This program is brought to you by the combined resources
of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and Wisconsin Public Television.
On Wisconsin Hometown Stories
a city founded on the Wisconsin River
built up by the harvest of a great pine forest
and strengthened by a strong
spirit of community
a city transformed by group investment
and visionary efforts to put it on the map.
On Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Wausau.
Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Wausau
is made possible in part
by the family of Cyrus Yawkey;
the Caroline S. Mark Legacy Fund
of the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin;
the B.A. and Esther Greenheck Foundation;
Aspirus, a comprehensive healthcare system
serving north central Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula;
Ruder Ware;
the Dudley Foundation;
the Walter Alexander Foundation;
and for curriculum development
the Judd S. Alexander Foundation.
With additional support from these funders
including the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television
and the Wisconsin History Fund, supported in part
by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Narrator: In 1838, an eastern lumberman named George Stevens
made his way up the Wisconsin River
to see for himself
whether the talk of a great pine forest was true.
Brett Barker: It's almost hard to imagine
what he would have seen here in Wausau at the time
really vast tracts of the white pine
this great white pine resource
one of the great resources in all of North America.
And by about the early to mid-1830s
white settlers had come to realize
just how vast a resource this was
and begun to think about exploiting it.
And so, this is really the time the U.S. government
began to take steps to sign treaties with the Indian peoples
to take the land away from them.
The land that is now Wausau proper
was ceded by the Menomonie in 1836.
It was land that was, at different times
used by the Menomonie, the Ojibwe
the Ho-Chunk.
Richard Durbin: It's called, informally, the Indian Strip.
And this was a strip three miles on each side of the river
starting at Nekoosa and going north to Wausau.
Michael Goc: And that opened that strip of land to logging
but more importantly, it opened up the water power sites.
Not only could the loggers log
they could set up water powered saw mills
so that the logs could be cut
into simple planks, assembled into rafts
and then sent down river to market.
And that's 1836.
It's really no coincidence that George Stevens shows up
and begins to survey the area for lumber.
Durbin: Stevens came up with wagons
clear from Illinois, got them to Portage
transferred everything to dugout canoes
and went up to sort of a staging area that received his name
"Stephens Point."
Narrator: Stevens traveled north, and settled at a place
called Big Bull Falls
which he described as "the best mill site
I ever saw or heard of."
Barker: When you really talk about the founding of Wausau
it is above all else about the river.
Big Bull Falls, which was the original name
was a large drop in the Wisconsin River
that created power.
But at the time, it was wild.
Supposedly, the falls could be heard
from miles away, both Big Bull Falls here
and Little Bull Falls in what's now Mosinee.
Durbin: The course of the river at that point
was very complicated
and in fact it's been changed dramatically.
An old timer would not recognize it today.
There were a number of channels
so it was a place where people
could build their own mill and dam
without great deal of interference with others.
And so, it became a very large operation there
very quickly.
Goc: In addition, of course, to altering the river
so you could better utilize its power
you had to also move these log rafts on the river.
And that was formidable.
Durbin: They would make what was known as a crib, to begin with.
This was a structure of crossed boards.
It was bound together
by wooden pegs, which were made out of saplings.
For steering, they would have oars
one in the front and one in the back.
The fellow in the back did all the work
but the one in the front did the steering.
And we're talking about oars of 40, 50 feet long
very heavy.
The currents weren't necessarily straight.
There were a lot of rocks
which there were attempts all the time
to dynamite out.
Wausau had a very large, famous one
called Lumberyard Rock.
You can guess where it got its name.
But when these cribs would go over a rapids
it would be quite common that the whole crib
and the people would disappear
for a few seconds that first time.
In other words, it would cover up the top of their heads.
They would bob up, hopefully, and carry on.
A good share of them
were young inexperienced people.
They couldn't swim.
In a period of about a week at Wausau
17 men drowned in the area of Big Bull Falls.
( bell tolls )
Barker: In the early years, it's a very small place
even by the time of the Civil War
it doesn't have railroad connections yet.
In some ways, except for the river
it's extremely isolated.
But, you have a lot of young men on the make.
Men who realized the vast resources that the pinery offers
and they're trying to make a new life
and a better life for themselves.
Gary Gisselman: They came here to earn money.
They also came here
because they thought it was a new promised land.
They were maybe coming from foreign countries
like Germany or Poland.
They were coming from the eastern part of the country.
They were seeking new adventure.
They were seeking freedom.
They were seeking a new way of life.
August Kickbush came from Germany, became a merchant.
He owned some land, also in Marathon County.
August Kickbush is important, because he went back to Germany
after realizing
that we needed a lot more workers here.
So, he went back to Germany
chartered a ship called the America
and brought back 700 German immigrants
into central Wisconsin.
And thus, we start the vast immigration of Germans
into Marathon County.
Narrator: A Scottish immigrant, Walter McIndoe
ventured up to Big Bull Falls.
And struck by the potential of the place
decided to make it his home.
He was one of the early people in the 1850s
that decided they really wanted
to make this rough and tumble place a community.
Mary Jane Hettinga: But what he did was to name the city
change the name from Big Bull Falls to Wausau.
And he did that because
he didn't think it was sophisticated enough
for this wonderful place.
He also gave land for the first Court House.
But he was also instrumental
in bringing the railroad to the area.
He tried very hard to make it a better place to live
and connected to other cities by the railroad.
Barker: Well, when the first railroad, the Wisconsin Valley Line
reached Wausau in 1874
it was a huge moment in the life of the place.
Durbin: This gave a great shot in the arm economically to Wausau
because they saw the advantage of doing
what we call today "value added."
And that is
they didn't ship down lumber.
They shipped down doors, and sashes
and all kinds of machined wood, finished wood.
Narrator: The railroads also opened up vast new areas
of the north woods to logging.
The rate of the harvest was extraordinary
and created tremendous wealth
that would carry the city of Wausau into a new era.
Narrator: As the harvest of the white pine went on
Wausau lumbermen began to see that they would soon
deplete the supply of the big trees.
Gisselman: Well, I think in the 1890s, they were starting to realize
that the white pine would not last forever.
Hettinga: And Alexander Stewart
who was probably the wealthiest man
he was very worried that the economy
was going to go into a great decline
if they didn't do something about it.
And so he gathered all of these men
lumbering men that had moved here.
And they decided that in order to live here
and have a growing economy, they would have to diversify.
Gisselman: That gave rise to the "Wausau Group."
This group of investors
poised to transform the local economy.
Gerald Viste: The Wausau Group was never a formal organization.
It was basically a group of industrialists
who cooperated and shared investments.
Narrator: Wausau Group members pooled their resources
to invest in the growing lumber industry
in states to the south.
Walter Alexander, an early leader of the group
helped form the Wausau Southern Lumber Company
which built large sawmills
and manufacturing plants to process
the southern yellow pine.
They continued lumbering
particularly in Arkansas and Louisiana
and later on in Mississippi.
Barker: Many of them began to have timber interest
in places like the Pacific Coast.
The Pacific Northwest was a growing lumber region.
And yet, they decided to maintain this as their home.
The fact that they continued
to operate their businesses from Wausau
made that possible for them to continue to cooperate.
One of the factors driving them, the desire
not only to promote their economic interest
which was probably first and foremost
but also their desire to be able to stay where they were
and to have a future.
And that, in turn, translated into a commitment
to the future of the community.
Narrator: Though the white pine was running out
there was still plenty of hemlock, spruce
and other hardwood trees
that were already being used
in Wausau's sash and door companies
in a large wood veneer plant, and in other factories
that made toothpicks and wooden packing boxes.
To take advantage of this resource
the Wausau Group again pooled their money
to make big investments
in the new pulpwood papermaking industry.
The process used in paper manufacture
up to about the 1880s, or so
had been primarily the use of rags
and fabrics to manufacture paper.
And by the 1890s
the new wood-based technology had just begun to develop.
Narrator: With the help of paper makers from the Fox River Valley
the Wausau Group built a paper mill at Brokaw
five miles up river.
For the 175 mill workers, they built a company town
with a company store.
What the Wausau Group does is not unusual
in a larger economic history of the period
where you have people
who potentially were competitors in a market cooperating.
Narrator: The Wausau Group soon built a second paper mill at Mosinee
which quickly brought new life to the community.
In nearby Rothschild, the group built their third
and biggest mill, the Marathon Paper Company.
Construction on the huge project
which included a 450-foot dam
proceeded with the help of only one steam shovel.
Workers completed the rest of the job by horse
or by hand.
To run the Marathon mill
the Wausau Group recruited a young paper maker
named D.C. Everest
who would eventually join the group.
Gisselman: This group really had a genius for being able to pick
very smart people.
Narrator: Everest's knowledge of the industry
and premature baldness
disguised the fact that he was only 25 years old.
He soon became general manager of that plant
and turned that into Marathon Corporation
with holdings throughout North America.
Narrator: Cyrus Yawkey, the longtime president of Marathon Paper
and a Wausau Group leader, moved his family to the city
after more than a decade
of running lumber companies further north.
Their friends all urged them to move to Wausau
which they did.
And I always say, it's a lucky thing they did
because Mr. Yawkey was a very astute business man.
Narrator: Yawkey built an impressive home
now restored as a museum
by the Marathon County Historical Society.
Hettinga: This was a symbol of his success
in the lumbering business and also in society.
Narrator: In his home office, Yawkey and members of the Wausau Group
discussed their investments
in local businesses
like the Wausau Street Railway Company.
They dammed Big Bull Falls to run a hydro-electric plant
and started a regional utility company.
They formed the Marathon Electric Company
to make electric motors
and retooled the Murray Manufacturing Company
switching from making machines for sawmills
to making machines for paper mills.
But the group turned to a new industry in 1911
when the Wisconsin Legislature
passed the nation's first Workmen's Compensation Law
to help address the rampant problem
of industrial accidents.
Neal Brown, a visionary member of the Wausau Group
persuaded them to form an insurance company
to take advantage of the new law.
Barker: This was a progressive law.
This is really Wisconsin's progressive tradition
that workmen should be protected
that they should be compensated if they're injured on the job.
Not only is that part of the Wisconsin political tradition
but it's also very in line with the Wausau Group
to see this new business opportunity
to move quickly into it.
Narrator: On the day the bill became law
Employers Mutual Insurance Company
issued its first worker's compensation policy
to another Wausau Group business
the paper mill in Mosinee.
The company would go on to become a leading provider
of business insurance
and one of the Wausau Group's most successful ventures.
Viste: There are always people with imagination and skill
wherever you go
but I think the uniqueness here
was that they were not independent operators.
They tended to work together.
And that produced, I think, better results
than if each one had gone off on his own.
Narrator: The members of the Wausau Group
had pooled their skills and their money
to transform the local economy.
And their efforts
would soon be joined by others
to bring the area both statewide and national attention.
Narrator: It was the first flight across the Atlantic
by Charles Lindbergh
that created a new wave of aviation fever
in Wausau.
And Ben and Judd Alexander
second-generation members of the Wausau Group
leased land to build the city an airport.
Another couple of businessmen imported a well-known flyer
from the east.
His name was John Wood.
And they brought him here
to kind of ramrod their aviation operation.
And they became dealers of the Waco Aircraft.
Goc: But he was an air racer
and he participated in long distance races.
And up until this time
aviation was in the barnstormer days
you know, those magnificent men and their flying machine
and wing walkers, and all of that.
And that was fun.
But it didn't do anything
towards getting people who weren't flyers in the air.
Wylie: Ford Motor Company
created what they called the Ford Reliability Tour
to demonstrate the reliability
of the aircraft of that day.
They would leave from Detroit and fly a predetermined route
over a period of days and weeks.
They had some scoring system that they had developed.
Goc: By the time the tour had flown around the southern rim
of the United States and gotten to Los Angeles
it turns out that John Wood
from the little city of Wausau, Wisconsin
flying a plane called "WACO of Wausau."
He was ahead on the points.
So, the news kept coming back to Wausau, John is going to win.
He's ahead as he's flying up the Pacific Coast
across the mountains, and across the Great Plains back.
Wausau, by coincidence
was one of the stops on this tour.
By the time the tour leaves its stop in the Twin Cities
and the next stop is Wausau
everyone knows that John Wood has won.
And so he lands in Wausau.
The other 30 or 40 airplanes
of all kinds and stripes would land
which would be quite an air show, believe me.
And John Wood wins the Ford Reliability Tour.
It is a tremendous victory for this little city of Wausau
Wylie: And so Wausau was put on the map
aviation-wise, by that activity
and by John Wood.
Narrator: Wausau's aviation fever came to an end
in the 1930s, as the city fell into the tough times
of the Great Depression.
Harvey Scholfield: They were tough.
They were damn tough, I'll tell you that.
Narrator: The federal government set up a camp for the CCC
the Civilian Conservation Corps, which put the unemployed to work
developing the state park at Rib Mountain
just outside Wausau.
George Jarntowski: So I went into the CCC Camp, and I got $30 a month.
And $25 went to my mama, and $5 went to me.
Scholfield: They were looking for something for the CCC boys to do.
So they said, let's have a ski area
on the north side of Rib Mountain.
So they got the CCC boys to clear the trees
in certain areas to make trails.
There's a lot of rock there.
That's all rock.
We had to level that off a bit.
We had a sledge hammer.
And you'd pound on a rock till you break it smaller
and they could ski on that then when the snow come.
And then they built the shelter house.
We got all the stone and then the masoners did their work.
We had to carry the rock to them.
You worked pretty hard.
A fellow from Milwaukee, Fred Pabst
put what was called a J-Bar tow
out at Rib Mountain.
It was the longest one in the state, maybe in the nation
at that point.
A lot of tourists would come up in the winter.
They'd run ski trains from Chicago
go through Milwaukee and come up to Wausau
on the weekends.
They had weekend ski trains.
Narrator: But there was one area business
that survived the Great Depression in style
due to the popularity of fox furs.
The Fromm brothers ran a large fur farm
that drew nationwide attention.
Hettinga: There were four Fromm brothers who lived out in Hamburg
in a little farming area.
And they were just obsessed with the Silver Fox.
Narrator: In 1934, at the Chicago World's Fair
large crowds visited the Fromm Brothers' exhibit.
The idea for the business began in 1901
when Henry Fromm was only seven years old.
In a magazine, his brothers saw the high prices paid
for the pelts of the silver fox
a rare mutation of the red fox.
And they would pour over these catalogs.
They knew that if they had to buy a pair
they'd have to spend a lot of money.
The children, Walter I think was 13.
There was Walter, Edward, Henry
and the youngest was 7, John.
They were all just as obsessed
with these silver fox.
Narrator: They began their fur business
by capturing red fox kits in the forest
and raising them in captivity
hoping to earn enough money to buy some silver fox.
Their father thought it was a stupid thing
because he was not interested in it
and he thought, how could they even think about this?
But they kept on and on, and finally he said
"Well if you want to earn some money
you can raise ginseng."
Narrator: A plant that grew wild in the woods
ginseng was highly prized in China as a medicine.
The Fromms began by gathering plants from the forest.
They pioneered new ways to shade the fields
and developed new techniques to process the seeds and roots.
Hettinga: It wasn't as profitable right away
so one day, when their father was out of town
they went to their mother
and asked, "How can we get this money?"
And so, she decided that she would mortgage
her part of the land for $6,500
and they were able to buy a pair of silver foxes.
Narrator: As they did with ginseng
the Fromm brothers pioneered new ways
to raise foxes, including releasing them
into the forest to grow in a natural environment.
One of the outstanding things I think they did
was to give three dollars
for every silver fox they raised, for research.
Their researchers were able
to come up with the encephalitis vaccine
and also the distemper vaccine.
Narrator: In good years
the two enterprises, ginseng and fox fur
generated millions of dollars in sales.
And the brothers kept expanding their operation
employing hundreds of people.
Hettinga: Their operation of ginseng
became the largest ginseng operation
worldwide.
Narrator: Their fur operation would grow to cover around 20,000 acres
also the largest in the world.
In 1936, the popularity of Fromm Silver Fox
was at an all-time high.
And the brothers persuaded fur buyers
to move the world fur auction from New York City
to their farm in Hamburg, Wisconsin.
Jon Mason: Buyers from around the world came.
A lot of the buyers
they stayed at the Hotel Wausau
and they would bus them out every day.
They would inspect the pelts here.
Narrator: At the FoxTale and Silver Fox Retreat
on the site of the Fromm brothers' farm
the buildings tell the story
of the world fur auctions.
During the auctions, they would have 700 people up here.
They had the buyers who would sit up front, naturally.
They had Fox Movietone, I believe it was
came and recorded some footage here for the newsreels.
WTMJ in Milwaukee
had a live feed of the auctions.
Narrator: The Fromms put up
a special building for the buyers
called the Clubhouse.
Mason: The original intent of the building
was to entertain the fur buyers.
It includes a four-lane bowling alley.
A lot of the buyers that came here were from New York City.
That was the hub of the fur industry.
They catered to these people.
And it turned out that they just loved it.
I mean, some had actually referred to the whole property
as the Fromm Resort.
Narrator: While the Fromm brothers
were putting nearby Hamburg on the map
Employers Mutuals of Wausau continued to grow
from a regional
to a national insurance company.
Jim Van Eyck: We were mixing it up with the giants in the industry.
We were insuring some of the nation's largest corporations.
Narrator: But the company's advertising
no longer matched its reputation
and it hired the firm of J. Walter Thompson
to develop an ad campaign
they called "The Wausau Story."
Van Eyck: They came back to the company, and said you suffer from
somewhat of a corporate inferiority complex
because of the location of the company
in a small Midwestern town
far from the big financial centers.
So, J. Walter Thompson
and the company set out
to turn that perceived negative into a positive
and began promoting our heritage
as a small Midwestern company located in Wausau, Wisconsin.
The very first ad in "The Wausau Story"
ran in the Saturday Evening Post in 1954.
The artwork itself was Wausau at night
stars up in the sky
two or three people on the platform waiting for the train.
And across the roof of the depot in big, bold letters
was the name "Wausau."
The depot illustration was never intended
at the outset
to be a corporate logo.
But very quickly
the company and the depot almost became synonymous.
Employers Insurance of Wausau
has to make some pretty touchy decisions...
Van Eyck: And they turned to television in 1968.
There was a new news magazine, they called it
starting up called 60 Minutes.
It was the audience we were looking for.
The word is "Wausau," a small town in Wisconsin...
As one of the first advertisers on 60 Minutes
and one of the most consistent advertisers on 60 Minutes
Wausau Insurance essentially owned Sunday night
as far as insurance advertising was concerned.
And that was huge.
( buzzer )
W-A-S-A-H ( buzzer )
60 Minutes made Wausau Insurance famous.
And in the process, 60 Minutes
made Wausau, the community, famous.
W-A-U-S-A-U
It's a USA in the middle, a W-A up front
and another U in back.
That's Wausau, as in Wausau Insurance Companies
the business insurance experts.
Narrator: From the beginning
Wausau residents showed a strong spirit of community.
There were a number of efforts to build community organizations
and develop a community in the wilderness.
Hettinga: Well, Mary Hazeltine met Dr. William Scholfield
when he came to this area.
He came here actually to buy some lumber
for his farm in Mineral Point.
But then he decided that this was such a great opportunity
and such a beautiful area to stay.
So, he bought a mill on the Eau Claire River.
But then in 1863, he died.
And Mary, with her brother Charles
ran the Scholfield Mill.
It was very unusual for a woman
to run a company in those days.
But she had strong leadership abilities.
And after about ten years of doing that
she moved back to Wausau
and built a huge house.
She bought the whole entire block.
Now, the house that she built had ten bedrooms
so it was very large.
But that became the center for the women.
That's where many of the organizations
were started and founded.
One of them very early on in 1877
was the Ladies' Literary Society.
There were only three of these in Wisconsin.
One in Milwaukee, one in Green Bay
and one in Wausau.
They did study, art, music, philanthropy.
It was a wide range
and they took these things very seriously.
But the Ladies' Literary Society
also did things like ask the city to provide street signs
so people could find their way.
And also, they were encouraging the city
to hire the first policewoman, which they did.
Narrator: A member of the Ladies' Literary Society
Helen Van Vechten ran a publishing business
called The Philosopher Press
and became widely known as a printer
and binder of handcrafted books.
Hettinga: One of the things that Helen did
was to hand-do all these beautiful classic books.
And they did wonderful work in the arts and crafts style.
Helen was like a magnet
and all of the really intelligent people in Wausau
would come to the Philosopher Press building
and they would sit around and discuss philosophy
or the latest book that she published.
They were called "The Philosophers."
Narrator: Van Vechten served on the library board
helping to raise money
to build the city's first library.
When Wausau Group leader Walter Alexander
donated land for the building, the project became a reality.
Ralph Mirman: When the old lumbermen came here originally
and decided that they were going to continue to live here
they weren't going to move
just have businesses and live someplace else.
Once they made that decision
they developed this philanthropic philosophy
geared on the idea that whatever we needed
to make this a better community, we would do.
And every project that we started
we would finish up successfully.
Hettinga: They set up foundations.
And that money is still providing a lot of help
to different nonprofit organizations.
And it's a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Narrator: Carrying on the spirit of community-building
the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum began in 1972
when Alice and John Forester
decided to convert their home into a community art museum.
The daughters of Wausau Group member A.P. Woodson
Alice Forester and her sisters wanted to dedicate the museum
to the memory of their mother, Leigh Yawkey Woodson
who inspired them
with her love of beauty and the arts.
Kathy Kelsey Foley: Mr. and Mrs. Forester
knew the great Wisconsin painter, Owen Gromme
through the wonderful Birds of Wisconsin project
and other painting work
that Mr. Gromme did.
They called Owen, Mr. Gromme, their good friend.
They told him about the museum that would be opening
in some months time.
And they said, "We need an exhibition, what do you think?"
And Mr. Gromme said
"Well, I could call a couple dozen of my friends
and ask them to send a painting or two
under the theme
of the Birds of the Lakes, Fields and Forests.
And that would just make a wonderful exhibition
for the fall in north central Wisconsin."
The hope was that
well, if a few hundred people came
wouldn't that be marvelous.
And some eight weeks later, 8,000 people had come.
And so, you know, it's not rocket science.
Our visitors like this, let's do it again.
Narrator: Now in its fourth decade, the exhibit "Birds in Art"
draws artists from around the world.
( indistinct talking )
And with its founders' commitment to free admission
the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum helped make Wausau
a regional and international center for the arts.
The Wausau spirit of community-building
continued in the 1980s
with an effort to renovate the Grand Theater
an aging movie house and performance center
in downtown Wausau.
Jim O'Connell: There were movements to break it up.
There were movements to tear it down.
But the community rallied behind it, raised $2.2 million
to restore the plaster work
re-do the rigging and electrical systems.
And they re-opened it in 1987, as a performing arts center.
It became very popular as a performing arts center.
People wanted to see more and more ambitious plays
and touring productions going on here in Wausau
but we didn't have the restrooms
or the concession facilities.
At the same time, we didn't have the dressing rooms.
We didn't have the loading facilities.
We didn't have the backstage that the artists needed
to put on the shows
that they were carrying on their trucks.
So, all of those things focused our attention
on expanding and renovating this facility
so that it could survive for another 75 to 100 years.
When we announced this arts block project
the community took hold of it and saw it as a way
of renovating the entire downtown.
There had been buildings across the street
that had been there since the '50s
'50s big box retail buildings.
They had been under-utilized.
The city said, let's take down those spaces.
The owner of three of those buildings
donated them to the city
so that this could become an open space
highlighting the fact
that we were expanding the arts in downtown.
This block was the most intact
historic block in downtown Wausau.
Those three buildings were separated by two alleys.
And what we did was fill-in audience amenities
into the two alleys
expand the backstage into a parking lot
and create what we now know as Artsblock in downtown Wausau.
The block includes two gallery spaces.
It includes an entry lobby.
Welcome to the Grand Theater!
This is a community
that has had a great deal of citizen involvement.
It's not just the foundations.
The foundations were an inspiration
to individuals to be involved in their community.
We had 1,150 separate gifts, almost all of them local
which raised $13.2 million
and we were able to bring in this project
on time and under budget.
Narrator: Wausau's sense of community
was tested in recent decades
with the arrival of thousands of Hmong refugees
who fled from Laos after fighting for the U.S.
during the Vietnam War.
Back then, Laos is just a big push
people were dying left and right.
3,000 dead or wounded every year, every seventh man.
After 1975, United States pull out of the country.
So, the Communists come to take over Laos
did not follow the peace.
Chungsou Her: After that, we continue
to get everyone together and fight the Communists.
And we fought until practically 1978
or 1979
until they ran every area over.
Everyone was leaving to the U.S.
to Australia, to everywhere else.
They went to a third country.
So I figure that we have no future here.
If I live over there, I have no money.
Then I cannot go back and get my family.
Then we moved to the United States.
This is a story cloth.
This is the life and history of the Hmong in Laos.
This is our story cloth for America.
Our stories here are just beginning.
Narrator: Church groups in Wausau
began to sponsor Hmong families
bringing them from the refugee camps in Thailand to Wausau.
You know the people of Wausau
there are so many welcoming hearts here
and that really want to work with the Hmong
and to see the Hmong succeed.
Teacher: Page 14...
Chungsou Her: The City of Wausau put together some plan
to help the refugee out.
And all the churches around, they all got together.
They taught us how we are going to have to do to survive.
And they said that you will be just like a little child
thrown into the pool.
You are going to have to learn
how to either, you know, float or sink.
They told us that you have to promise yourself
that you will learn three words a day.
And in a year, 365, you multiply that
and that's how you should do.
Ya Yang: At that time, the majority of the Hmong people
is still on welfare.
So I think there's a lot of misperceptions.
The assumption is that, well, the Hmong people are on welfare
they're lazy, dah-dah-dah...
Therefore, they will not become productive.
Peter Yang: You know, once they started hiring Hmong people
they found that Hmong people are very hard working people.
And they are very productive workers.
Houa Vang: Both my parents were working.
One was working first shift, second shift
so pretty much, there was nobody home
to have that family structure there
to be able to pass that on down to us
to teach us who the Hmong people are
and where we came from.
Because at that time, everyone was trying to assimilate
just build a new life in America here.
( children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance )
Peter Yang: There are positive things
but there are also negative things.
Wausau, before the Hmong move here, was one of
the whitest Congressional districts in the nation.
Narrator: As the Hmong themselves began to sponsor more refugees
and family members in other cities moved to Wausau
the population grew quickly
and tensions in the city escalated.
Zoua Yang: I think it wasn't until around fifth or sixth grade
that I started experiencing any kind of racial tension.
One my best friends
she just, out of nowhere told me
"Why don't you just go back to your own country?"
And I sat there and I thought, okay
all my life, I've grown up in the U.S.
That's all I've known.
What do you mean, go back to my own country?
Vang: The older generations, such as my grandparents
they still have this feeling
that they will go back to Laos one day.
My parents kind of accepted that they're not going to go back.
For us, the younger generation, we don't want to go back.
Ya Yang: I always tell the community at large
I say the Hmong is no exception.
It's probably just like the rest of the immigrations
the German, the Polish.
That initially, when they first got here
they still live in a very close-knit
Polish community or German community.
Their grandma and grandpa still speak German or Polish.
But with time, that's not going to happen.
Narrator: As the Hmong celebrate their heritage
at the annual New Year Festival
they now make up 12%
of Wausau's 38,500 residents
the highest percentage of Hmong in the nation.
And from the community's standpoint
when they go to the hospital, they see Hmong physicians.
When they get stopped
they get stopped by a Hmong police officer.
When they go to a bank, they see a Hmong banker.
So I think with this time for the last 15, 20 years
the whole community grow together with the acceptance.
Vang: Right now, Hmong people
are just pretty much the same as everybody.
We've been here for 35 years.
We're into, right now, probably the third or fourth generation.
I grew up
doing almost the same thing as everybody else.
And that mentality of us being refugees should no longer exist
just because we're out working, going to school
teaching the next generation.
But we're pretty much dealing with the same problems
as everybody else is dealing with
money, job, family structures, the older generation.
We're pretty much in the same boat
as everybody else right now.
(applause)
Narrator: In 1937, in a special ceremony
the last of the area's big white pines was cut down.
The first cut of the 400-year-old tree
now lies on display at Marathon Park
a symbol of a bygone era.
Little remains of the lumber mills that sawed the trees
and built the city.
The remnants of a foundation are all that's left
of a major sawmill on the riverside.
Many of the old woodworking plants are gone
like the Curtis Sash and Door Plant
once one of the biggest, torn down in 1963.
A few of the old companies remain, like MBX
still making shipping crates
and wooden packing boxes
one of Wausau's pioneering industries.
The ginseng industry, begun when the Fromm brothers
harvested wild plants from the forest
continues today.
Marathon County harvests most of the North American crop.
Its quality still draws the attention of buyers from East Asia.
The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps
carving out the first ski trails on Rib Mountain
created a new industry.
Their work became the foundation
for a huge expansion in recent years...
Which added 60 more runs
on the biggest vertical drop in Wisconsin.
The legacy of the lumber raftsmen
who dared to ride the rapids at Big Bull Falls
today is carried on by whitewater kayakers
maneuvering the eddys and holes
of Wausau's world-class kayaking course.
The power of the Wisconsin River continues to be harnessed
by the hydro plant at Wausau
part of the legacy of the Wausau Group
and its efforts to rebuild the community.
The three paper mills
funded by the Wausau Group
continue to produce high-quality specialty papers
throughout the 20th and into the 21st century.
These were joined by new industries
that started up after World War II
like Wausau Homes, and many others.
Lorence: After the War
there is a kind of a burst of new economic activity
to complement the ongoing work
of the Wausau Group.
Narrator: As new industries expanded
so did Wausau's hospitals and healthcare facilities
which grew to become what is now the city's largest employer.
Over time, the Wausau Group's control of local industry
has slipped away, as businesses merged
or were sold.
But the group's spirit of cooperation
and community-building lives on.
Gisselman: If this group of people weren't here
Wausau would've been a different city.
O'Connell: There's been an extraordinary amount of foresight here
and a tradition of reinvestment in the community.
Barker: When they made their fortunes
they were generous with their money.
They gave to cultural institutions.
That's part of the story
of them keeping the money in their community.
And there's no question that it is unusual
for a town of this size to have a symphony orchestra
the Grand Theater, the Performing Arts Block
and the Art Museum it does.
I think that that spirit of giving continues to this day.
You can see it in the community.
So it's the best of all worlds.
Foley: What happens here that first weekend
after Labor Day, when we open "Birds in Art"
and artists come from around the world
and artists that have developed friendships and relationships
with people in the community,
from Holland, from Japan
I think says a lot about the community.
Gisselman: This whole arts, music, cultural advancement
was just something that was really part of our community
almost from day one
and it continues.
O'Connell: There are involvement activities.
The choir, children's theater, community theater.
Two dance companies, a number of commercial dance studios.
There are ways for kids to get involved in the performing arts.
We're able to bring in touring attractions
from around the country and around the world
that really make this for a community it's size
as well-rounded an arts scene as you could possibly find.
Narrator: The Wausau community
continues to take on big projects
like improvements to the public square downtown.
Foley: We profile like a much larger community.
We dream, and think, and want
and make happen things
that are much more typical of a larger population.
And maybe that, perhaps, defines the Wausau Group
that they were doers.
And they recognized needs
and they determined how to satisfy those needs.
I think that's still happening.
Narrator: The spirit of the Wausau Group
can be seen in the parklands
they left for the community
some along the river that first gave rise to their wealth.
Changes in Wausau's skyline
reflect new growth on the riverside
as new uses are found
for the old industrial sites that once lined the banks.
One of the things that really anchors, I think
the history of Wausau is the Wisconsin River.
It still tells the story of 1839
when George Stevens came up and started his first sawmill.
It still tells the story of a variety of other people
that have come and made Wausau what it is.
And I think that anchor
is the Wisconsin River that continues to flow
down this wonderful city.
Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Wausau
is made possible in part
by the family of Cyrus Yawkey;
the Caroline S. Mark Legacy Fund
of the Community Foundation of North Central Wisconsin;
the B.A. and Esther Greenheck Foundation;
Aspirus, a comprehensive healthcare system
serving north central Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula;
Ruder Ware;
the Dudley Foundation;
the Walter Alexander Foundation;
and for curriculum development
the Judd S. Alexander Foundation.
With additional support from these funders
including the Friends of Wisconsin Public Television
and the Wisconsin History Fund, supported in part
by the National Endowment for the Humanities.