2008 Woodie Awards
Resident publishes book featuring Whitewater history
Courtney Teague-Carter
Issue date: 7/4/07 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
A historian and Whitewater native recently chronicled Whitewater's long and rich history through passed-down stories, memories and photographs.
In May 2006, Fred Kraege, 78, published the book "Whitewater, Wisconsin" with the help of Kristine Zaballos.
The book looks at the city of Whitewater through both old stories and historical photographs.
Kraege has been researching Whitewater for more than 20 years. His interest in researching the historic city was first sparked by his wanting to find out more about his wife's family tree.
After correspondences with both past and present residents, he gained more than 80 books full of pictures, letters, postcards and artifacts.
Kraege was also interested in researching Whitewater's history because of the revitalization activities and the 2007 Home-Coming.
"I was so thrilled about people working together to make Whitewater better," said Kraege. "All that put together led to the book."
Zaballos, co-chair of the Home-Coming committee helped Kraege with the publishing aspect of the book.
Zaballos said she was inspired by Kraege's passion for all things Whitewater.
"Fred had been wanting to do a proper book for some time," she said. "The timing was important because 2006 was the centennial of the book 'The Early Annals of Whitewater,' so we went to work getting the book out there."
The book is 128 pages long, and from beginning to end it is filled with pictures and stories dating as far back as the 1800s.
Along with being filled with pictures, the book also has personal accounts of historic Whitewater from from the thousands of people Kraege corresponded with during his 20 years of research.
"[Fred] also wants people to understand how colorful the past was, how many characters Whitewater had and still has. And Fred's one of them," Zaballos said.
Even though the book can be enjoyed by almost all audiences, Kraege had certain people in mind when making it.
"I thought people would really like it, but I really did it for the elderly," said Kraege. "This is for them, or rather for us."
In May 2006, Fred Kraege, 78, published the book "Whitewater, Wisconsin" with the help of Kristine Zaballos.
The book looks at the city of Whitewater through both old stories and historical photographs.
Kraege has been researching Whitewater for more than 20 years. His interest in researching the historic city was first sparked by his wanting to find out more about his wife's family tree.
After correspondences with both past and present residents, he gained more than 80 books full of pictures, letters, postcards and artifacts.
Kraege was also interested in researching Whitewater's history because of the revitalization activities and the 2007 Home-Coming.
"I was so thrilled about people working together to make Whitewater better," said Kraege. "All that put together led to the book."
Zaballos, co-chair of the Home-Coming committee helped Kraege with the publishing aspect of the book.
Zaballos said she was inspired by Kraege's passion for all things Whitewater.
"Fred had been wanting to do a proper book for some time," she said. "The timing was important because 2006 was the centennial of the book 'The Early Annals of Whitewater,' so we went to work getting the book out there."
The book is 128 pages long, and from beginning to end it is filled with pictures and stories dating as far back as the 1800s.
Along with being filled with pictures, the book also has personal accounts of historic Whitewater from from the thousands of people Kraege corresponded with during his 20 years of research.
"[Fred] also wants people to understand how colorful the past was, how many characters Whitewater had and still has. And Fred's one of them," Zaballos said.
Even though the book can be enjoyed by almost all audiences, Kraege had certain people in mind when making it.
"I thought people would really like it, but I really did it for the elderly," said Kraege. "This is for them, or rather for us."
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