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La Crosse Plow Company Collection

The La Crosse Plow Company Collection contains a variety of visual materials including repair guides, photographs, 3-dimensional objects, letters, and other similar items. The collection’s materials span the various phases of the La Crosse Plow Company including names such as Sta-Rite, Happy Farmer Tractor Company, and the La Crosse Tractor Company. The bulk of this collection was scanned from materials owned by Randy Reysen, and the other items featured are part of the Murphy Library Special Collections. In total, there are over 100 items included in this collection with the prospect of adding more in the future.

La Crosse Public Library Archives

This collection from the La Crosse Public Library Archives includes digitized texts related to La Crosse including city directories 1866-1963; city ordinances 1863-1954; and other histories including local churches. Photographs and oral histories can also be accessed here.

La Crosse Regional Maps Collection

Maps of the city of La Crosse, La Crosse County and surrounding region, including rail, highway, survey and topographic maps from the 1850s through the 1970s.

Lakeshore College

This archive collection from Lakeshore College (previously Lakeshore Technical College) compiles yearbooks, photographs, and documents showing the college’s history from the early 20th century into the 21st century. Vocational education in Sheboygan County and Manitowoc County began in the 1910s with city schools in Sheboygan, Manitowoc, and Two Rivers. They were consolidated in the late 1960s to create Lakeshore Technical Institute. A comprehensive technical school was built in the early 1970s in Cleveland, WI. The name was changed from Lakeshore Technical Institute to Lakeshore Technical College in 1988 and then to Lakeshore College in 2024. The material presented in this archive collection documents and expounds upon this history as Lakeshore College continues to innovate and evolve.

Langlade County Historical Society Photos

Several towns and villages in Langlade County thrived during the heyday of logging and the timber industry but have declined in recent years. A few have virtually become ghost towns while some still exist. Langlade County, in more recent years, has marketed itself as the “Gateway to the Northwoods” and, more recently, the “The County of Trails.” This collection shows many resorts and recreational venues in Langlade County and other Northwoods destinations.

Langlade County Logging Photographs

The logging photographs in the collection of the Langlade County Historical Society document work crews, logging camps, sawmills and other aspects of Wisconsin’s logging industry from the 19th century to the 1990s. Some photographs were taken by Arthur J. Kingsbury for his picture postcard business, but many are by anonymous photographers.

Langlade County Railroad Photographs

The railroad photographs in the collection of the Langlade County Historical Society depict depots, rail yards, rail crews, locomotives and train wrecks in the Antigo area from the late 19th century to the 1990s. Some photographs were taken by Arthur J. Kingsbury for his picture post card business, but many are by anonymous photographers.

Laura Aldrich Neese Diaries Collection

Born February 17, 1889, Laura Janvrin Aldrich studied at the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and attended Beloit College with the class of 1912. On June 16, 1914, Laura Aldrich married Elbert H. Neese. While her husband served as president of the Beloit Corporation (now known as Iron Works), she worked closely with the Beloit Foundation, the First Congregational Church, and the Art League of Beloit. She was also a practicing artist and in 1952, Beloit College awarded Neese an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts for her commitment to the discipline of art and for her longtime service to the college. This digital collection includes beautifully-illustrated diaries containing accounts of Neese’s time in Beloit and abroad.

Lawrence Oliver, Photographer

Scenes of life in and around Vesper, Wisconsin in the late 1940s and early 1950s captured by local photojournalist Lawrence Oliver.

Leaping La Crosse News

The Leaping La Crosse News, a monthly newsletter published from 1979-2007, was a source of information for lesbians living in the La Crosse, Wisconsin, area. Topics covered include national, state and local news of legal cases, entertainment and events as well as social and political activities of the La Crosse area lesbian community.