Agriculture and Environment

History of Wisconsin Agriculture and Rural Life

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.

Increase A. Lapham Papers, 1825-1930

This digital collection contains the complete manuscripts of Wisconsin scientist Increase A. Lapham (1811-1875) owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, including letters, diaries, scientific notes, drawings and other papers.

Kenosha and Racine Historic Photos

This collection of glass plate negatives captures the daily life of people in the Midwest between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many of the subjects in this collection are from the Baldwin family who were prominent in the coal industry. The Baldwin Coal Company, founded by George Smith Baldwin (1835-1923), was the first of its industry in Kenosha. His son Harry Merrill Baldwin (1862-1950), the owner of the Baldwin house, was the father to Drew and Lawrence Baldwin, whose photos show up often in this collection. In addition to human subjects, prominently featured in this collection are photos of marine vessels ranging from schooners, to warships, to yachts.

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.

Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association Reports

This digital collection of historic reports provides accessibility to early information about the City of Madison around the turn of the 20th century. The Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association Reports denote the moneys received and expended and work done by the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association in order to attract attention to the city’s natural beauty and surrounding lakes. The impetus behind the association was that by making Madison’s natural surroundings more accessible, visitors would get a better idea of the magnificence of the location, and advantages of Madison as a summer resort or place of permanent residence.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee Collection

The Upper Mississippi River Conservation Survey Committee was established in Dubuque, IA, in 1943, originally comprised of 22 biologists from Iowa and the surrounding states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. Since then, the UMRCC dropped “Survey” from their name and has grown to more than 200 resource managers working in multiple disciplines including fisheries, mussels, recreation, wildlife, water quality, vegetation, education, and law enforcement. This collection is a result of a partnership between the UMRCC and Murphy Library to provide both digital and physical access to the UMRCC Library, now housed at Murphy Library.

Walter Scott Materials, 1839-1979, 1993

These 27 photographs come from the Walter Scott Materials collection. Walter Scott (1911-1983) is a well-known naturalist who was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 1995. He also had a penchant for preserving local history and was one of the founders of Historic Madison Inc. These photographs were taken on August 16, 1962. Some photos were taken from an airplane, some in a small rowboat, and others from the shoreline.

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