Looking into Our Grandparent's Immigrant Eyes

The people whose images appear in this work provide an ethnic microcosm of what makes Wisconsin's settlement story so unique. As Native Americans, primarily the Potawatomi tribe, were forced out of the region, in came large numbers of Protestant farmers from New York State. A step and a half behind the New Yorkers arrived distinct colonies of families from Western Europe-Bavarians, Würtembergers, Irish, English, Swiss, Welsh, Scots, and other European states. Peer into the faces as well as the dress presented in these outstanding photographs and see the early ethnic flavor of Wisconsin jump out at you.