Today the Superior Telegram released its ninth episode of Archive Dive, the monthly history podcast hosted by Telegram reporter Maria Lockwood. Every month, Maria and a local historian dip into the archives of historic events, people and places in Superior and Douglas County.
This month, we feature the story of a 1892 stained glass window that was meant to showcase Douglas County at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. Designed by Tiffany Studios, it included whaleback ships, grain elevators and a bird’s eye view of Superior. When Douglas County commissioners traveled to see it displayed in the Wisconsin Building, they weren’t happy. In fact, they called it a “perfect botch,” and demanded Tiffany remove the window and commissioned a new one. No photographs of the window exist, just a sketch. Where it is now remains a mystery.
We’ll also learn about the only passenger whaleback ever built, the S.S. Christopher Columbus, which was built in Superior and ferried passengers to and from the Chicago World’s Fair.
It was over 100 years after the Chicago World's Fair in the 1990s when local historian and retired librarian Teddie Meronek first became aware of the stained glass window and she's been researching it ever since. In this month’s episode of Archive Dive, Teddie and Maria discuss both the window and the whaleback.
You can find that full episode at superiortelegram.com or whatever streaming service you listen to this podcast.
Today, we are re-sharing Archive Dive's eighth episode, which was released in September. It is titled "How Superior became home to Wisconsin's first and last Carnegie libraries." Enjoy!