WISCONSIN HERITAGE COLLECTION — WHC-031

DR. KATE AND THE MILLION PENNY PARADE

One doctor carried a medical bag through the snow.

Sixteen students began collecting pennies.

An entire community helped build a hospital.

WHC-031 — Dr. Kate and the Million Penny Parade honors Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb, the determined Northwoods physician remembered as Wisconsin's "Angel on Snowshoes."

For years, Dr. Kate traveled through the forests and isolated communities surrounding Woodruff, Wisconsin, reaching patients by automobile, canoe, foot, and snowshoes. She served an enormous rural area where medical help was scarce and the nearest hospital was many miles away.

Dr. Kate believed the Northwoods needed a hospital of its own.

In 1952, Arbor Vitae–Woodruff High School geometry teacher Otto Burich and his 16 students decided to help by collecting one million pennies. The campaign began with 500 letters mailed on November 5, 1952. By April 15, 1953, the students had reached their goal.

On Memorial Day in 1953, more than 10,000 people came to Woodruff to see the pennies and celebrate what became known as the Million Penny Parade.

Dr. Kate's story later reached a national audience. Following her March 17, 1954, appearance on the television program This Is Your Life, approximately ten tons of mail arrived in Woodruff carrying more than $105,000 in additional donations. Volunteers gathered to open the letters, count the coins, and help finish and equip Lakeland Memorial Hospital.

This original Crave Designss artwork brings the different parts of that remarkable story together. Dr. Kate stands at the center holding her medical bag, surrounded by the snowshoes that symbolize her dedication, the students and volunteers who supported the campaign, the pennies and mailed donations that arrived from across the country, and the hospital their collective effort helped make possible.

Every element carries meaning:

The medical bag represents Dr. Kate's commitment to reaching patients wherever they lived.

The snowshoes recall the difficult winter journeys that earned her the name "Angel on Snowshoes."

The students represent the simple classroom idea that grew into a national movement.

The pennies and mailbags symbolize the thousands of ordinary people whose small contributions became something extraordinary.

The hospital represents what can happen when one person's vision becomes a community's mission.

WHC-031 is a tribute to service, determination, generosity, and the power of people working together for something larger than themselves.

PRODUCT FEATURES

• Original Crave Designss historical artwork
• Wisconsin Heritage Collection release WHC-031
• Research-based artistic representation
• Highly detailed, creator-ready digital artwork
• Strong central composition designed for visual impact
• Background removed for flexible creative placement
• High-resolution PNG format
• Digital delivery
• No physical product will be shipped

Ideal for Wisconsin history projects, heritage publications, educational displays, commemorative designs, creator projects, and historically inspired visual storytelling.

The smallest contribution can become part of something that changes thousands of lives.

Dr. Kate carried the dream.
The students collected the pennies.
The community built the hospital.

Refuse to Be Ignored.