25 June 1876 marked one of the last major military engagements between the US Calvary and Native American Tribes. Known as the ‘Battle of the Little Bighorn’ it pitted George A. Custer, a veteran of …
Politics
The Birth of “Fighting Bob”
14 June marks the birthday of one of Wisconsin’s most famous sons, Robert M. Lafollette (1855 – 1925). Lafollette served as both Governor and US Senator from Wisconsin, and launched an independent bid for the …
The Final Journey
On 6 June 1968, Robert F. Kennedy, at the time a US Senator and candidate for President, was shot and killed by an assassin. Following his funeral in New York City, Senator Kennedy’s body was …
Remembering “The Gipper”
It was on this date, 2 June, 2004 that America’s 40th President, Ronald Reagan died. Reagan had served two terms as Governor of California and launched two failed Presidential bids before defeating incumbent President Jimmy Carter …
From the Subcontinent to the Campus
27 May marks the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru was a key figure in India’s independence and growth as a nation. Considered to be the political heir of Mohandas K. Gandhi, he became the first …
The Summer of Judgement
In 1973, the nation was captivated by a televised hearing taking place in the US Senate. On 17 May the Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities opened its hearings on the Watergate Break-In and …
Rose Schneiderman – This Week’s “Profile in Jewish American Heritage”
Rose Schneiderman was a legendary organizer of women workers, once saying, What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist — the right to life as the rich woman has …
Where books are burned, so too shall people burn
On 10 May, 1933, Students in Nazi Germany burned upwards of 25,000 books in public bonfires. The books by Jewish authors and others deemed subversive by the Nazis were consigned to the flames. This included …
A Voice in the Wilderness
John Brown was the embodiment of the most radical wing of the abolitionist movement during the pre-civil war period in American history. in 1837, after a mob of pro-slavery vigilantes murdered abolitionist publisher Elijah P. Lovejoy in …
An Activist Shaped by War and Study
It sounds like something out of a war comics adventure story, but it is all true. UW-Madison grad John Gilman earned some the highest military honors for bravery in WWII through several heroic exploits. These …