The Wisconsin Historical Society (still officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a private membership and a state-funded organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, with an emphasis on the state of Wisconsin and the trans-Allegheny West. Founded in 1846 and chartered in 1853, it is the oldest historical society in the United States to receive continuous public funding.[1][2] The society's headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Programs and operations
In fulfilling its mission to educate the public on areas relating to Wisconsin history, the Wisconsin Historical Society coordinates many programs to preserve objects and information of historical interest while keeping them available to the public. The society's library and archives, which together serve as the library of American history for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, contain nearly four million items, making the society's collection the largest in the world dedicated exclusively to North American history.[3][4]
The Wisconsin Historical Society also has an extensive newspaper collection, the second largest in the United States after the Library of Congress.[5][6][7]
In addition to this library, the society operates the Wisconsin Historical Museum in downtown Madison and a publishing house, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, which publishes books on Wisconsin and American history and a quarterly magazine, the Wisconsin Magazine of History. In more recent times, the society complemented its printed materials with a website boasting numerous features that include a large, searchable collection of historical images and a vast digital archive containing thousands of scanned documents relating to Wisconsin history. Society employees are actually employees of the State of Wisconsin.[8]
Wisconsin Local History Collection
The Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles Collection is a decades-long project of the Wisconsin Historical Society. It includes newspaper clippings such as obituaries, news stories, and advertisements, placed into bound volumes. In 2006, the collection was placed online in a digital form, and includes 16,000 articles and materials on Wisconsin people and communities from the late 19th and early 20th century.
References
1. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1985), "The Executive Branch", State of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book, Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, p. 460, "Founded in 1846 and chartered in 1853, the State Historical Society of Wisconsin is the nation's oldest historical society to receive continuing grants of state funds"
2. ^ About page at the Wisconsin Historical Society website.
3. ^ "Bucerius Seminar 2005: American History and American Archives". German Historical Institute Bulletin (German Historical Institute) (38): 139. Spring 2006. Retrieved 10 April 2010. "the Wisconsin Historical Society, which is impressive both as a building and as an institution. It is the largest library for American history, it functions as a state archive, it is the premier place to do research on Wisconsin"
4. ^ "Wisconsin Historical Society" at www.madison.com.
5. ^ Cates, Jo A. (2004). Journalism: A Guide to the Reference Literature. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing. p. 251.
6. ^ Newspapers for Genealogy from the Wisconsin Historical Society
7. ^ Newspaper & Periodicals Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society
8. ^ WHS job announcement from 2010
