The Freedom Flotilla, also known as the Mariel Boatlift, occurred in 1980 after President Carter opened the doors to the United States for hundreds of thousands of Cuban refugees, of which nearly 15,000 would eventually arrive at the resettlement camp at Fort McCoy in western Wisconsin. This collection contains photographs taken by journalists reporting on the “Cuban Odyssey,” most of whom worked for the La Crosse Tribune, bringing together nearly 250 images of individuals and events directly involved with the Freedom Flotilla.
Browse All Collections
Freedom Summer Digital Collection
The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the richest collections of Civil Rights movement records in the nation, which includes more than 100 manuscript collections documenting the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964. More than 25,000 pages from the Freedom Summer manuscripts — enough to fill several file cabinets — are available online. In them you will find official records of organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); the personal papers of movement leaders and activists such as Amzie Moore, Mary King and Howard Zinn, letters and diaries of northern college students who went South to volunteer for the summer; newsletters produced in Freedom Schools; racist propaganda, newspaper clippings, pamphlets and brochures, magazine articles, telephone call logs, candid snapshots, internal memos, press releases and much more.
Gartner Diaries
Diaries of the travels of Austrian Norbertine priest Father Maximilian Gaertner of Wilten Abbey in Austria. Gaertner arrived in Wisconsin in 1846 and remained there until recalled to Wilten Abbey in 1858.
Geology Lantern Slides
In early 2016, these lantern slides were donated to the Beloit College Archives by the Department of Geology. Little is known about their date of production or the company that created them. Previously used in classroom teaching, they depict a variety of geological features across the globe.
Gesu Parish Grade School
This collection of photos, directories, programs, alumni newsletters, and objects documents the Gesu School, founded in 1895 after the combining of St. Gall and Holy Name parishes. After sixty-nine years of continuous educational service, Gesu School held its last graduation exercises on June 7, 1968.
Go Tell It at the Quilt Show!
Short video interviews with quilters in Lodi, Wisconsin, recorded in 2018. The Lodi Woman’s Club Public Library and the Lodi Valley Quilters Guild partnered with the non-profit Quilt Alliance to record the stories of local quilters and quilts as part of the Quilt Alliance’s Go Tell It at the Quilt Show! project.
Grant County Historical Society
Photographs documenting life in Grant County, Wisconsin since the mid-19th century, including portraits of early settlers and images of the Joe Greer Rodeo of the 1940s. Communities represented include Beetown, Boscobel, Cassville, Cuba City, Fennimore, Hazel Green, Lancaster and Platteville.
Great Lakes Maritime History Project
An overview of Wisconsin’s maritime history. Includes records on individual ships as well as photographs, postcards and pamphlets related to commerce and tourism on Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
Green Lake County Reporter
The Green Lake County Reporter, digitized by the Caestecker Public Library in Green Lake, includes all editions from 1919-2005. The original microfilm collection was created by the Dartford Historical Society. The more recent issues are shared with permission from the Berlin Journal Newspapers publishing company. Editions of the Green Lake County reporter from 2005 to present (with a 90-day embargo) can be found at the Archive of Wisconsin Newspapers. For the most current news in the area, please visit Caestecker Library or a local newsstand for this week’s edition of the Green Lake Reporter.
Green Lake Spectator
The Green Lake Spectator was published from 1860-1866 and was preserved in microfilm by the Dartford Historical Society. The Caestecker Public Library in Green Lake digitized all owned copies ranging from mid-1861 through the end of publication.
