Harley-Davidson Museum


Click the image to learn more. 2006 photograph of the Harley Davidson Museum under construction in the Menomonee Valley.

Opened in 2008, the Harley-Davidson Museum celebrates one of Milwaukee’s most famous businesses. Exhibits on the second floor chronicle the company’s rise from a two-person partnership to a multinational corporation, as well as its rich racing history. Displays on the ground floor emphasize the company’s influence on popular culture.[1] The museum’s construction reflected a revitalization effort carried out by the city in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.[2] To emphasize Milwaukee’s industrial heritage, the museum was constructed on a long-neglected industrial tract in the Menomonee Valley.[3] The interior of the museum features exposed bricks and steel beams, and the floor is repurposed from a defunct Third Ward knitting mill.[4]

Footnotes [+]

  1. ^ Rich Rovito, “Harley-Davidson Revs Up for Museum’s Opening,” The Business Journal, Milwaukee, July 4, 2008, accessed through Wisconsin Newspapers Digital Research Site from Wisconsin Newspaper Association (BadgerLink).
  2. ^ Harley Davidson, “Museum Grounds—Self-Guided Tours,” pamphlet, p. 1.
  3. ^ Matt Vella, “The Harley Museum Goes the Whole Hog: The Milwaukee Motorcycle Mecca Will Showcase Harley-Davidson’s History, Creating a Shrine for Bikers,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 11, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jul2008/id20080711_796036.htm, accessed December 13, 2011.
  4. ^ Rich Rovito, “Harley-Davidson Revs Up for Museum’s Opening.”

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