Book Events
Two book signing/book reading events are planned to introduce Duane H. Freitag's new book, "Sauerkraut, Suspenders, and the Swiss."
• 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29 at Turner Hall in Monroe.
•7 p.m. Wednesday, May 20 at the Swiss Center of North America, New Glarus.
MONROE - A newly published political history of Green County's Swiss settlers will be introduced at two book signing/book reading events at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29 at the Turner Hall of Monroe, 1217 17th Ave., as part of Turner Hall's Swiss Heritage Series, and at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 30, at the Swiss Center of North America, 507 Durst Road, New Glarus.
"Sauerkraut, Suspenders, and the Swiss" was written by Duane H. Freitag, who grew up in New Glarus and is a retired reporter and editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Freitag will speak about and read from the book, as well as including a slide presentation. The event is free.
The book will be available for purchase and the author will sign books after the program. The book will also be on sale this summer at the Swiss Historical Village, New Glarus, and from Amazon.com and the publisher, IUniverse. Copies are also being provided to all Green County area libraries.
The book looks at each election year from the founding of the Swiss colony of New Glarus in 1845 through the end of World War II, when the Swiss-American community was no longer as highly concentrated. The author details who the Swiss voted for, who among them ran for political office, and the many events that likely affected how they voted. Many of the events discussed took place in Monroe.
A significant part of the book details the political career of Sol Levitan, an immigrant Jewish peddler who settled in New Glarus in the 1880s. He went on to become Wisconsin's popular state treasurer in the 1920s and 1930s. While his story has been told before, here it is seen through the prism of his adopted hometown.
Freitag lives in Greendale and is active with the New Glarus Historical Society. He has authored previous studies of the early history of the Swiss colony of New Glarus.
More information on this event is available at www.TurnerHallofMonroe. org/shs.html.
"Sauerkraut, Suspenders, and the Swiss" was written by Duane H. Freitag, who grew up in New Glarus and is a retired reporter and editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Freitag will speak about and read from the book, as well as including a slide presentation. The event is free.
The book will be available for purchase and the author will sign books after the program. The book will also be on sale this summer at the Swiss Historical Village, New Glarus, and from Amazon.com and the publisher, IUniverse. Copies are also being provided to all Green County area libraries.
The book looks at each election year from the founding of the Swiss colony of New Glarus in 1845 through the end of World War II, when the Swiss-American community was no longer as highly concentrated. The author details who the Swiss voted for, who among them ran for political office, and the many events that likely affected how they voted. Many of the events discussed took place in Monroe.
A significant part of the book details the political career of Sol Levitan, an immigrant Jewish peddler who settled in New Glarus in the 1880s. He went on to become Wisconsin's popular state treasurer in the 1920s and 1930s. While his story has been told before, here it is seen through the prism of his adopted hometown.
Freitag lives in Greendale and is active with the New Glarus Historical Society. He has authored previous studies of the early history of the Swiss colony of New Glarus.
More information on this event is available at www.TurnerHallofMonroe. org/shs.html.
