Listen to this: Superior Telegram's Archive Dive discusses the rediscovery of Bong's "Marge" plane

Duluth News Tribune Minute

The Superior Telegram recently released it’s 30th episode of Archive Dive, which is a monthly history podcast where we “dive” into the archives of historic events, people and places in Superior and Douglas County.

For this month’s episode, Telegram reporter Maria Lockwood and local historian and retired Librarian Teddie Meronek trace the history of the University of Wisconsin Superior campus and even tell us about an “astro-nut” who helped raise money for a Superior hospital.

The community's determination to bring a normal school to Superior was rewarded when the school opened in 1895. Built in the latest design, it featured adjustable desks and a system that sucked away chalk dust from the blackboards. Destroyed by a fire in 1914, the building was rebuilt and has continued to anchor the campus.

In 1962, one of the students at the college spent nearly 100 hours in a space capsule on top of a 40-foot pole to raise money for the memorial hospital fund, dressed in a spacesuit and connected to the Earth by a telephone. This “astro-nut” spent his days eating food delivered by A&W and Chefs, as well as taking calls from local school children.

You can find that episode at superiortelegram.com or wherever you also get this podcast. You can find additional episodes here.

In case you missed last month’s episode, we are resharing it here. In June, Maria and Briana Fiandt, who is the curator of collections and exhibits for the Richard I. Bong Veterans Historical Center, discussed the recent rediscovery of Richard Bong’s famous ‘Marge’ plane. Enjoy!