Bay Leaves, a newsletter published by the community of Williams Bay on Geneva Lake, documents Williams Bay’s historic recreational camps; the Yerkes Observatory; the Belfry Theater, Wisconsin’s first summer stock theater; and the names and activities of both the year-round and summer residents who have influenced the appearance, culture and tourism of the village.
“Ach Ya!: The Story of German Music in Wisconsin” presents images from the nineteenth through the late twentieth century that evoke the long-standing heritage and rich diversity of Wisconsin’s German musical traditions, especially in German-American communities in Calumet, Dodge, Marathon, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, and Sheboygan counties.
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 The collection includes more than 500 unpublished essays and reports as well as detailed diaries and journals of Leopold’s Forest Service activity, his travels, hunting and field experience, and observations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.
The Americana Sheet Music Collection database was developed to provide bibliographic access to the Americana Collection of sheet music, one of the special collections of the Mills Music Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Some records for selected compositions have associated images of the scanned sheet music. Over time additional images may be added to the collection.
Print resources including Appleton city directories and Outagamie County plat books. Two narrative histories of the area are also included: Land of the Fox, Saga of Outagamie County (1949) and Commemorative Biographical Record of the Fox River Valley Counties of Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago (1895).
Kenosha pilot and aviation history enthusiast John Sullivan donated his archive of over 400 photographs, newspaper clippings and aviator biographies to UW-Parkside in 2009. The digital collection includes aerial views of the Kenosha and Racine airports and portraits of pilots with their planes.
This collection spans more than a century of Barneveld’s history, from early settlement through the devastation of the 1984 tornado and the rebuilding effort. Content includes books, photographs, video, business and village records, and personal scrapbooks and memorabilia.
Selections from the local history collections of fourteen west-central and northwestern Wisconsin public libraries, all members of the IFLS Library System. The digital collection contains texts (including community records, local history narratives and retrospectives, high school yearbooks and maps) and images of community sites, events and residents.
The Belgian-American Research Collection was established by the Cofrin Library, UW-Green Bay, to help preserve and make available original materials reflecting the character of the Belgian community in northeastern Wisconsin. An architectural survey was conducted to identify typical Belgian architecture including log, stone and brick houses and oral histories were recorded to document the Walloon language spoken in Brown, Door and Kewaunee Counties.
City directories, phone directories, plat maps and other publications documenting the history of the city of Beloit and Rock County, Wisconsin from the 1890s to the 1940s.
More than 600 photographs of the city of Kiel, Wisconsin from the mid-1800s to the late 20th century. These images depict commerce, recreation, cultural events and other day-to-day activities in the community.
A variety of publications documenting the community of Brillion, Calumet County, Wisconsin including family histories, church histories, and a scrapbook of letters and other documents chronicling the incorporation of the city compiled by local resident Arthur Neumeyer in 1944.
This collection consists of the personal and travel photographs of the Brittinghams, a prominent and influential Wisconsin family. Spanning the years 1897-1922, these images capture the private lives of a wealthy family at the turn of the century, and document their travels to 22 states and 32 countries.
Plat books, atlases, school yearbooks and school newspapers documenting northeastern Wisconsin, specifically Brown, Door, Kewaunee and Shawano counties. School yearbooks and newspapers included in this collection are The Okato (1922-1926), The Bay Mist (1910, 1912, 1922), The Aeroplane (1914-1921), East High Aeroplane (1924-1925), The Flashes (1912-1925), The Thistle (1908, 1913), The Crescent Beach Echoes (1909-1911, 1913, 1917, 1920, 1923), The Bugler (1918, 1922), Scroll of the Wolves (1929) and Lake Whispers (1915-1916, 1921-1925).
Bernard “Bunny” Berigan was one of the most prominent jazz trumpeters of all time. Born in Hilbert, Wisconsin in 1908, he moved to Fox Lake with his parents when he was only a few months old. This collection documents Berigan’s childhood and his career in music.
This digital collection of thirteen published books provides access to early information about Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. Content includes eight city and county directories dating from 1857-1904.
Research in ecology and natural resources conducted by University of Wisconsin faculty and staff and unique or valuable resources in these fields held by the University of Wisconsin Libraries. Sub-collections include unpublished works from the UW-Madison Arboretum, Crandon Mine and Kennecott Flambeau Mine reports, the Geology of Wisconsin Survey of 1873-1883, USGS topographic maps, technical bulletins from the Wisconsin DNR, slides and recordings of lectures by plant ecologist Virginia M. Kline and Wisconsin Bordner Survey maps.
The digital collection of materials from the Eager Free Public Library History Room includes Rock County, Wisconsin plat books from 1891, 1904, and 1917. Evansville was settled in 1839 and became an important stop on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway system. The digital collection includes histories and memories that give accounts of settlement and Evansville’s growth and prosperity. City Directories and photo collections of portraits, homes, and businesses are also included in the project.
From 1965–1970, fieldworkers for the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) conducted interviews with nearly 3,000 “informants” in 1,002 communities across America. They visited native residents in all fifty states and Washington, D.C., collecting local words, phrases and pronunciations. DARE’s main partners in the effort to digitize, interpret, and make accessible these audio recordings were the Max Kade Institute for German-American Studies, the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures and the University of Wisconsin Libraries, all at UW–Madison.
This digital collection contains 13 published books and a wall map providing accessibility to early information about the City Of Berlin and Green Lake County. City and county directories list residents with their addresses and occupations and include an alphabetic list of business firms and a street and avenue guide. City information for 1892 is now easily accessible from a wall map.
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.
This digital collection contains two components: images of citizens and businesses along Main Street in the city of Fort Atkinson from the 1880s through the 1970s, and manuscripts, notes, letters, oral histories and photographs from or about poet Lorine Niedecker, who spent most of her life in the Fort Atkinson area.
This digital collection of historic plat books, city directories, and atlases provides accessibility to early information about South Central Wisconsin, specifically Columbia, Dane, Portage and Wood counties. The early city directories for Madison provide helpful historical information on the early years of the state capital in addition to helping those looking for information on specific people and businesses in the area in the 1800s and early 1900s. The directories provide an alphabetical list of citizens with their addresses and occupations, a classified business directory, lists of city and county officials, churches, schools, societies, streets and wards.
The History of UW-Eau Claire Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources deemed important to the study of our state’s university system and its campuses.
Images documenting the selection of the campus site at Green Bay, construction of all campus buildings, student life, academic activities, political activities, visitors of note, commencement ceremonies and other campus traditions.
The History of UW-La Crosse Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources deemed important to the study of our state’s university system and its campuses.
The History of UW-Milwaukee Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources deemed important to the study of our state’s university system and its campuses.
The History of UW-Oshkosh Collection includes photographs and books documenting the history of UW-Oshkosh including athletic events and campus life.
The History of UW-Parkside Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes photographs documenting events and people at UW-Parkside including athletics, theatrical productions, festivals and daily life.
The History of UW-Platteville Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes images and publications documenting the histories of the Platteville Academy, the State Teachers College, the Wisconsin Mining School and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.
The History of UW-River Falls Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes photographs documenting the history of UW-River Falls and River Falls Normal School, with athletics and campus life.
The History of UW-Stevens Point Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes photographs and books documenting the history of UW-Stevens Point including athletics, aerial views of campus, classrooms and daily life.
The History of UW-Stout Collection includes materials that represent the students, faculty, campus, events, and classroom work on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Stout and its predecessors. This collection is representative of the institution’s long-standing polytechnic educational tradition. The collection contains more than 500 photographs illustrating the history of manual training, industrial arts, and domestic science at UW-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin, from its founding as Stout Manual Training School in 1891 into the 1990s.
The History of UW-Superior Collection includes images that represent a cross-section of this campus’s history and evolution. They document student life, academic activities, athletics, the campus, and campus traditions.
The History of UW–Waukesha Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection currently includes published material and photographs. Founded by Phil Zweifel in 1978, the Windy Hill Review is the University of Wisconsin–Waukesha’s student-run literary magazine. This annual publication features the short stories, poems, and artwork of students, faculty, and local writers and artists.
The History of UW-Whitewater Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes images of buildings on the UW-Whitewater campus as well as three published histories: Campus Cornerstones (1997), A History of Wisconsin State University Whitewater (1967) and Historical sketches of the first quarter-century of the State Normal School at Whitewater, Wisconsin (1893).
The History of Wisconsin Agriculture and Rural Life collection is based on a bibliography compiled as part of the National Preservation Project for Agricultural Literature. Content includes reports from county agricultural and home agents for the UW-Extension and annual publications including the Wisconsin Crop and Livestock Reporter, Milwaukee Milk Producer, Transactions of the Northern Wisconsin Agricultural and Mechanical Association, proceedings from the annual meetings of the Southern Wisconsin Cheesemakers’ and Dairymen’s Association, and catalogs for the “short course” offered by the University of Wisconsin College of Agriculture.
Home Economics to Human Ecology: A Centennial History at the University of Wisconsin – Madison is a digital collection of photographs and ephemera illustrating aspects of the past 100 years at the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, including examples of student activities involving life in the Home Management House, work in laboratories, and the functions of student organizations such as Phi Upsilon Nu, Omicron Nu, and the Euthenics Club; portraits of administrators and past faculty; scenes of classrooms and buildings; illustrations of faculty and students working together; and illustrations of extension projects.
Photographs and postcards depicting Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in its heyday as a summer retreat for wealthy Chicagoans. This collection also includes plat books and atlases spanning 1873-1962.
A range of materials documenting the history of Janesville, Wisconsin including photographs and postcards from the 1840s through the 1980s and directories for the city of Janesville and Rock County, 1857-1931. Also includes walking guides to historic districts published in the 1990s and 2000s.
The C.E. Dewey Lantern Slide Collection contains images of Kenosha County from the 1830s to the early 1940s. The Louis M. Thiers Glass Negative Collection contains images from the 1880s into the 1910s. The digital collection also includes several books documenting the history of Racine and Kenosha counties.
Industrial scenes, plants, building exteriors and interiors, portraits of corporate owners and boards, advertising and literature about product lines, and images of company activities and events, workers and their families capture the story of the city of Kenosha as a major manufacturing center. Manufacturers represented in the collection include N. R. Allen Sons, American Brass, Bain Wagon Company, Nash Motors, America Motors, MacWhyte, Pirsch, and Simmons.
This collection contains oral histories, photographs, documents and color slides from six Mount Horeb residents who served in the Korean War.
Records, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, ephemera and artifacts documenting a popular movement that most Americans would rather forget – a so-called “reform” movement driven by xenophobia and bigotry. Although largely gone from the state by the late 1920s, the Klan persisted in northwestern Wisconsin, including Chippewa, Clark, and Pierce counties, through the 1940s.
The Mills Music Library and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, along with many partners at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, present a growing collection of unique, historic, regional and endangered sound recordings with related documentation. These include recordings produced for immigrant, ethnic and indigenous audiences by American companies in the first half of the 20th century as well as more than 700 hours of original field and home recordings from the 1950s through the 1990s featuring the Upper Midwest’s culturally diverse traditional musicians.
Annual reports of the Madison Metropolitan School District dating back to the mid-19th century as well as curriculum guides and other teaching materials.
Published reports of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, 1899-1928, documenting efforts to attract attention to the city’s natural beauty and surrounding lakes.
Photographs and postcards by professional photographer Herman C. Benke from the 1890s and 1900s and images by amateur photographer Frances M. Kadow from the 1920s through the 1940s. Also includes historical texts concerning Manitowoc County, plat books and plat maps, and oral history interviews recorded with area residents in the 1970s.
Maps and atlases of La Crosse County including plat, highway, soil and topographic maps as well as zoning, park and street maps of the city of La Crosse and other La Crosse County municipalities. Also includes representative pre- and post-lock and dam charts and maps of the Upper Mississippi River.
This digital collection focuses on the history of the towns, villages and cities of Marathon County. It includes centennial histories written by local residents, with many illustrations documenting family life and economic development in central Wisconsin.
Plat books of Marinette County from the years 1905, 1912 and 1920 and Marinette High School yearbooks from 1919-1924.
Texts highlighting the early history of the city of Menasha, Wisconsin, including the Menasha City Charter of 1891 and the first Menasha High School yearbook of 1916 as well as photographs depicting the people and places within the community from approximately 1880 to 1950.
A variety of resources depicting the early 20th century in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin including church histories, family memoirs, books about the historic Norway Building, and information about Mount Horeb’s production of Song of Norway. Centennial books from the Mount Horeb Area Historical Society, Perry Historical Center, and Springdale Township are also included.
This collection presents the history of Neenah, Wisconsin from the 1850s to the 1950s. Includes local history texts, Neenah and Menasha city directories 1920-1939, a 1928 plat map of Winnebago County, and more than 400 photographs.
This collection focuses on the first 100 years of New Glarus’s history, including narratives of the settlement and early history of the village, family records from the first church in New Glarus, tax rolls of the Town of New Glarus, maps and plat books of Green County, the first yearbook of the New Glarus High School, and photographs of individuals and families, school groups, community organizations, events, street scenes, businesses, and agriculture.
The Winnebago Mental Health Institute admitted its first patient on April 23, 1873 and was known as the Northern Hospital for the Insane. In 1935, the facility name was changed to the Winnebago State Hospital and was changed again in 1973 to the Winnebago Mental Health Institute. This collection includes annual reports authored by physician superintendents and issues of The Cue, a newsletter written and edited by patients at the hospital from 1968-1973.
Resources concerning Winnebago County, Wisconsin and the communities of Oshkosh and Omro in the 19th century, including county histories, local histories, atlases, maps and photographs.
Personal reminiscences of growing up in Ozaukee County, reflections of local residents who served during wartime, histories of various local communities, and histories of public services and groups in those communities, including fire departments and women’s clubs.
This collection is a discographical database with information and label scans of the Paramount 78rpm recordings held by the Mills Music Library. Titles, performer names, release dates and numbers, matrix numbers, and other details are all keyword searchable. Information is being added on an on-going basis. Broadway, Famous, and Puritan recordings are included, as they were also produced by the New York Recording Laboratories (NYRL) of Port Washington, Wisconsin.
Contemporary and historic images and selected caption information representing the history and significance of polka music in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. Content was compiled for the “Polka Music/Polka Culture” photo-text exhibit that toured Wisconsin in 1991.
Public Documents of the State of Wisconsin, commonly known as Wisconsin Public Documents (WPD), consists of the annual and biennial reports of all important Wisconsin state agencies from 1852 through 1914.
Two local histories published by the Slinger Advancement Association and more than 300 photographs documenting the village of Slinger, Washington County, Wisconsin.
Sheboygan County plat maps 1875-1920, local histories, centennial and homecoming souvenir booklets, and catalogs from numerous furniture manufacturers in the city of Sheboygan.
Publications documenting the early history of Adams, Columbia, Dane, Green, Portage, Sauk and Wood Counties and the communities of Albany, Belleville, Cambria, Cambridge, Columbus, Fitchburg, Madison, Monroe, Prairie du Sac, Reedsburg and Waunakee. Materials were contributed from the collections of South Central Library System member public libraries.
The State of Wisconsin Collection presents writings about the state of Wisconsin and unique or valuable materials that relate to its history and ongoing development. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials such as books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources.
Glass negatives created by the Taylor Brothers photographic studio of Adams County, Wisconsin, circa 1910-1930. Subjects are varied and include towns, buildings and street scenes in Adams County; construction and dedication of a new county courthouse; teachers, classes, and one-room school houses; road construction; and farmsteads, animals, and agricultural activities.
Changing Landscapes of Wisconsin creates wide accessibility to a rare collection of historic aerial photographs acquired by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 1937-1941. These photographs provide a snapshot of Wisconsin’s landscapes and have become a baseline dataset for understanding environmental, social, and economic changes that have occurred since that time.
This collection documents the history of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin 1939-1947, including both universal homefront experiences and activities as they played out locally, and more unique activities that defined the area during WWII, specifically shipbuilding and manufacturing.
The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters is an independent, nonprofit membership organization chartered by the state legislature in 1870. Transactions, an annual journal (1870-2001), was central to the Academy’s goal of uniting scientists, humanities scholars and artists together to stimulate learning and exchange of research.
Photographs of Two Rivers selected from the collection of Hubert R. Wentorf (circa late 1800s to mid 1950s), and product catalogs from the Fisher-Hamilton Company, a major employer in Two Rivers since 1880 (now known as Thermo-Fisher Scientific).
Audio recordings and transcripts of oral history interviews with 52 employees of the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.
Images, manuscripts, books and other materials documenting the history and mission of the University of Wisconsin System. Includes content from all four-year campuses and nearly all of the two-year colleges in the UW System.
Photographs, slides, posters and other images from UW Colleges, the two-year campuses in the University of Wisconsin System. Colleges represented are UW-Baraboo/Sauk County, UW-Barron County, UW-Fond du Lac, UW-Fox Valley, UW-Manitowoc, UW-Marinette, UW-Marshfield/Wood County, UW-Richland, UW-Rock County, UW-Sheboygan, UW-Washington County and UW-Waukesha. Selected images are also included from the Medford campus which closed in the 1980s.
Thousands of images of steamboats on the inland waterways of the United States, primarily the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers and their tributaries. The photos depict steamboats in every phase of their life span – from construction to destruction – and every aspect of their daily operations from the 1850s to the present.
Books, manuscripts, photographs and other resources documenting the history of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sub-collections and themes include yearbooks, student handbooks, class albums and student scrapbooks; the Badger Bites cookbook collection; Campus Voices oral history collections, campus humor publications; Wisconsin Alumni Magazine; Hoofers Club; Athletic Department; Multicultural Student Center and the Mildred Fish Harnack Collection.
Photographs of musicians and music-related subjects held by Mills Music Library, dating from the late nineteenth century to the present, representing the musical heritage of Wisconsin from Swiss yodeling to Les Paul. Also includes postcards, lithographic prints, advertising and promotional materials, posters, and other types of ephemera.
The Walworth County Plat Map of 1857 is the oldest and one of the most frequently used maps in the UW-Whitewater Archives. This digitized map allows users to click a township within Walworth County and view the database results for all residents and properties within that township, as documented in 1857.
The history of the Waterford area in western Racine County, Wisconsin is documented here in books, manuscripts, high school yearbooks, photographs, maps and newspapers. This digital collection is a collaboration of many Waterford area agencies including Waterford Public Library, the Village of Waterford, Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce, Waterford Union High School and the personal collections of many of the descendants of pioneer families.
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.
Published quarterly by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, the Wisconsin Academy Review (now known as Wisconsin People and Ideas) focuses on contemporary Wisconsin thought and culture. Issues in the digital collection date from 1958-2008.
The Wisconsin Blue Book has been published every other year since 1885. Each volume includes information and statistics on life in Wisconsin, including government, population, geography, history, election data, educational resources, social services, finance, agriculture, industry and transportation systems.
The Wisconsin Cranberry School is the primary meeting for Wisconsin cranberry growers, whether members of a cooperative or independent growers. The school is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Extension and the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association.
Photographs taken by emergency management officials documenting natural and man-made disasters that have hit Wisconsin and images of emergency response training and other historic materials related to emergency preparedness.
Materials from two collections from Mills Music Library at UW-Madison: field recordings, notes and photographs made by UW-Madison faculty member Helene Stratman-Thomas as part of the Wisconsin Folk Music Recording Project during the summers of 1940, 1941 and 1946 and recordings collected by song catcher Sidney Robertson Cowell during the summer of 1937 for the Special Skills Division of the Resettlement Administration.
First person narrative accounts of Wisconsin soldiers and citizens during the Civil War, including letters, diaries, poems and other records.
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.
The field notes and plat maps of the public land survey of Wisconsin are a valuable resource for original land survey information, as well as for understanding Wisconsin’s landscape history. The survey of Wisconsin was conducted between 1832 and 1866 by the federal General Land Office. This work established the township, range and section grid; the pattern upon which land ownership and land use is based.
This collection from the Mills Music Library at UW-Madison consists of music written by Wisconsin composers, published by Wisconsin publishers and/or pieces whose subject matter is Wisconsin. The publications date from the late 1850s to the present.
The Wisconsin State Capitol Historic Structure Report presents the architectural history of the state’s capitol building in six volumes published between 1995 and 2005.
Images of people and buildings contributing to Wisconsin’s social care system, including asylums, hospitals and orphanages.
Images from the Wisconsin Conservation Department (1930s to 1960s) and Department of Natural Resources (1960s to present) illustrating fishing, camping, hunting and other recreational activities as well as the work of park wardens, foresters and other conservation professionals.
This collection brings together books, photographs, audio interviews, slides, personal scrapbooks and memorabilia collected from Mt. Horeb-area veterans of WWII.
