Videodrome :: Wisconsin Death Trip

Aquarium Drunkard tales a look at Wisconsin Death Trip here

A legendary photographic project and then book and then a legendary film this is covered in a brilliant article from Aquarium Drinkard and is well worth checking out (see link above)

 

"In 1967, author and historian Michael Lesy was earning his master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin when he stumbled across a collection of late-19th-century photographs at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The photos were taken by Charles Van Schaik, a professional photographer who lived in a small Wisconsin town called Black River Falls in the 1890s. The macabre nature of Schaik’s photos intrigued Lesy, who began contacting local museums to dig up newspapers from the same period. Pairing the images with their corresponding news articles, Lesy uncovered an unprecedented reign of madness in Black River Falls from 1890 to 1900, previously lost to time. Lesy presented his findings as his doctoral thesis at Rutger’s University, which was eventually published into a book in 1978, titled Wisconsin Death Trip."

Charles Van Schalk