As a Chinese American growing up in Milwaukee, Adam Carr never associated his family history with the city. 

He knew Milwaukee was known as the “machine shop of the world,” creating jobs in an industrialized economy and the big boom in manufacturing and trade in the late 1800s. But he didn’t fully understand the role Chinese Americans played in its success.

But after talking to community members and doing some research, Carr and the Organization of Chinese Americans Wisconsin Chapter discovered a rich history of labor and dignity during the Chinese laundry era.  

“Knowing that there was a place for (Chinese) families who came to Milwaukee and… to know that Chinese labor was part of the labor that built Milwaukee is really meaningful,” Carr said on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

This year, the Wisconsin State Historical Society in partnership with local community ambassadors is creating 12 historical markers to highlight Wisconsin history that has often gone unrecognized. It will include the two markers from the Organization of Chinese Americans that are expected to be installed in the fall. 

Both markers are in Milwaukee County. One at Forest Home Cemetery will recognize the ceremonial practice of Qingming when Chinese people clean off graves of their ancestors in the spring. The other will be located on MLK Drive and outline a brief history of the Chinese  laundry industry, commemorating how many early Chinese immigrants opened laundries. By 1887, there were approximately 90 Chinese people living in Milwaukee and 30 laundries, according to Urban Anthology. 

Carr’s mother grew up in Los Angeles. His mother’s parents migrated from China and found pride and power working at a laundry.  

“In thinking about what it meant to grow up working in a laundry and the incredible labor that that represented for (my mother) and her siblings in their family business, that’s what made my life possible,” he said. “That isn’t just a Chinese story — that actually is a Milwaukee story. That is a Wisconsin story. Those that came before us, their toil, their labor — it was an act of faith for the future.” 

There are roughly 620 markers across Wisconsin. Carr said the markers could be considered passive, just informational plaques that people walk by. But even just the work to preserve the history of Chinese Americans in Milwaukee makes that history less invisible. 

“That’s an act of hope,” he said.  

Find the historical markers across Wisconsin 

Mallory Hanson said connecting Wisconsin residents like Carr to the history of their ancestors is one of the goals of the historical markers. 

“Everything we do is to connect people to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories,” said Hanson, the statewide services coordinator for the Wisconsin Historical Society and lead collaborator on the project. “The markers program is one of the ways that we do provide that access to history.” 

The Historical Society is reevaluating its hundreds of markers around the state to ensure gaps in history are closed. 

The other 10 markers the organization is installing over the next year focus on the history of Black people, wome, Indigenous people and recent immigrants. For an interactive map of all the state’s historical markers visit the Historical Society website. 

In Barron County, the local historical society will share the story of Ojibwe treaty rights and the Walleye Wars. In east central Wisconsin, Calumet and Cross Heritage Society will install a marker to recognize the Brothertown Methodist Episcopal Church. The Prairie du Chien Historical Society in Crawford County is collaborating with the Wisconsin Historical Society on two new historical markers sharing the stories of enslaved persons who lived in the area during the 19th century. 

In addition to the two markers by the Organization of Chinese Americans Wisconsin Chapter, the Historical Society will install six other markers in Milwaukee County.  The Midtown Neighborhood Alliance will share the story of an African American-owned hospital at Lynden Hill. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archaeological Research Laboratory Center will recognize Wisconsin’s first Black registered architect, Alonzo Robinson Jr. 

Three new markers developed with the Wisconsin Black Historical Society will share the stories of important figures in Milwaukee’s history: Ezekiel Gillespie, a 19th century voting rights activist; Lloyd Augustus Barbee, a civil rights leader and state legislator; and Bernice Lindsay, a community activist. 

The Wisconsin Hispanic Scholarship Foundation is collaborating on a new marker recognizing Latino urban civil rights activism that began in the 1960s. 

People and organizations can apply to have the Historical Society commemorate a piece of Wisconsin history by filling out a form on its website.