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 The collection includes more than 500 unpublished essays and reports as well as detailed diaries and journals of Leopold’s Forest Service activity, his travels, hunting and field experience, and observations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.
260 images of Winnebago County barns captured by photographer Michael Cooney.
Images donated by the Swartz family, who operated a large progressive farm in New Berlin, Wisconsin. Many photographs were taken at Cornfalfa Farms by the Swartz family to document their best practices for raising alfalfa, apples and sheep as the farm rose to prominence in Wisconsin and beyond.
Images depicting the cranberry industry in central Wisconsin, digitized in collaboration with the Wetherby Cranberry Library.
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 Sub-collections include unpublished works from the UW-Madison Arboretum, Crandon Mine and Kennecott Flambeau Mine reports, the Geology of Wisconsin Survey of 1873-1883, USGS topographic maps,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.
Civilian Conservation Corps Camp 657 was established in Elcho, Langlade County, Wisconsin in 1933. The digital collection includes photos of barracks and work activities taken by CCC recruits Edward Drab, Alois Fisher and Warren Schabell as well as ephemera collected by recruit Ken Eliot, including newsletters published by the camp, menus, badges and a federally-published handbook for CCC enrollees.
Fred Lesher taught in the English Department at UW-La Crosse from 1965 until his retirement in 1996. Lesher had a life-long interest in ornithology, and from 1958 to 2002, he kept detailed journals of his birding. The journals, in 14 volumes with over 3000 pages, are important documents of birding in the Coulee Region of southwest Wisconsin, northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota.
In early 2016, these lantern slides were donated to the Beloit College Archives by the Department of Geology. Little is known about their date of production or the company that created them. Previously used in classroom teaching, they depict a variety of geological features across the globe.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Twenty-two volumes of the writings, studies and sketches of Owen Gromme, an artist, author, biologist, botanist and zoologist.
38 engravings based on a series of photographs taken by H.H. Bennett in 1886 of a group of raftsmen from the Grand Rapids (Wisconsin Rapids) area during their journey down the Wisconsin River.
Audio recordings and transcripts of oral history interviews with 52 employees of the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.
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.
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.
Newsletters of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camps in Buffalo, Eau Claire, Price, Rusk, Sawyer and Taylor Counties, from the Special Collections and Archives Department, McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire.
Cranberries have been grown commercially in Wisconsin for over 150 years. This collection includes photographs, clippings, pamphlets and recipes related to the cranberry industry in Wisconsin as well as eight decades of Cranberries, a national trade publication.
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.
This growing collection of documents about the activities, functions and policies of Wisconsin State Government contains documents published by the Executive and Judicial branches, state government task forces, initiatives, boards, commissions, councils and special study groups. The Wisconsin Digital Archives is a collaborative effort managed by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction as part of the Wisconsin Document Depository Program.
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.
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.
