State and Local History

Historical County Plat Maps from South Central Wisconsin and Early Madison City Directories

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.

History of the Reedsburg Public Library Documents Collection

The History of the Reedsburg Public Library Documents Collection (HRLD) consists of papers and writings documenting the history of the Reedsburg Public Library including its earliest inception, the building of the Carnegie Library in 1911, and the building of the 370 Vine Street Location in the late 1990s. Some papers and publicity relating to library services into the early 2000s are included.

History of the Reedsburg Public Library Photograph Collection

The History of the Reedsburg Public Library Photograph Collection (HRLP) consists of photographs and image files in the archival collection. The photographs are from 1912 to 2008 and include staff members, library programs, buildings and operations. The History of the Reedsburg Public Library, 1899-2024, a Google Slides presentation, was created by staff members Janet Gasser and Sue Ann Kucher for the 125th Anniversary of the Library

History of UW-Parkside Image Collection

The UW-Parkside Photos digital collection includes over 1200 images documenting life on Parkside’s campus and includes photos from its predecessor institutions, UW-Racine and UW-Kenosha. This collection represents a small portion of photographs available for viewing in the archive.

History of Wisconsin Rapids Libraries

McMillan Memorial Library moved to its current location in 1970, but the Library pre-dates the city’s name change from Grand Rapids to Wisconsin Rapids (1920) and the merging of Centralia and Grand Rapids (1900). This collection features photographs and publications documenting the history of libraries in the city, including the J.D. Witter Traveling Libraries, collections of books that were moved to 49 stations in Wood County between 1896 and 1947.

House of History: Black LGBTQ+ Milwaukee History

The House of History is devoted to collecting and sharing Black LGBTQ+ history in Milwaukee. Inspired by the experience of Janice Toy (one of the interviewees featured in this collection), Dr. Brice Smith worked with Janice to gather oral history interviews to create an historical record of her community. The oral history narrators documented here include twenty three Black LGBTQ+ Milwaukeeans known for their historical significance and/or unique perspective on culturally relevant experiences. The interviews were conducted in 2022 and 2023, with support from Diverse & Resilient (a non-profit public health organization that is led by, and has primarily served Black LGBTQ+ Milwaukeeans for nearly thirty years), the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This collection includes the full oral histories. Please visit The House of History site for even more history: https://www.houseofhistorymke.org/

Invictus

The Invictus, launched in 1977, was published by the UWM Black Student Union (BSU), giving voice to the University’s African American student body with news features, profiles, and poetry. The paper had two significant idle periods – one in the early 1980s and another between 1988 and 1993 – but was relaunched after both by the BSU.

Irene Bishop Goggans Collection

The Irene Bishop Goggans collection contains materials pertaining to the African American community in Milwaukee and across the country. Materials collected by Irene Goggans (1926-2017) are mostly from the 1950s to the early 2010s and include newspaper clippings, photographs, event programs, and more.

Jacobsens Museum

Jacobsens Museum, on Washington Island in Door County, houses exhibits and artifacts collected by Danish immigrant Jens Jacobsen, along with his own crafts. The museum’s digital collection focuses on the earliest items displayed by Jacobsen, including wooden models of ships, wooden decorative ‘scroll work,’ museum visitor books, schoolbooks, drawings, photographs, and letters.

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