This spring, we shared the news of a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to support our project Listening To War: Digitizing Wisconsin’s Wartime Histories. This initiative builds on the NEH-funded planning work we undertook in 2016-2017 to identify veterans’ oral history interviews in small and mid-sized libraries and historical societies… Read More…
Veterans and Military History
NEH Grant Will Digitize, Share Wartime Oral Histories
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced $18.6 million in grants for 199 humanities projects across the country. “These new NEH-supported projects deepen our understanding and appreciation of the traditions, values, and historical figures who have shaped our country,” said NEH Senior Deputy Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. We are thrilled to share the… Read More…
Listening to War: Directory and oral history tip sheets
An important product of our yearlong NEH-funded planning project was a directory of the audiovisual collections we identified around the state. The directory, Wisconsin’s Wartime Oral Histories, is now available online. It includes descriptions of 35 A/V collections from 25 Wisconsin libraries, archives and museums. These oral history collections document Wisconsin residents’ experiences of World… Read More…
Interview with Dana Gerber-Margie
For the past year, Digital Archives Assistant Dana Gerber-Margie worked with WiLS and Recollection Wisconsin on the NEH-funded project, Listening to War: Uncovering Wisconsin’s Wartime Oral Histories to identify, inventory, and plan for the digitization and preservation of hidden, at-risk audiovisual collections across Wisconsin. This year-long planning project sought out oral history collections that capture… Read More…
The Arctic Fox Valley
Like my trip to La Crosse, I didn’t let a snowstorm keep me from a two-day trip to the Fox Valley region. The first day was clear and cold with a drive to the Arvid E Miller Memorial Library Museum, a repository for the Mohican Nation Stockbridge-Munsee Community. The next day, I conducted an inventory… Read More…
On the River: Oral Histories from La Crosse
Right after a snowstorm hit us on Saturday, I drove through subzero temperatures to spend a few days in La Crosse! La Crosse is a college town with a vibrant downtown right on the Mississippi River. I spent a full day at the La Crosse Public Library and the next day in the UW La… Read More…
Stories about Submarines
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is yet another example of small staff museums doing big things to save its history. The museum is in a large space right off the Manitowoc River, off Lake Michigan. I had a lot to inventory, so unfortunately I had to bypass the exhibits and go straight to the archives. I… Read More…
Central Wisconsin: Four Organizations in Three Days
For my last post I talked about my trip to Stevens Point in central Wisconsin. Well, I must’ve liked it so much that I went back again to the center of the state. This time, I visited four institutions in four towns: Neillsville, Marshfield, Wausau, and Medford. The first leg of my trip was to… Read More…
Brisk Autumn Trip to Stevens Point
The end of October doesn’t just mean colorful leaves, warmer blankets and Halloween — it also means the Wisconsin Local History and Historic Preservation Conference! This year’s conference was held in Wisconsin Dells, which is kind of like one big pool party for families (it was a little too chilly for conference participants to partake… Read More…
Veterans’ stories from Green Bay and Two Rivers
My trip to the Green Bay area covered the most institutions I’ve visited so far in a single trip: over two days, I worked at the UW Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center, in downtown Green Bay at the Neville Public Museum of Brown County, and then at the Lester Public Library in Two… Read More…
