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.
Public Documents of the State of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Historical Society
Reminiscences of Lucien B. Caswell
A 1914 memoir by Wisconsin pioneer and civic leader Lucien B. Caswell (1827-1919). Caswell was a lawyer in Fort Atkinson and went on to be elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly and later the United States House of Representatives. Part of the State of Wisconsin Collection, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
Senator William Proxmire Collection
Materials selected from the papers of Senator William Proxmire, who served for for 32 years in the U.S. Senate (1957-1989). Also includes transcripts of 40 oral history interviews conducted with the Senator’s friends, family and colleagues.
Somos Latinas Project Oral Histories
The Somos Latinas (We Women) History Project (2012-2016) was created to document the many significant and largely hidden contributions of Latinas in Wisconsin engaged in their communities to positively impact society in K-12 and post-secondary education, civil rights, women’s rights, domestic abuse services, immigration reform, political representation, peace and justice, and other areas. The online collection currently includes 52 interviews from 37 Latinas from across Wisconsin.
Turning Points in Wisconsin History
Primary sources, including eyewitness accounts, images and objects documenting key events in Wisconsin history. Resources are divided into ten topic categories: early Native peoples; early explorers, traders and settlers; the territorial period and statehood; immigration and settlement; the Civil War Era; mining, lumber and agriculture; the Progressive Era; 20th century wars; industrialization and urbanization; and 20th century change.
Wisconsin Blue Books
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.
Wisconsin Citizen Petitions, 1836-1891
This collection comprises citizen petitions written to the legislatures of the Wisconsin Territory and later the State of Wisconsin, from 1836 to 1891. At the time, petitions were the only direct means for citizens to communicate with the government. From requesting dams, roads, and money to build schoolhouses, to recording views on slavery, suffrage, and statehood, these petitions reveal what settlers wished to achieve for their communities, and the ways in which they hoped to connect Wisconsin to the expanding commerce and intellectual life of the United States.
Wisconsin County Histories
More than 80 standard histories of Wisconsin counties. Most of these volumes include detailed accounts of individual cities, townships and villages, as well as biographical sketches of prominent residents. Most were published between 1850 and 1920.
Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database
More than 1,000 examples of Wisconsin’s material heritage from public and private collections across the state, including furniture, ceramics, metalwork, quilts and needlework as well as beadwork, basketry, woodcarving and marquetry made in Wisconsin between 1820 and 1930.
Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience
First person narrative accounts of Wisconsin soldiers and citizens during the Civil War, including letters, diaries, poems and other records.
