Diaries, letters and other handwritten documents and personal papers.
Ada James (1876-1952) was a leading social reformer, humanitarian, and pacifist from Richland Center, Wisconsin and daughter of state senator David G. James. The Ada James Papers document the grass roots organizing and politics that were required to promote and guarantee the passage of women’s suffrage in Wisconsin and beyond.
The Aldo Leopold Archives documents not only Leopold’s rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948. The collection includes more than 500 unpublished essays and reports as well as detailed diaries and journals of Leopold’s Forest Service activity, his travels, hunting and field experience, and observations and activities at his Sand County farm.
Anne Bassett Kelley (Beloit College class of 1907), known as Nan, became a missionary teacher in China. Her great niece donated an extensive collection of Kelley’s correspondence from China during 1919-1923 as well as letters from her adopted daughter in China to Kelley and other family members, dating from the 1940s through the 1990s. The digital collection currently includes Kelley’s 1919-1923 letters.
Photographs and documents depicting the evolution of Beloit College’s identity on the airwaves from 1907 to the present.
After World War I ended in 1919, the Brown County War History Committee interviewed 1,721 local soldiers and their families about their wartime service. They collected a wealth of personal, family and military information, including hundreds of photographs and original letters. The collection is owned by the Neville Public Museum of Brown County and housed at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Area Research Center.
Chilton Public Library is the lively local library for the city of Chilton (population about 4,000) and the surrounding areas of Calumet County, Wisconsin. This local history digital collection features images and texts from the area’s past.
Ruben Sweet of Manitowoc, Wisconsin kept a diary of his experiences in the Civil War from November 1863-February 1865. The diary was transcribed by the Langlade County Historical Society in 2004.
Letters written to family members by Francis Deleglise, founder of the city of Antigo, during his service with Wisconsin’s famed Iron Brigade during the Civil War. Letters describe training activities at Camp Randall and experiences at a field hospital while recovering from wounds inflicted at Gettysburg.
Eldon Murray was a prominent activist in the Milwaukee LGBT community. In addition to his work with the Gay Peoples Union (GPU) and the Milwaukee AIDS Project, Murray was the founder of SAGE/Milwaukee, the first organization in Wisconsin dedicated to serving the needs of older gay, lesbian, and bisexual people through community building and counseling services. The digital collection includes selections from the Eldon Murray Papers, including an extensive series of newspaper clippings from the 1940s to the 1970s, photographs, fiction and nonfiction writings, activist organization records, and a handful of publications.
Papers of Walter Eugene Leach (1857-1938), curator of the Racine County Museum. Included are biographical materials on notable Racine residents and Leach’s writings on Racine County history, including chapters of his unpublished manuscript “The Story of Racine County, a History.” There are also records of the Racine Senate, 1844-1851, and the Racine Relief Association, 1883-1898.
