PBS Wisconsin Education has released a new Wisconsin Biographies story titled, Carrie Frost: Fly Fishing Boss. Wisconsin Biographies is a collection of free educational, online media resources that shares the stories of notable Wisconsinites and enriches grade school social studies and literacy curriculum. Carrie Frost: Fly Fishing Boss is available for free online access at pbswisconsineducation.org.

Born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Carrie Frost moved to Stevens Point with her family in 1885. A passionate and skilled fly fisher, Frost began making her own ties after noticing her imported European flies were not attracting the Wisconsin fish she was after. She gathered local feathers, animal fur and other native materials and began tying flies in her family home. Fly fishers in Stevens Point took notice, and demand for Frost’s flies grew. She soon established her own fly-tackle business, the C.J. Frost Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Company.

The company continued to grow and eventually put Stevens Point on the map, helping make it the “Fly Tackle Capital of the World.” Frost’s life paved the way for other female entrepreneurs and business owners in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Despite the fact that women could not vote and in many cases could not own property, her successful manufacturing company gave approximately 150 local Stevens Point women a chance to earn their own wages.

"We were delighted that Stevens Point community members introduced us to the story of Carrie Frost, and that area educators encouraged us to help them share her inspiring story with their students,” said PBS Wisconsin Education Director Alyssa Tsagong. “History resources can often feel distant and about people and events 'somewhere else.' I believe that discovering local stories of real people who have made history brings inquiry and learning to life. The Wisconsin Biographies collection is richer with the story of Stevens Point's fly fishing boss!"

On the Wisconsin Biographies website, students in grades 3-8 can explore Frost’s story through an animated video, digital book and image gallery. An educator guide provides additional resources and extension activities.

Carrie Frost: Fly Fishing Boss is part of Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Stevens Point funded by major support from Sentry Insurance, Dr. Henry Anderson and Shirley Levine, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Dick Cable Family, Mitzi and Bernie Hlavac, Judy Cable Anderson and the John Anderson Postcard Collection, Sue and Jim Buck, Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin, JHL Digital Printing, Tina and Don Peters, Rebecca Wiegand and Marvin VanKerkerix, and the Focus Fund for Wisconsin History supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Additional support from The Timothy William Trout Education Fund, a gift of Monroe and Sandra Trout, the Focus Fund for Education, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

PBS Wisconsin is a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

PBS Wisconsin is a place to grow through learning on WHA-TV, Madison; WPNE-TV, Green Bay; WHRM-TV, Wausau; WLEF-TV, Park Falls; WHLA- TV, La Crosse; and WHWC-TV, Menomonie-Eau Claire.

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