My name is Michelle Kelly. I recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse with a major in European History and minors in archaeology and international studies. I did my undergraduate research in British history during the English Reformation.
Senior year at UW La Crosse I was lucky enough to land an internship with Cleary Management, owned and operated by the Cleary-Kumm family of La Crosse and G. Heileman fame. While it was a far cry from the classes on ancient Rome and the renaissance, the brewery history I've been working with at Cleary Management has segued nicely to interning with the La Crosse Historical Society as a UWL graduate, where I've been working on cataloging the Breweriana in collections.
My work at Cleary Management has focused on the G. Heileman Brewery, but the internship here at the La Crosse Historical Society is exposing me to the history of several other La Crosse breweries such as C.&J. Michel Brewing Company and the John Gund Brewing Company. It's also a new experience to work with brewery objects such as beer crates, bar signs, beer trays, and other breweriana. I look forward to discovering more breweries to really round out my La Crosse brewery knowledge.
