recollectionwisconsin.orgis a place to discover and share your Wisconsin story. This website provides Wisconsin residents and audiences worldwide with free access to a growing set of historical resources from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across the state. But this site is a place for more than just viewing digital resources. You’re also invited to contribute your own memories, images, knowledge and thoughts.
With recollectionwisconsin.org, you can . . .
Read letters home from Wisconsin soldiers who served in the Civil War, World War I and WWII
See baskets, beadwork, furniture, pottery and other objects made by Wisconsin craftspeople
Listen to traditional folk music from Wisconsin ethnic groups
Page through yearbooks from colleges and universities around the state
Browse photos of local people and events from dozens of Wisconsin communities
Explore a map to find digital resources from collections near you
Share your own historic photos in our Flickr pool
Add your own Wisconsin story, memory or experience to our story archive
. . . and much more!
Who is this website for?
Everyone! recollectionwisconsin.org is intended for students, teachers, scholars, genealogists, history buffs, and anyone else interested in discovering more about our state and its wealth of historical and cultural resources.
What is the Recollection Wisconsin program?
Recollection Wisconsin is a collaborative effort to bring together digital versions of Wisconsin history materials from participating libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across the state. The program also provides guidelines, training and support to contributing partners in an effort to standardize and coordinate cultural heritage digitization efforts at the statewide level.
Partners and funding
Recollection Wisconsin is sponsored by Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS) in partnership with the Milwaukee Public Library, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Financial support is provided by a grant from the Nicholas Family Foundation and annual membership dues from contributing partners.
History of the program
The Recollection Wisconsin program was first developed in 2005 as a collaborative effort of Wisconsin academic libraries, public libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies. From 2005-2012, the program was known as Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO).
The founding mission of Wisconsin Heritage Online was “to inspire education and discovery by making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage available to the public via the World Wide Web.”
Initial program goals included:
Expand access to content digitized by Wisconsin’s cultural heritage institutions.
Encourage and facilitate digitization through availability of support, training, and hosting services.
Maintain the infrastructure to support digital collaboration.
Provide for content to be accessible from one place.
Assure that content is adequately indexed.
Develop and maintain shared standards for metadata.
Advisory committee
The Recollection Wisconsin Advisory Committee consists of seven members, each appointed to one-year terms. The committee includes representatives from our four core partners as well as librarians, scholars and curators from across the state.
Advisory Committee Members, 2012-2013
Michael Edmonds, Deputy Director, Division of Library-Archives, Wisconsin Historical Society
Erika Janik, Producer, Wisconsin Life, Wisconsin Public Radio
Lee Konrad, Director of Technology Services, UW-Madison General Library System
Cathy Markweise, Metadata and Cataloging Librarian, Milwaukee Public Library
Janet Seymour, Field Services Representative-Northern Region, Wisconsin Historical Society
Bradley Shipps, Outreach and Training Librarian, Outagamie Waupaca Library System
Staff
Emily Pfotenhauer
Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager
Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS)
728 State Street Room 464
Madison, WI 53706-1418
608-265-2138 epfotenhauer at wils.wisc.edu
Colophon and site credits
Design of site by StudioSaal Corporation and Ganger Design, LLC. Built using Insomnia, a customizable WordPress theme. The site uses Josefin Slab Light for titles, Open Sans for headings and PT Serif for the body copy. Site identity created by StudioSaal Corporation.
Sharing our stories. Exploring our past.
Recollection Wisconsin is a place to discover and share your Wisconsin story. You can use this website to search and browse a growing set of historical resources from collections across the state. You’re also invited to contribute your own memories, images, knowledge and thoughts.
from Wisconsin communities, including photos, postcards, maps, letters, diaries, books, artifacts, oral histories and more. Enter a term or terms in the box below to start your search, or get help with searching.
from Wisconsin libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. Sort collections by category or explore collections on a map to find resources near you.
Add a story or a photo and help build a collaborative history of our state. Or contribute a comment and add your voice to an ongoing conversation about Wisconsin's past.
About
What is this website?
recollectionwisconsin.org is a place to discover and share your Wisconsin story. This website provides Wisconsin residents and audiences worldwide with free access to a growing set of historical resources from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across the state. But this site is a place for more than just viewing digital resources. You’re also invited to contribute your own memories, images, knowledge and thoughts.
With recollectionwisconsin.org, you can . . .
Who is this website for?
Everyone! recollectionwisconsin.org is intended for students, teachers, scholars, genealogists, history buffs, and anyone else interested in discovering more about our state and its wealth of historical and cultural resources.
What is the Recollection Wisconsin program?
Recollection Wisconsin is a collaborative effort to bring together digital versions of Wisconsin history materials from participating libraries, archives, museums and historical societies across the state. The program also provides guidelines, training and support to contributing partners in an effort to standardize and coordinate cultural heritage digitization efforts at the statewide level.
Partners and funding
History of the program
The Recollection Wisconsin program was first developed in 2005 as a collaborative effort of Wisconsin academic libraries, public libraries, archives, museums, and historical societies. From 2005-2012, the program was known as Wisconsin Heritage Online (WHO).
The founding mission of Wisconsin Heritage Online was “to inspire education and discovery by making Wisconsin’s cultural heritage available to the public via the World Wide Web.”
Initial program goals included:
Advisory committee
The Recollection Wisconsin Advisory Committee consists of seven members, each appointed to one-year terms. The committee includes representatives from our four core partners as well as librarians, scholars and curators from across the state.
Advisory Committee Members, 2012-2013
Staff
Emily Pfotenhauer
Recollection Wisconsin Program Manager
Wisconsin Library Services (WiLS)
728 State Street Room 464
Madison, WI 53706-1418
608-265-2138
epfotenhauer at wils.wisc.edu
Colophon and site credits
Design of site by StudioSaal Corporation and Ganger Design, LLC. Built using Insomnia, a customizable WordPress theme. The site uses Josefin Slab Light for titles, Open Sans for headings and PT Serif for the body copy. Site identity created by StudioSaal Corporation.