About the Wisconsin Sound Archive
Online access to Wisconsin's heritage in sound
The Society has collected sound recordings for more than 65 years and, today, we manage more than 1,500 sound recording collections consisting of 45,000 audio items. Many of these sound recordings are in danger of becoming unreadable due to age and obsolescence. In an effort to preserve Wisconsin's heritage in sound the Wisconsin Sound Archive was born.
The Wisconsin Sound Archive includes oral histories of Wisconsinites; radio programs and advertising; live event recordings, such as speeches and conferences; and more. The Wisconsin Sound Archive does not include commercial music.
Most oral history interviews include transcripts or indexes and can be listened/viewed together using a special viewer. Interviews with transcripts or indexes will include a link to the special viewer, just click the link and a new window will open.
How the Wisconsin Sound Archive is Organized
Sound recordings can be searched by creator, subject, location, and when available, full text transcript. Specific collections have been highlighted and include links to recordings.