Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Where the Waters Meet exhibit at Milwaukee County Historical Society
In past years, an exhibit called “Milwaukee: Where the Waters Meet” might have been organized as a timeline: The confluence of the three rivers with Lake Michigan drew indigenous people; European settlers saw it as an ideal trading post; the city became a Great Lakes port; industry thrived.
Not this time. The Milwaukee County Historical Society’s exhibit of that name is arranged topically and imbued with urgency. The text panels spell it out clearly: If we run out of water, we run out of time.
“It’s a different approach than in the past,” explains Ben Barbera, the Historical Society’s director of collection and exhibitions. “We wanted to tie the history to the present day. It’s a call to action with information on what we can do to protect this resource—around the house as well as through advocacy.”
“Where the Waters Meet’ includes displays that recall Milwaukee’s history as an innovator and its responses to local water-related problems in the last century. As early as 1925, the city’s sewerage treatment plant began removing bacteria from waste. Eventually the byproduct of sewerage treatment was successfully marketed as fertilizer, Milorganite. The Milwaukee and Kinnickinnic rivers are cleaner now than 50 years ago thanks to environmental legislation and initiatives. The deep tunnel project of the 1980s has helped alleviate (but not eliminate) sewer backups, and after the 1993 cryptosporidium outbreak thickened 400,000 residents, expensive upgrades have prevented recurrence of the water-borne malady.
Milwaukee history offers hope for solving a new logjam of problems with creativity and the will to implement ideas. Much of “Where the Waters Meet” is in the present rather than the past tense. Display topics include invasive species that threaten the sturgeon, perch and whitefish that swam the Great Lakes for many millennia; and melting polar icecaps that trigger changes already occurring in the Great Lakes. Along with rising temperatures are rising populations, agriculture and industry, all of them thirsty for fresh water. According to one panel. Waukesha, with its wells nearly dry, needs 10.1 million gallons of water a day—much of it from Lake Michigan. Another panel notes that Foxconn’s Mount Pleasant plant will use seven million gallons a day, albeit the corporation promises to restore half of that number through waste-water treatment.
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The original version of “Where the Waters Meet” opened in January 2021. With the pandemic keeping attendance down, the Historical Society decided to reboot this January. One new feature is “a kid’s path,” Barbera says, “which distills the information in ways children will find more approachable.” With special children’s size bracelets, kids can tap panels triggering the perky voice of Gertie the Duck, the beloved midcentury avian celebrated by a statue on the Riverwalk.
For adults, there are brochures on raingardens, natural landscaping and other methods of conserving water in our homes and yards.
“We worked with around 25 organizations,” Barbera says of the exhibit’s installations. “UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences, MMSD, the DNR, Milwaukee Riverkeeper. I discovered a robust water community who were willing to help. I had to turn down things, including a tank of sea lampreys,” he says, citing an invasive species threatening the Great Lakes’ ecosystem. “I really wanted that tank!”
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Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
The Christopher Columbus at Goodrich Dock, Milwaukee
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Image: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Where the Waters Meet exhibit at Milwaukee County Historical Society
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Image: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Shoot the Chutes and Bechstein's
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Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Where the Waters Meet exhibit at Milwaukee County Historical Society
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Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Sailing Ships at the the 6th Street Viaduct, Milwaukee
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Photo: Milwaukee County Historical Society
Kilbourn Reservoir, Milwaukee, 1920s
