Although Wisconsin residents gloried in the past, they paid even greater attention to the future. Journalists, scholars, religious leaders, and even schoolteachers offered predictions. Some predictions proved quite accurate, such as increased life expectancy through better medicine, central air conditioning, and air travel, while others, such as free university education for all and communication with Martians, did not.

The nearly one hundred items that appear here are taken from newspapers, magazines, and other materials that were published in Wisconsin at the turn of the century. These articles and essays--some wildly funny and engaging, others somber and thoughtful--offer a window on the hopes and fears of our forebears at a moment of great change.