Ruth Louise Kriehn (1914–2007) was a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin –
Milwaukee, teaching human kinetics, modern dance and exercise from 1952 to 1979.
Notably, she lived and studied modern dance under famed dancer Mary Wigman in
Berlin, Germany from 1951 to 1952. Kriehn passed away in 2007, at the age of 92.
Kriehn earned a Master’s degree in History from the University of Wisconsin – Madison
prior to her study of modern dance, and continued to be interested in history
throughout her career. Upon retirement from UW – Milwaukee, Kriehn began researching
her family history, which had inhabited the small fishing village of Jones Island
years before. After seven years of research, Kriehn published The Fisherfolk of
Jones Island in 1988. Kriehn’s book details the history of the settlement of Jones
Island (which was not an island but rather a peninsula) from the early 1800s until
modern times.
