The Making of Milwaukee Film Series
The Making of Milwaukee is a five hour, high definition video series that explores the intriguing people who came to live beside Lake Michigan: their politics, their triumphs, and tragedies, their work, and play. From civic saints to scoundrels, industrialists to Socialists, Potawatomi to Hmong, The Making of Milwaukee tells the story of our city.
The Making of Milwaukee is a production of Milwaukee PBS, a service of Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Chapter 1: Natives & Traders
Chapter 1: Natives & Traders
Native Americans, Fertile Land, Pristine Waters. French Explorers and Trader Soloman Juneau. Exile of the Potawatomi.
Chapter 2: New Frontiers
Chapter 2: New Frontiers
Lake Michigan brings Settlers. Agricultural Plenty. Milwaukee's Three Founders Struggle for Supremacy. Milwaukee becomes a City, 1846.
Chapter 3: King Wheat
Chapter 3: King Wheat
King Wheat. Wheat Sows the Seeds of a Growing City. Railroads and Brash Byron Kilbourn.
Chapter 4: Here Come the Germans
Chapter 4: Here Come the Germans
Waves of German Immigrants, Beer, Brats, Gemutlichkeit, Milwaukee, "the German Athens of America"
Chapter 5: Neighbors & Strangers
Chapter 5: Neighbors & Strangers
Milwaukee becomes a Melting Pot; Irish, English, African-Americans. Ethnic Tensions, Abolitionist Fervor, and a Tragic Shipwreck. The Civil War.
Chapter 6: City of Industries
Chapter 6: City of Industries
Tanneries, Breweries, Slaughterhouses. Steam Engines, Machine Shops, Iron Rails. Plankinton, Pfister, Pabst, Miller, Allis. Milwaukee Grows Economic Muscle.
Chapter 7: City of Immigrants
Chapter 7: City of Immigrants
Ethnic Europe Discovers Milwaukee. A Polish Fishing Village and Milwaukee's Basilica. Irish, Italians, Greeks, Jews & Eastern Europeans Spice the Ethnic Stew.
Chapter 8: Machine Shop of the World
Chapter 8: Machine Shop of the World
Milwaukee, the Manufacturing Powerhouse. Enterprising Inventors, Mechanics, and Machinists. Workers Seek an Eight Hour Day. Rioting and Bloodshed in 1886.
Chapter 9: Greater Milwaukee
Chapter 9: Greater Milwaukee
Architectural Adventures: Mansions, Theaters, Offices, a Million-Dollar City Hall in 1895. Suburbs Rise from South Milwaukee to Whitefish Bay. A "Big Small Town."
Chapter 10: Trouble in Town
Chapter 10: Trouble in Town
Dirty Air and Water. Dirty Milwaukee Politics. Socialists and Labor Rise Up for Clean Government.
Chapter 11: Socialist at Work
Chapter 11: Socialist at Work
“Municipal Enterprise”. Honest Government and Civic Virtue. Creating Milwaukee’s Park System.
Chapter 12: The War to End Wars
Chapter 12: The War to End Wars
Making the World Safe for Democracy, 1917. Anti-German Fever in Milwaukee. Socialists under Siege. Prohibition Closes the Breweries.
Chapter 13: The Roaring Twenties
Chapter 13: The Roaring Twenties
America Turns Inward. Manufacturing Soars. African-Americans and Latino Primeros Make Milwaukee Home. Automobiles, Electric Lights, Radios and Movies.
Chapter 14: Hard Times & War Time
Chapter 14: Hard Times & War Time
Native Americans, Fertile Land, Pristine Waters. French Explorers and Trader Soloman Juneau. Exile of the Potawatomi.
Chapter 15: The Exploding Metropolis
Chapter 15: The Exploding Metropolis
After the War: a Baby Boom, a Housing Boom, an Economic Boom. Socialism Returns to City Hall. Suburbs and Annexations. The Milwaukee Braves.
Chapter 16: City Under Seige
Chapter 16: City Under Seige
New Civic Structures and Urban “Renewal”. Poverty, Prejudice, Housing Discrimination. The Riot of 1967.
Chapter 17: Almost Yesterday
Chapter 17: Almost Yesterday
Parades, Festivals, Ethnic Pride. New Ethnic Groups. Deindustrialization Hammers Milwaukee. The City Reinvented.
Chapter 18: The Next Chapter
Chapter 18: The Next Chapter
The Making of Milwaukee: The Next Chapter celebrates the tenth anniversary of the history-making television series. It begins where the series ended. The new segment updates some of what has happened in Milwaukee since 2006. It looks at business, technology, sports, economics, politics, social issues, and of course, its people.
