Traveling Exhibit – Neighbors Past and Present
Check the MKI Events Page for exhibition dates in local communities.
To learn more about individual exhibit themes, click on the links for each of the 14 panels below!
The Max Kade Institute introduces a new traveling exhibit: “Neighbors Past and Present: The Wisconsin German Experience.” On fourteen panels that draw largely on images and resources from our Library and Archives, the exhibit covers German migration and settlement in Wisconsin, questions of ethnicity and identity in newly forged communities, and the cohesiveness of these communities over the decades, especially in times of economic crisis or war. Our goal is to show the exhibit in as many places in Wisconsin as possible, – and in other states, too. In each exhibiting community, local collaborators will augment the exhibit with displays or programming of their own.
For a detailed schedule and more information, including additional programming, go to the MKI EVENTS page. If you would like to bring “Neighbors Past and Present” to your community, contact Antje Petty: apetty@wisc.edu.
It has been a challenge to limit complex topics to only fourteen exhibit panels with about 400 words each. Some important issues, events, and people were mentioned only in passing, others had to be omitted entirely. In the coming months, we will use this website to supplement the panels with more information, context, and additional resources. This is an ongoing project. Please check back frequently.
Click on the links for each panel below to learn more!
1) A New Home
3) Language
5) Beliefs
7) Education
8) Traditions
9) Music, Theater, and Visual Arts
12) Civic and Political Engagement
13) In Times of War
14) Local is Global
We are grateful to the Wisconsin Humanities Council for a Major Grant that has made this project possible.
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS and FEEDBACK
- For additional reading suggestions, click on the individual exhibit panels above.
- Have you visited “Neighbors Past and Present” in your community? Browsed this website? We look forward to hearing from you! Please fill out the attached evaluation form and email it to Antje Petty: apetty@wisc.edu
FOCUS on COMMUNITIES
Check the MKI EVENTS PAGE to see where “Neighbors Past and Present” is on exhibition in community venues.
“Neighbors Past and Present” has traveled across Wisconsin and neighboring states. To bring the exhibit to your community, contact Antje Petty: apetty@wisc.edu.
At each exhibiting venue, local partners have augmented the exhibit with special programming, displays, and resource materials of their own. The links below are a few examples of how “Neighbors Past and Present” has been integrated in Wisconsin communities.