The Boulder Junction Public Library and Boulder Junction Area Historical Society are partnering to present OurStory: a Monthly History Series. Programs will share “OurStory” – highlighting a local history topic or area of interest that helps us remember the past, understand how it impacts our present, and preserve these memories for the future.

The third program will be held on Thursday, July 25 at 7pm at the Boulder Junction Community Center. Learn about the new historical collection on Al Capone, clever moonshine production, extorsion plots, kidnapping, hideouts and more. Many Wisconsin communities boast that the Capone’s were visitors, but none have the correspondence, photographs and memorabilia to match this new collection. Moonshine connections from Hurley, to Crandon and beyond, reveal how Northwoods moonshine influenced the region before and after prohibition. As area historians process these exciting documents, we have a great deal more to explore and learn. So, join in on the fun and celebrate a chapter in our great Northwoods heritage.

Jim Bokern taught high school American history during his 34-year career as an educator and completed his Master’s Degree in History at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point in 1987. Bokern also has led two archeological surveys on the Manitowish Waters Chain of Lakes, digitally archiving numerous historic documents, worked as project historian on two fur trade survey grants with the Lac Du Flambeau Tribal Historic Preservation Office, while continuing active cultural and historic research in the Northwoods. In 2022, he received a Historic Preservation Award from the Board of Curators at the Wisconsin Historical Society. In 2023, Bokern received the Fixmer Award from the Forest History Association of Wisconsin for historic preservation and education.

This free program is sponsored by the Boulder Junction Public Library and the Boulder Junction Area Historical Society. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call the library at 715-385-2050.