Manuscripts

Diaries, letters and other handwritten documents and personal papers.

Waukesha County History 1870-1920

Waukesha County History 1870-1920

The materials in this digital collection depict the industries, people and structures important to the development of Waukesha County from 1870-1920. Many of the images come from the collection of Warren S. O’Brien (1898-1988), a prolific Waukesha photographer.

Wisconsin Arts Projects of the WPA 

This digital collection provides access to primary sources documenting the activities and output of Works Project Administration (WPA) arts projects in Wisconsin from 1935-1943, especially the work of the Milwaukee Handicrafts Project. Materials include design portfolios, oral history interviews with artists and selections from the papers of Elsa Emile Ulbricht, director of the Milwaukee Handicraft Project, and Charlotte Russell Partridge and Miriam Frink, co-founders of the Layton School of Art.

Wisconsin in the Civil War

To mark the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), the Wisconsin Historical Society created this digital collection containing dozens of diaries, regimental histories and book-length memoirs, thousands of soldiers’ letters, hundreds of newspaper articles and more than 1,000 photographs, maps and other images.

Wisconsin Pioneer Experience

A digital collection of diaries, letters, reminiscences, speeches and other writings of people who settled and built Wisconsin during the 19th century. These materials were selected from the collections of the Wisconsin Area Research Centers (ARCs) as well as the headquarters of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Wisconsin Women’s History

A selection of manuscripts and ephemera documenting the lives of women in Wisconsin, focusing on women who were active in social movements such as suffrage, temperance, abolition, civil rights and other efforts to reform society as well as women who ran for public office.

World War II Veterans of Mount Horeb

World War II Veterans of Mount Horeb

This collection brings together books, photographs, audio interviews, slides, personal scrapbooks and memorabilia collected from Mt. Horeb-area veterans of WWII.

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