The farm life memories of Jerry Apps — Nov. 28 on WPT
The farm life memories Jerry Apps, historian, noted Wisconsin author and CALS emeritus professor, is the subject of a new documentary by Wisconsin Public Television (WPT).
Jerry Apps: A Farm Story premieres 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28 on WPT.
Jerry Apps: A Farm Story is a portrait of Wisconsin farm life seen through the eyes of a boy growing up in Waushara County. Acclaimed Wisconsin historian and author Apps evokes memories of a time when almost as many Americans lived on farms as in cities, and examines day-to-day rural life. Fieldwork was done with horses, cows were milked by hand, lanterns were the source of light, and community was essential for survival.
Apps explores topics such as acceptance of ethnic and religious diversity, dependence on neighbors, changing seasons, simple pleasures, one-room schools and the forces that shaped the Midwestern values of hard work and personal responsibility.
To create the documentary, WPT Producer Mik Derks and his crew spent countless hours in the Wild Rose community filming and capturing the story of life in a bygone era. Interspersed throughout Apps’ story are vintage family photos contributed by the Wild Rose community that enrich the program with images of Wild Rose, Silver Lake and Waushara County farm life in the 1930s and ’40s.