About Us
(Photo above of Brett Weir, WI Conservation Congress)
The Slinger Area History/Culture Committee was started in 2013 with inspiration from the Cooperative Academic Achievement Program partnership with the UW-Oshkosh Sociology department at Slinger High School, the Slinger Advancement Association's past research on local topics, and the Wisconsin Teachers of Local Culture and their "Bringing It Home Project." The Bringing It Home Project inspired teachers and community members to nurture inquiry based projects featuring local culture. The Slinger Area History/Culture Project encourages local history and local culture research techniques embedded within the social studies curriculum at Slinger High School. Since 2013, the topics have varied and the people involved on the committee and within our school district often vary from year to year based on the theme of research. Local historians with ties to the History Center of Washington County, the Hartford History room, and others merely with a love of history have added multiple layers to this project. In 2016-2017, thanks to Student Council at Slinger High School (U.S. Cellular Pear Up), Slinger School District, the WI Humanities Council/National Endowment of the Humanities, and the many local volunteers, Slinger students were able to get into the field a bit for some experiential learning. While some data was documented in audio and text form, they were also able to document some of the data in video form with the help of technical expert, Dean Leisgang from ETP/NEW. We did utilize Dr. Paul Van Auken's work with the Hmong Voices Project and Cashton Community research as research models for students. While we encouraged participant driven photo elicitation, many times what we ended up getting was researcher driven observation photos. Many of those photos are on the website. The goal of this website is to archive stories and data for community, teacher, and student use and to help create conversation about water, transportation, and working lives. We think it's pivotal to help students understand how the people around them live and to learn more about what makes organizations and communities sustainable. We thank you for all your support!
Special Thanks to Wisconsin Humanities Council
"Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both." C. Wright Mills
"Human resources are like natural resources; they are often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves." Sir Ken Robinson
"All work is fundamentally rooted in human interaction." Douglas Harper
COMMUNITY
Contact us at slingerhistoryculture@gmail.com with specific ideas, stories, or data that can be added in the future
Community: One definition
"An inclusive web of interconnected relationships that develops in a particular place through a process of repeated social interaction in local society which is shaped by the landscape it inhabits."
Dr. Paul Van Auken (2010)
For other Slinger area history and culture topics, please visit www.slingerhistoryculture.com or click here
Additional thanks, in no particular order to those who helped with resources and research:
*Heather Przybylski, Patricia Lutz, Bette Weninger, Shirley Hess, Amy Keliher, Paul Van Auken, Mary Hoefferle, Ruth Olsen, Mark Wagner, Anne Pryor, Dena Wortzel, Meg Turville-Heitz, Carmelo Davila, Nancy Schilling-Genz, Barb Herther, Marlene Reinders, Lee and Mary Krueger, Don Barse, Larry Gundrum, Mike Schuetz, Barb Johnson, Heidi Vollmar, Ed Eckert, Mary Franz, Priscilla Galasso, Bill Collar, Craig Wolf and Colette Troeller, Brad Gulbrandson, Eric Scharpf, Brad Schaefer, Troy Risse, Alex Aisbet, Steve Schmittner, Chad Strzyzewski, Steve Konrath, Connie Seidel, Linda Konrath, Dan Carroll, Brett Weir, Roger Walsh, Chuck McGrady, Bob and Sue Engel, Linda Kleinhans, Jim Haggerty and Greg Moser, Paul Sebo, Stephanie Egner, Brad Steckart, Dean and Dale Schmidt, Mary Holleback, Mike Graff, Steve Anderson, Rob Selzler, Daren Sievers, Phil Ourada, Jennifer Boyd, Nate Grimm, Jeff Wolf, Emily Lofy, Mike Hamm, Tami Dorzok, Chris Ziegelbauer, Paul Walter, Robin Bindrich, Russ Hermann, Joe Merten, Jim Wiedmeyer, Dan Dineen, Christine Bohn, Marilyn Schlotfeld, Michelle Boden Muetzel, Elizabeth Thelen, Evan Mathis, Matt Bednarski, Nick Hayes, Marian Singer, Kate Hoagland, Kristen Leffelman, Andy Wundrock, John Wundrock, Mary Wundrock, LaMont Albers, Aaron O'Rourke, Robert Lee, Rob Wessberg, Tom Isaacs, Chris Walter, Dr. Ralph Olsen, Mike Burns, Jake Anderson, Gary Casper, Todd Ormiston, Joe Mantoan, Becky Schulz, Rick Hanke Jr, Linda and AJ Brandt, Kevin from Freedom RV, Rick Sorenson, Becky Pease, and many more.
“Historians used to tell stories straight forward. That doesn’t work as well anymore with some modern audiences--we need to compete with other forms of entertainment. Our exhibits and events need to be a lot more engaging. It is sometimes harder to connect current audiences with the academic--now we need to connect with personal stories” Kristen Leffelman, Wisconsin Historical Society, Field Representative, Global Water Center, excerpt from April 26, 2017 student interview about exhibit creation
Display boards with personal stories and cultural documentation set up for the audience at the 2017 Slinger Area History Culture Night
Water, Transportation, and Working Lives videos and a website was shared with the community at the Slinger Area History Culture Night, May 24, 2017
Previous years themes were displayed and attracted audience members
Display boards with personal stories and cultural documentation set up for the audience at the 2017 Slinger Area History Culture Night