Looking into Our Grandparent's Immigrant Eyes

About the Book

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.

About the Author

Thomas Ramstack is a retired special education teacher for Milwaukee Public Schools. He holds bachelor’s degrees in history and psychology from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, as well as a master’s degree in special education from Cardinal Stritch University. He has had a long fascination with that unique aspect of Wisconsin’s history which focuses on the ethnic history of our state. Through these images, Ramstack hopes modern-day residents, too, might capture something of the life experiences of the Wisconsin’s early European and Yankee inhabitants.