Famous Wisconsinites

Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake’s Own

Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake’s Own

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.

Historic Fort Atkinson

Historic Fort Atkinson

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.

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.

Milwaukee Socialism: The Emil Seidel Era

This digital resource offers an introduction to some of the rich materials related to the history of socialist politics in Milwaukee contained in the collections of the UWM Archives. Our collections are focused especially on Milwaukee’s first socialist mayor, Emil Seidel. This digital collection includes the entirety of Seidel’s personal papers, his official papers from his time serving as Mayor of Milwaukee, and his unpublished autobiography. Additionally, the digital collection includes selections from the UWM Special Collections’ monographs by and about the Milwaukee Turners.

Picturing Golda Meir

This collection of images documents the life of Golda Meir from her childhood in Pinsk, Russia, through her school years in Milwaukee, her pioneer years in Palestine in the 1920s, to the peak of her political career as Prime Minister of Israel (1969-1974).

Ralph Metcalfe – The Olympic Years 1932-1936

Photographs, newspaper clippings, and other printed materials documenting sprinter Ralph Metcalfe between 1932-1936, when the Marquette undergraduate was known as “The World’s Fastest Human.”

Senator Joe McCarthy – Audio Excerpts 1950-1954

Audio files containing public remarks made by Joseph McCarthy, the Republican senator from Wisconsin, during his controversial campaign to remove communists and communist sympathizers from government.

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.

Tommy G. Thompson Collection

Images documenting the public career of former Wisconsin Governor Tommy G. Thompson. Most of the photographs were taken during Thompson’s 14-year gubernatorial career (1987-2001); however, some images depict his service in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1966-1986) and as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (2001-2005).