The library is more than just books, and WUWM’s Books and Beyond series with Milwaukee Public Library showcases just that. We share resources, book recommendations, and some cool stuff you might not know about.
For this month’s Halloween-themed segment, we’re exploring some spooky stories with MPL’s Archives & Special Collections department. They're taking a historical spin on spooky season with “Milwaukee Mysteries: True Crime and Paranormal."
The free event on Monday, Oct. 20 will showcase a wide range of photos and other primary documents that underscore the dark side of Milwaukee's history. Part of the library's collection of Halloween-themed advertisements will be on display, along with photos of supposedly haunted Milwaukee sites — including the infamous Engine House 35.
"[Milwaukee Public Library is] coming up on 150 in a couple years, I mean we are part of the community. And so what we collect, sometimes we just happen to have this stuff because we lived through the time with the community – so you never know what you might find," says librarian archivist Casey Lapworth.
"People love a good ghost story and there's plenty of buildings and places around here that are presumed haunted," she adds.
On the true crime side of things, guests can peruse newspaper clippings related to Klaus Linderfelt, who served as MPL's first librarian. His term was cut short in 1892, when he was caught embezzling over $9,000 from the library. Today that $9,000 would be worth around $320,000, adjusted for inflation.
"He admitted it right away," says Lapworth. "And his excuse was that being the library director put him in the upper echelon of society and he didn't make enough to keep up appearances."
Guests can also learn the story of John Schrank, who attempted to assassinate then President Theodore Roosevelt during a 1912 campaign stop in Milwaukee.
"[Schrank] was really something else," Lapworth says. "I mean, he wrote a manifesto that was printed in the paper. He believed that Theodore Roosevelt had secretly assassinated William McKinley, and so William McKinley showed up in a dream to him and told him, 'no third-termers,' because it would have been Theodore Roosevelt's third term."
You can learn more about Milwaukee's spooky history at the Central Library on Monday, Oct. 20, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and no registration is needed.
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