Digital Collections
About our Digital Collections
Explore more than 100,000 collection items online through the Society’s digital collections. For over two decades, we’ve been scanning, photographing, and digitizing materials from our collections, creating a rich and growing digital archive that brings history closer to you.
Browse the curated collections below or search by keyword to discover photographs, documents, and other unique items. New materials are added regularly as we continue to digitize and share more of the collection.
We are also migrating previously digitized materials and updating descriptions on our new platforms. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact us using the information at the bottom of this page—we’re happy to help.
Map of the Battle of Trenton
This British made map, created after the battle, portrays the events of the Battle of Trenton during which General George Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River for a surprise attack on the British troops stationed in Trenton, New Jersey.
Explore the Map!Featured Collections
1964 Freedom Summer Project
Browse or search over 30,000 original documents from Freedom Summer, an effort by civil rights activists to integrate Mississippi's segregated political system.
Family History
A small but rich part of our genealogy collections are online and accessible for searching by name or place.
Maps & Atlases
More than 25,000 maps and atlases. Many focus on Wisconsin, the Great Lakes and North America. Most predate 1900.
McCormick - International Harvester Collection
Original documents and publications about the history of Cyrus Hall McCormick and the International Harvester Company.
Learn more about the McCormick - International Harvester Collection!
Multimedia
Coming Soon!
Wisconsin in the Civil War
More Coming Soon!
Over 25,000 pages of original documents including soldiers' letters, diaries, and memoirs; regimental histories and rosters; photographs, maps, biographies and battle summaries.
Wisconsin Magazine of History
More than 2,000 feature articles and essays exactly as they originally appeared in the Wisconsin Magazine of History.
Other Collections
Architecture and History Inventory (AHI)
AHI is a digital source of information on more than 151,000 historic buildings, structures and objects throughout Wisconsin.
Eugene Walter Leach
This digital collection contains the papers of Walter Eugene Leach (1857-1983), a Racine, Wisconsin, historian and curator of the Racine County Museum.
GI Press
This collections contains page images and searchable text of 2,400 periodicals and other items such as pamphlets and posters created by or for U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam War era.
Henry and Elizabeth Baird
The papers of Elizabeth and Henry Baird from 1798 to 1937, prominent 19th-century Wisconsin settlers.
Increase A. Lapham Papers
More Coming Soon!
Lapham (1811-1875) was a biologist, archaeologist, engineer, and map-maker who helped found several major state institutions and the National Weather Service.
Lizzie Black Kander Papers
View the papers of Kander (1858-1940), sometimes called "The Jane Addams of Milwaukee," including reports, correspondence, brochures, clippings, minutes of meetings, photographs and materials related to "The Settlement Cookbook".
Local & County Histories
Detailed accounts of individual cities, townships, villages, prominent residents from 1850-1920.
Menu Collection
The Wisconsin Historical Society's collections include a wide range of menus (mid-1800s to the present day) from restaurants and hotels; schools; specialized organizations and societies; private homes; and menus for special occasions.
National & State Registers of Historic Places
Both registers include buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that are designated as significant in national, state or local history. More than 2,300 listings are searchable on our website.
Learn more about the State & National Registers of Historic Places!
Oral Histories: Wisconsin Survivors of the Holocaust
Hear the stories of 22 Holocaust Survivors and two American witnesses interviewed between 1974 and 1981.
Road America
More Coming Soon!
This collection of image essays explores the twists and turns in the venerable track’s historic journey, including origins of the track, signature race series, its legendary food, beloving fans, and contributions to regional culture.
View the Road America Virtual Exhibit!
Senator William Proxmire Collection
Coming Soon!
Explore more than 7,500 pages of articles, press releases, and photos, plus 40 oral history interviews.
Shipwreck Database
Search for shipwrecks by name, type, trail, county, year sank and nearest city.
Somos Latinas Oral History Project
The Somos Latinas (We Women) History Project (2012-2016) was created to document the many significant and largely hidden contributions of Latinas in Wisconsin engaged in their communities to positively impact society.
Vel Phillips
The Vel Phillips papers, 1951-2009, document the life and career of Milwaukee’s Vel Phillips, whose work as a lawyer, city alder, civil rights leader, judge, and Secretary of State profoundly influenced Wisconsin’s civil rights history throughout the latter half of the 20th century.
Web Archives
Online archive of selected websites of state agencies, local governments, political campaigns for gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races, topical issues and online publications.
Wisconsin Citizen Petitions
Explore the Wisconsin Citizen Petition Collection. View more than 2,500 documents written by Wisconsin citizens to influence the Territorial and State Government for the passage of laws, the development of towns and cities, and the building of institutions.
Wisconsin Historical Collections Publication
Thousands of pioneer memoirs, archival records, original journals, explorers' narratives, interviews, and other eyewitness accounts of Wisconsin's past.
Wisconsin Historical Society Electronic Records Portal
View Wisconsin state electronic records online. Through this portal you can view more recent state public records, transferred in digital formats to the Society by state agencies.
Wisconsin Women's History
The Wisconsin Women's History digital collection shares a selection of manuscripts and ephemera documenting the lives of women in Wisconsin.
Collections Use FAQs
Explore how you can find, access, and use our collection materials.
The Society's library and archives collections can be searched in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library catalog and some parts of our collections have been digitized and are available online.
The Society's historical object collection cannot be searched online.
Library & Archives
Many books, bound periodicals, microforms and government publications may be checked out for home use with a library card. Rare, fragile, small and heavily used materials (including genealogical resources) do not circulate. A borrowing card is not required if you want to use materials within the Library. Archival materials are available for use in our Archives Reading Room.
For more information about our borrowing policies Library & Archives Services.
Historic Objects
If you are interested in viewing our historical objects please contact us.
Due to significant demands associated with developing the Wisconsin History Center, the Society has reduced capacity to handle loan requests. Therefore, we are not accepting new requests at this time.
For a credit line: Wisconsin Historical Society, Creator, Title, Unique Identifier.
The Unique Identifier can be found at the top or bottom of the webpage for each item. The name of a downloaded file is NOT the unique identifier.
For bibliographic citations please consult the UW-Madison Libraries Citation Research Guide to ensure compliance with appropriate style guidelines.
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Personal use (prints, gifts, home and study): Request images for personal use
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Commercial use (public display, publishing, media, products, film and more): Request commercial use of our Collection
Materials in our websites and digital collection are provided for research, teaching, and private study. The Wisconsin Historical Society hold rights to some items; others may be governed by additional copyright or donor restrictions.
We encourage users to download low-res images from our website for personal or classroom use, without written permission, within the meaning of the principles of “Fair Use.”
Permission is required for reproduction, publication, or commercial use of any content made available through our websites and digital collection. By using this website, including our digital collections, you agree to the Terms of Use. Users are responsible for determining whether their intended use qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law. When relying on fair use, cite the source.
Digital Collections Policy Statements
For more information on our policies related to Personally Identifiable Information, Harmful Content, and Copyright Claims visit our Digital Collections Policy statements page.
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