Wisconsin (state)

A

Education

The first free elementary school in what is now Wisconsin was founded at Southport (now Kenosha) in 1845, and the first free high school was established in the same community four years later. In 1856 Margaretta Schurz, the wife of the political reformer Carl Schurz, established the first kindergarten in the United States, in Watertown. The first statewide vocational and adult-education network in the nation was established in Wisconsin in 1911. By the early 20th century the public education system of Wisconsin had been well developed.

School attendance is compulsory for children from ages 6 to 18, or upon graduation from high school. Of the state’s children, 16 percent attend private schools, one of the higher rates in the country. In the 2002–2003 school year Wisconsin spent $10,347 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of about $9,299. There were 15.1 students for every teacher (the national average was 15.9). Of those older than 25 years of age in the state, 89 percent had a high school diploma. The national norm was 83 percent.

A

1

Higher Education

The first institution of higher education in the state was Milton College, in Milton, founded in 1844. In 2004–2005 Wisconsin had 31 public and 36 private institutions of higher learning. By far the largest institution is the University of Wisconsin System, with 13 four-year campuses, including the flagship campus at Madison, and 13 two-year campuses (see Wisconsin-Madison, University of). Other schools include Marquette University and Mount Mary College, in Milwaukee; Lawrence University, in Appleton; Beloit College, in Beloit; Ripon College, in Ripon; and Carroll College, in Waukesha.

B

Libraries

A commission was established in 1895 to promote and coordinate library service throughout Wisconsin. Members of the original library commission founded the Legislative Reference Library in Madison in 1901. Now called the Legislative Reference Bureau, it provides research services for state legislators and assists them in the drafting of legislation. The largest public library in the state is the Milwaukee Public Library. The library of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin is in Madison. In 2002 Wisconsin had 380 tax-supported public library systems. Libraries each year circulated an average of 9.7 books for every resident, placing it in the top one-fifth of the states.

---

---

C

Museums

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin owns and operates the State Historical Museum in Madison, which interprets Wisconsin’s past from prehistory to the present. The society also maintains several historic sites, including Stonefield, a museum complex near Cassville that depicts 1890s rural and village life; the Circus World Museum, in Baraboo, which was the original winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus; and Old World Wisconsin, an open-air museum of architecture and culture in Eagle that mirrors the state’s diverse ethnic history. Fine-arts museums include the Wright Museum of Art, at Beloit College; the Paine Art Center and Arboretum, in Oshkosh; and the Milwaukee Art Museum, which is housed in the well-known War Memorial Center. The Milwaukee Public Museum is a natural and cultural history museum that features walk-through exhibits including a live-butterfly garden, a modern Native American powwow, and an authentic rainforest. Noted special museums include the Prairie du Chien Museum at Fort Crawford; the Rhinelander Logging Museum, where exhibits are housed in a replica of an old-time logging camp; the National Railroad Museum, in Green Bay; and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Airventure Museum, in Oshkosh.

D

Communications

Almost 400 newspapers are published in Wisconsin, including 33 dailies. The first newspaper in what is now Wisconsin was the weekly Green-Bay Intelligencer, founded in 1833. Established as a weekly in 1837, the Milwaukee Sentinel developed into the most influential newspaper in the state during the Civil War (1861-1865). The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which began publishing in 1995 after the merger of the Milwaukee Journal and the Milwaukee Sentinel, the state’s oldest existing newspaper, is Wisconsin’s largest daily in terms of circulation.

The first radio station in Wisconsin, 9XM, at the University of Wisconsin, began broadcasting in 1919. Station WIBA, licensed in 1925, is the state’s oldest commercial station. Wisconsin’s first television station was WTMJ-TV, which began broadcasting at Milwaukee in 1947. In 2002 Wisconsin had 94 AM and 144 FM radio stations and 35 television stations.