Mexican Fiesta, which would become one of Milwaukee’s major lakefront ethnic festivals.

ANNIVERSARY ACCOLADES

150 Years
Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun
Marquette University High School
Northwestern Mutual

125 Years
The Milwaukee Public Museum
Schwaab, Inc.
Sensient Technologies

100 Years
Local 494 of the Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
The Lutheran Home, Wauwatosa
The MacDowell Club
The Milwaukee County Parks Department
St. Luke’s UCC Church
Zimmerman Design Group

75 Years
Real Chili

50 Years
Klement’s Sausage
Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation
Milwaukee Public Television
Mount Mariah Baptist Church
St. Francis Hospital
Spice House
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee