- Yesteryears, 1835-1985 - Janesville Sesquicentennial
-
- 'Yesteryears' a collaborative effort
- Janesville is celebrating the passing of 150 years since
its settlement, and it seems that we've been
- planning this special section of The Janesville Gazette for
nearly all of them.
- In fact, planning for this Sesquicentennial edition began
about a year ago, and thousands of hours
- have gone into its production since. Decisions had to be
made on how it would be presented, how much detail would be provided,
what kind of and how many photos would be used, who would be
responsible for what topics, where we would get the needed information
and much more.
- Among the first decisions was to present the edition in a
topical rather than chronological format. It
- wasn't unanimous. After weighing the pros and cons of both
approaches, however, we decided on the topical format, reasoning
that readers then could focus in on areas in which they were
most interested.
- We then had to decide on the topics. Obviously, dozens came
to mind. Janesville has an illustrious
- history, and categorizing each event, person and establishment
did not present an easy task. The list was pruned and pruned
some more until just 16 topics remained. We covered ourselves
by labeling one topic "Potpourri," a catch-all for
those bit of city history that didn't fit neatly into another
topic.
- Realizing the extent of the project lying before us, we acknowledged
to ourselves and anyone else
- who would listen that this would not be a comprehensive history
of Janesville. That would require volumes of space and eons of
time, of which we had neither. Instead, this edition is meant
to be an overview of the city's first 150 years, hitting on some
high points and touching on some interesting - though not always
tremendously relevant - happenings throughout the years.
- Staff members were assigned topics in February; all attacked
their tasks with vigor, and the Gazette
- now has veritable experts on nearly every aspect of Janesville
history.
- Much of the background information for the stories came from
Gazette files, but much more came
- from the Rock County Historical Society. Richard HARTUNG,
Ann WILMOT and, particularly, Maurice MONTGOMERY
were of great help in guiding us through the society's resources
and making them available when we needed them.
- Thanks also must go to all those who contributed historic
photos for use in the section and the
- Janesville Flashback feature that appeared in the daily Gazette.
In particular, Kenneth SCOTT and Virginia CARR
were most gracious with their photo collections.
- It has been fun, and it's surely been interesting. We hope
the finished project reflects the time and
- care put into this section. Anyway, now it's history. Time
to start planning for the Bicentennial section.
-
- [Photograph; caption reads: The Janesville Gazette's new
department did the research and writing for this Sesquicentennial
section. They are, front row, from left, Deb GRUSZECKI,
Dave WEDEWARD, Shelly BIRKELO, Pat BURKHARD,
Carla McCANN, Barbara UEBELACKER, Cheryl HOFFMAN,
John HALVERSON, Marcia NELESON and Mike DuPRE'.
Back row, from left, Jim DOWD, Steve ENGELBERT,
Scott ANGUS, Mitch BLISS, Mike WOODS, Anne
Marie LUX, Al HOCH and Don HUEBSCHER.]
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