Abstract

Kenosha Wisconsin was once one of the biggest motor cities in the United States. The city had a thriving economy, and vibrant communities. When the factories were shut down, a big piece of Kenosha had went missing with them. Currently Kenosha is in what is referred to by many as a “revitalization period”. Downtown Kenosha has had trouble transitioning from the former industrial dominated economy. Community officials have kick started a revitalization effort of the downtown area in hopes of saving downtown Kenosha. An ethnographic study was conducted in order to find out more about downtown, with a focus on a local restaurant called “Trolley Dog’s”.  Trolley Dog’s was the also the site of the Kenosha 72 labor union. The labor union was a hub for political and social change in a once thriving industrial city. After collecting data from the Kenosha historical archives, and hearing accounts from multiple downtown shop owners and community officials, correlations between present community dynamic and culture were able to be made to the seemingly lost industrial shop-floor family culture and dynamic of old Kenosha. A seemingly dead city has a hidden life to it, with much potential to take off as a successful contemporary community. This study uncovered the similar mechanisms of the current downtown in relation to the past shop-floor factory, and union culture of the Kenosha industrial period.