“Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.” That was the slogan of the labor movement back in 1886, when workers were organizing around the idea of a work day being eight hours rather than ten to fourteen hours.

Jeremiah Rusk of Viroqua was governor of Wisconsin at that time, and a small new exhibit at the museum explores the story of Rusk and the Milwaukee labor strike of 1886. Rusk moved to Viroqua in the early 1850’s and maintained a home here for...