John Gurda

Last updated
John Gurda
BornJune 9, 1947
Education
Occupations
  • Author
  • academic
  • journalist
Years active1981–present
Website johngurda.com

John Gurda (born 9 June 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American writer and historian.

Contents

Gurda's book, The Making of Milwaukee , was turned into an Emmy Award-winning documentary series by Milwaukee PBS. [1] He is an eight-time winner of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Award of Merit. [2] He is also a local history columnist for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. [3]

Education

John Gurda graduated Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. [4] He holds a B.A. in English from Boston College and M.A. in Cultural Geography from University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. [5] Gurda has been described as a non-academic historian and is widely regarded as one of the most prolific historians of Milwaukee.

Professional Work

John Gurda is the author of twenty-two books, including histories of Milwaukee-area neighborhoods, industries, and places of worship. Gurda received his first corporate commission in 1981 from Northwestern Mutual. He grew his professional profile through works for a variety of nonprofit and community organizations in Milwaukee. The City of Milwaukee put out a popular series of neighborhood posters for which Gurda wrote descriptions and histories. Since 1994, Gurda has written a local history column in the Sunday edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Gurda’s most comprehensive and best-known work is The Making of Milwaukee which has been released in four editions. The Making of Milwaukee was the first full-length history of the region published since 1948. Gurda published a companion piece to The Making of Milwaukee called Milwaukee: City of Neighborhoods. Gurda's text, The Making of Milwaukee was the basis for a documentary series that premiered on Milwaukee Public Television in 2006 and again in 2016. [6]

John Gurda also works as a lecturer, tour guide, and local history columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In December 2022, Gurda announced that he would be stepping away from his role as a columnist for the newspaper. [7]

Personal life

John Gurda was born and raised on the South Side of Milwaukee. He was one of four children, his sister Susie died in a car crash in 1968. [8] At the age of 8, he and his family moved to the Milwaukee suburb of Hales Corners. Gurda returned to Milwaukee in 1969 after completing his B.A. at Boston College whereupon he worked as a housepainter. Since 1991, John Gurda and his wife have lived in the Fernwood subdistrict of the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has three children and four grandchildren. [9]

Publications

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