The Wisconsin Historical Society has the second largest collection of newspapers in the United States, surpassed only by the Library of Congress. This stunning national collection spans from the 17th century to the present and serves the needs of researchers not only in Wisconsin but also throughout the world.

• Full Newspapers Collection includes titles published in each of the 50 states, U.S. possessions, and the 13 Canadian provinces, plus an assortment of military newspapers published overseas. More than 4,000 titles are included in the collection, with Wisconsin newspapers accounting for approximately 1,600 of these. Out-of-state newspaper holdings are for most metropolitan areas. Find the newspaper's call number in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Library Catalog.
• Wisconsin Name Index (WNI) Collection is an index of three basic categories of information: obituaries, newspaper clippings, and biographical book excerpts. The categories draw from a database of 150 county and local histories, dozens of professional directories and biographical encyclopedias, more than 60 scrapbooks containing 30,000 obituaries, and selected articles in Wisconsin magazines and newspapers. Most items were published 1870-1970. Microfilm of items noted as part of the Wisconsin Name Index (WNI) are available in the Library.
• Wisconsin Local History and Biographical Articles (WLHBA) Collection contains 16,000 historical newspaper articles on notable Wisconsin people and communities. The entire collection is available digitally, displays the actual clipping and is downloadable. Most articles were published 1860-1940.
• Online Newspapers The Society's Library has subscriptions to several newspaper databases available on the Library's public computers. You must be in the Library to use these products. For Wisconsin newspapers, the library has access to Newspaperarchive.com, which can also be used at home, free for Wisconsin residents, through badgerlink.net.

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Researching Your Family History

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Contact our Library and Archives staff by email.

asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org

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