• Machine Shop of the World

    Machine Shop of the World

    Roman Kwasniewski’s 1924 photograph of a gear twice as tall as a man reflects industrial Milwaukee’s special skill in metal fabrication.

  • Bradford Beach

    Bradford Beach

    Milwaukee county residents enjoy summer sunshine and sand on Lake Michigan’s shoreline in 1985.

  • Wishes in the Wind

    Wishes in the Wind

    Image of David Lenz’s Wishes in the Wind courtesy of David Lenz and the Suzanne and Richard Pieper Family Foundation.

  • St. Josephat

    St. Josaphat

    This photograph from around 1920 shows the Basilica from the lagoon in Kosciuszko Park.

  • Milwaukee River Downtown

    Milwaukee River Downtown

    Automobiles and boats traverse Milwaukee’s downtown by the Michigan Avenue Bridge in this 1974 photograph by Harold Mayer.

  • Gemütlichkeit

    Gemütlichkeit

    The German sense of conviviality and comfort animated social gatherings among Milwaukeeans of various ethnic backgrounds, even at this “Hard Time party” taken by Roman Kwasniewski in 1924.

Machine Shop of the World

Machine Shop of the World

Roman Kwasniewski’s 1924 photograph of a gear twice as tall as a man reflects industrial Milwaukee’s special skill in metal fabrication.

Welcome to the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, a Digital Humanities Project sponsored by the History Department in the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The EMKE offers approximately 700 entries on Milwaukee history topics ranging from arts and culture to philanthropy and nonprofit organizations to business and labor. We invite you to explore our content, learn more about the development of the project, and read our Frequently Asked Questions. Expand the “Explore More” button at the bottom of entries to read user comments and additional stories about how our authors wrote their contributions. If you would like to offer public feedback on an entry, you may register for a user account (look on the right hand side of the blue bar above) and then scroll down to the Comments section of the entry you would like to tell us more about. You may also use the Contact page to send us a direct message or the Support page.

Margo Anderson and Amanda I. Seligman, Editors

Featured Entry

Non-Partisan Elections

A copy of a rectangular shape campaign poster for Peter Kaminski as a Milwaukee alderman. The poster is divided into three portions. The upper part reads
The impetus for non-partisan elections at the local level in Wisconsin originated with a fear among Milwaukee Republicans and Democrats that their Socialist competitors might become a sustained political alternative following the election of Emil... Read More