Planetarium Newsletter - August 2023
Cosmic Curiosities
"How can I hope to be friends
with the hard, white stars
whose flaring and hissing are not speech
but a pure radiance?”
- Mary Oliver, American Poet
"How can I hope to be friends
with the hard, white stars
whose flaring and hissing are not speech
but a pure radiance?”
- Mary Oliver, American Poet
Below, we have all your questions and answers compiled for your reference at any time.
In 1926, Dr. Sidney Gullick, a missionary and educator who had lived and worked in Japan since the 1890s, created an exchange program between the United States and Japan to promote peace, friendship, and understanding. Children in almost every state raised money to send American dolls to many schools in Japan. Once the Japanese children received the dolls, they in turn raised money and sent dolls back to the United States. Kasumi Tsukuba, or Miss Ibaraki (the prefecture where she is from), was the doll sent to Wisconsin in 1927 and is now a part of Milwaukee Public Museum's permanent history collection. She arrived in the state with a chest of clothes and a parasol, along with roughly 50 other accessories. In 2006, Miss Ibaraki was flown back to Japan and returned to the company that made her in 1927, the Yoshitoku Company, where she underwent restoration.
The Lacandon are an indigenous Mayan-speaking group living in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Today, only 300-500 Lacandon remain. One of the few groups not fully colonized by the Spanish, the Lacandon retained their indigenous religion until recently. The Museum's collection includes 113 objects widely representative of the group's material culture. Peter Thornquist collected most of the items in 1979 while visiting the Lacandon village of Metzabok, Mexico. The collection is important since it reflects items before tourism encroached the area. The Milwaukee Public Museum currently has a webpage on the Lacandon collection and culture. Also, see the Lacandon exhibit in the Latin American Hall on the Museum's Third Floor.
Most slugs encountered in Wisconsin are non-native species belonging to the families Agriolimacidae, Arionidae, and Limacidae, all three having a mantle that covers half or less of the anterior portion of the body.
“Mars is the only known planet inhabited by robots.”
- Brian Solis, American Speaker & Author
Since corn generally has a growing season of 120 days, Great Lakes Indians in northern areas could not grow much corn and could not depend on agricultural products. Those who lived where corn could be grown moved between different areas during their seasonal round, choosing lands with good soils for their gardens.
This Mitchell Civil War uniform, part of a larger group of Mitchell militia material, belonged to John Lendrum Mitchell, son of prominent Milwaukee banker Alexander Mitchell. John served in the Wisconsin 24th Infantry and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant. After the Civil War, John was a gentleman farmer and had a large estate in what is today West Allis, Wisconsin. He was very well educated and served in the Wisconsin legislature and later served as a United States Senator. John's second son, William, rose to prominence in the U.S. Army Flying Corps in WWI and was a strong proponent of American air power and founder of the modern Air Force. Mitchell International Airport is named for him. The Mitchell family is recognized as one of Milwaukee's first families.