Has life changed in Milwaukee for 'Two American Families'? PBS film updates their stories

Thirty-three years ago, a pair of PBS filmmakers joined with Bill Moyers to tell the stories of two Milwaukee working-class families — one white, one black, and both grappling with the realities of the post-industrial economy.

The filmmakers didn't expect to keep telling the story.

But they have.

Since that first visit in 1991, Tom Casciato and Kathleen Hughes have come back to Milwaukee more than a half-dozen times to check in on the Neumanns and the Stanleys — including this year.

The latest chapter in the families' stories is part of the latest edition of their project, "Two American Families: 1991-2024," premiering on PBS July 23.

“We never intended, in 1991, to make this a longitudinal story about the families," Casciato said. "We came back and did a second one in 1995, we never intended to continue after that. … (But) each time it’s come around at a precipitous time.”

When they started, Casciato and Hughes had been assigned by Moyers, the veteran TV commentator, to look into what was happening to manufacturing workers being laid off. At the advice of Robert Reich — an economics professor who later served as labor secretary under President Bill Clinton — they decided to go to a manufacturing city to get the real story.

Coming to Milwaukee, they met with about 80 workers who were laid off from Briggs & Stratton. That's where they met Claude and Jackie Stanley, a Black couple with five children; and Tony and Terry Neumann, a white couple with three kids.

“The expectation was still there when people like Jackie worked for Briggs — they weren’t expecting it to stop," Casciato said. "They never felt like Milwaukee or America owed them a living by any means, but they did have the expectation, which I think was very American in their generation," that the jobs would continue.

“One of the shocks of the early ‘90s was that you could just get a job and it could sound great, and they could just up and leave," Hughes said. "Up and leaving is what they know (now).”

Three decades of change and consistency in Milwaukee

"Two American Families" condenses the reporting Hughes and Casciato did during their visits with the Stanleys and Neumanns in 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998-'99 and 2012, showing how both families struggled to find ways to make it. Along the way, they worked in jobs ranging from lathe operator to home health care to storefront pastor to Realtor.

They also faced health scares that wrecked their finances, and other hardships. Tony and Terry Neumann divorce, while Claude and Jackie Stanley launch their own business, combining real estate and home inspection.

The largest part of the "Frontline" installment focuses on 2024. The Stanleys and Neumanns are both still struggling, but the biggest challenge they face is the same, Hughes said: “Never feeling that they can wake up in the morning and not be worried. … There’s still this sense of uncertainty every day."

They are “never getting away from the worry but also never giving up, never stopping, persevering — I think that’s what’s kept us involved in the story," Casciato said. "They keep working, they keep trying, they keep doing their best."

That both couples are still plugging away at an age when many are contemplating retirement is a testament to their determination, Casciato said.

“The Neumanns, the Stanleys, right around 70, are still as hard-working as they ever were," he said. "And that has always impressed us about the whole city, and I think the work ethic of these two families embodies something about the city that we have always admired, and made it a perfect place for us to do this.”

Human stories that connect with viewers

Over the years, the filmmakers have heard from viewers that the Stanleys' and Neumanns' stories reflected their own lives.

“I think we understood that their stories were relevant, were important," Hughes said. "So we were ready to go back if we could.”

“Their lives and their stories are emblematic of what American working people have been going through, but simultaneously, they’re very personal," Casciato said. "These are individual lives, and they don’t operate as symbols or archetypes for us. They operate as Claude and Jackie, and Terry and Tony.”

While some things haven't changed for the two Milwaukee couples, the filmmakers think their hometown has changed a lot.

“I think Milwaukee’s become more attractive every time we come there, to tell you the truth," Casciato said. "A lot changed between 2000 and 2012 — that’s when the Public Market came up and the (new art) museum came up and all these really cool places.”

Will Casciato and Hughes keep coming back to Milwaukee? They'd like to.

“We hope to (come back). We never know, but don’t count us out," Casciato said. "If we want to come back, it’s up to the two families.”

When to watch

"Two American Families: 1991-2024" airs at 9 p.m. July 23 on WMVS-TV (Channel 10), with repeat showings at 2:30 a.m. July 24 on Channel 10; and at 7:30 p.m. July 24, and 12:30 and 8:30 a.m. July 25 on PBS World on Channel 36.2 (Channel 973 on Spectrum).

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Has life changed in Milwaukee for 'Two American Families'? PBS film updates their stories