I’m a fourth-generation circus performer. My mother is originally from Hungary and my father is originally from Bulgaria. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother started circus arts in Budapest. He did slack wire, balancing on a thin wire suspended in air and juggled side-by-side with my great-grandmother. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd In 1963, both my grandmas …
I was born in Chicago. My family moved back up to the Bad River Reservation where my father is from when I was four months old. After a few years, we moved into the border town of Ashland, which is just to the west of the reservation. Photos by Stanley Schrock I went to the …
Miranda: I grew up in Green Bay, right near the edge of town. It used to be lots of cornfields and forests, but now it’s mostly subdivisions. I was a very early reader; I started reading before kindergarten. I didn’t grow up in a house with a lot of books, but we did have one of those complete …
I was born and raised on the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin — I had a lot of fun growing up there. Photos by Andi Stempniak As kids, we were outside all of the time. In the summer we spent the majority of our time swimming, and in the winter it was …
I was born in Taiwan, and my dad was a very poor preacher. When I was just a little tot, I remember my dad took my brother and me to the zoo in Taiwan. This was a huge treat for us. We saw something there that day we had never seen before—an American with blonde …
“It all began with my father smiling and saying, ‘Hello’.” Read More »
A long time ago, I dated a pilot who took me flying—multiple times, actually. And I fell in love with it. Photos by Hedi Lamarr Rudd It was one of those moments where a light bulb went off and I thought, ‘Hey, I could do this.’ And I thought more about it and decided if …
I was born in Madison in 1970. My mom is Jewish and from Long Island. My dad is Catholic, Mexican, and from Chicago. They met in the VISTA program (Volunteers in Service to America) and settled in Madison. Photos by Gary Porter “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, Madison felt magical to me. At age ten …
From ‘Girl Reporter’ to Wisconsin’s First Female Sports Anchor Read More »
I was born and raised in Kyle, Texas. My mom was extremely creative and crafty and just loved making pretty things. Photos by Colleen Bies Growing up in the projects and being raised by a single mom for most of my childhood, my siblings and I never felt like we were missing anything. My mom …
My mom and dad are both from Somalia, and they came to the United States with their families when they were really young. They were fleeing the civil war in Somalia. Photos by Kara Counard “For the first 14 years of my life, I lived in Minnesota. In Minneapolis there’s a huge Somali population, but …
“When I came back to America, I became more confident in who I was.” Read More »
I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Where I lived, there weren’t very many white people around. It felt really segregated. But I went to public school in the neighboring city, in Shaker Heights. That suburb was the complete opposite, but I had a diverse group of friends. Photos by Stephanie Bartz “My parents …
I’m from Beloit. Even though I grew up in the city, I still grew up with a really strong influence from my mother to love and appreciate nature. We didn’t have a lot growing up; we were on the poor side. But my mother made the best of any situation for us. Photos by Kathy …
I was born and raised here in Wisconsin, a Dodge County native—actually Beaver Dam. My parents had three girls: me, my sister, Nicolle, who’s nine years older than me, and my sister Natalie, who’s five years older than me. Photos by Kara Counard Content warning: This story contains references to substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. …
“I was going to do whatever it took to stay sober.” Read More »
