Courtesy of Viewaukee
On Friday, the Milwaukee County Historical Society and CG Schmidt introduced Viewaukee—a new interactive public history exhibit that quite literally offers users a look into the city’s past. Viewaukee debuts with 10 “viewers” located throughout the city that showcase a historic point-of-view image from a significant or transitive periods in the city’s history. The 10 locations are just the start, said Mame McCully, executive director of the Historical Society. “The plan is to grow this interactive and innovative approach to sharing history by adding a variety of locations over the coming years.” The complete set of 10 viewers is expected to be ready to use next week.
Here are a few of the Viewaukee locations that are definitely worth checking out:
16th Street Viaduct, corner of 16th and Clybourn streets
In the midst of the city’s biggest social justice movement since, there is no better time to reflect on Milwaukee’s 1967 opening housing marches. This view of the viaduct, renamed the James E. Groppi Unity Bridge in 1988, shows a 1967 march across what was widely considered at the time to be Milwaukee’s “Mason-Dixon line.” The bridge linked the African American neighborhoods of the North Side with the predominantly white South Side. Crossing the bridge, the marchers were met by thousands of whites who violently confronted the peaceful protestors.
Milwaukee Public Market, 407 N Water St
Perhaps no neighborhood in Milwaukee has seen as much cultural change as the Third Ward. Its present-day status as one of the city’s choicest areas owes much to the Milwaukee Public Market, which opened in 2005. The Market was built on the site of a building that dated to the 1840s and ended up as a key part of Milwaukee’s LGBT history. Long\ known as the Cross Keys Hotel, the building is seen through the viewer in the 1960s as the home of the Crystal Palace, a show house and saloon that had a loyal gay clientele. In 1971, the building became home to the River Queen, one of Milwaukee most celebrated gay bars.
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Milwaukee River at the Marcus Center, 929 N Water St
Looking south along the river, this viewer shows a landmark that is still standing—the State Street bascule bridge, the oldest bascule-style bridge in Milwaukee. Another venerable local landmark—the Germania Building and its trademark pickelhaube domes—is also visible. But the most interesting part of this image is found not in the familiar, but in what has changed in the century-plus since the photo was made. Low-slung industrial buildings, marshy riverfrontage, and washed-out docking space looks very much out of the place in a time where the river is one of the major draws of downtown.
For more information and a complete list of Viewaukee locations, visit www.Viewaukee.com.
To read more Milwaukee history articles, click here.
To read more articles by Matthew J. Prigge, click here.
