Terms of Use

Terms and Conditions

Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using this website and other Wisconsin Historical Society websites, you agree to be bound by these Terms & Conditions and all applicable laws and regulations. If you do not agree with any part of these terms, you must discontinue use of the site.

Use of Wisconsin Historical Society Websites

You may use our websites for authorized and lawful purposes only. You agree not to:

• Use the Site for unlawful, harmful, or fraudulent purposes
• Violate intellectual property or privacy rights
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Site
• Upload or transmit viruses, malware, or disruptive code
• Interfere with the operation or security of the Site
• Engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the website or its servers

You acknowledge that digital files are not offered for the purpose of making reproductions unless explicit permission is granted in writing to do so by an authorized representative of the Wisconsin Historical Society.

For all uses of Wisconsin Historical Society assets, whether under fair use, Open Access, or through the permission request process, cite the material by noting that it is from the Wisconsin Historical Society collection.

Unauthorized use of Wisconsin Historical Society Websites may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense.

Restriction on Use for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The Digital Collections made available through this website may not be used, in whole or in part, for (a) training, testing, or improving artificial intelligence or machine learning models; (b) generating datasets for such models; or (c) incorporation into any generative AI system or automated content-creation tool. 

Any attempt to harvest, scrape, or systematically access the Digital Collections for these purposes is expressly forbidden. 

Intellectual Property, and Fair Use Notice

The Wisconsin Historical Society provides public access to a wide range of material, including online exhibits, digitized collections, archival finding aids, our catalog, online articles, and a growing range of materials in many media. When possible, we provide rights information in catalog records, finding aids, and other metadata that accompanies collections or items. However, it is always the user’s obligation to evaluate copyright and rights issues in light of their own use. If you have questions or concerns about the Society's use of a work, visit the Society's Takedown Statement.

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S. Code § 107, we accept the "Fair Use" of copyrighted material available on our website or collection database for nonprofit educational purposes. For more information on copyright, consult the U.S. Copyright Office publications.

All content, materials, trademarks, logos, and designs on this website are the property of the website owner or its licensors unless otherwise noted. You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, or republish any content without prior written permission.We encourage users to download images from our website for nonprofit educational use by teachers and students, or for private use by individual researchers, without written permission, within the meaning of the principles of Fair Use. Nothing may be reproduced in any format for commercial purposes without prior written permission from the Wisconsin Historical Society. Possession of images duplicated from the Wisconsin Historical Society collections does not constitute permission to use them.

When requesting permission for commercial, non-profit, government, or personal use of Wisconsin Historical Society assets or webpages, you agree to follow additional terms and conditions as noted in the permission agreement.

Privacy

Your use of the website is also governed by our Privacy Statement, which explains how we collect, use, and protect your information.

Third-Party Links

The Wisconsin Historical Society is not responsible for the contents of any off-site pages referenced. The user specifically acknowledges that the Wisconsin Historical Society is not liable for the defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of other users, links, or third parties and that the risk of injury from the foregoing rests entirely with the user. These links are provided as an information service only. It is the responsibility of the web user to evaluate the content and usefulness of information obtained from other sites. Wisconsinhistory.org contains links to other related websites and resources.

Links on the Wisconsin Historical Society website in no way indicate an endorsement of or any particular partnership with any organization. The Wisconsin Historical Society is not responsible for the content of any website to which it links; this includes updates to or availability of linked sites and the accuracy, reliability or helpfulness of the information on these sites.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Accuracy of Data

Although the data found using the Wisconsin Historical Society’s access systems have been produced and processed from sources believed to be reliable, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made regarding accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of any information. This disclaimer applies to both isolated and aggregate uses of the information. The Wisconsin Historical Society provides this information on an "as is" basis. All warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, freedom from contamination by computer viruses and non-infringement of proprietary rights are disclaimed. Changes may be periodically made to the information herein; these changes may or may not be incorporated in any new version of the publication. If you have obtained information from any of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s web pages from a source other than the Wisconsin Historical Society’s web pages, be aware that electronic data can be altered subsequent to original distribution. Data can also quickly become out of date. It is recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of any data associated with a file and that the originator of the data or information be contacted with any questions regarding appropriate use. If you find any errors or omissions, we encourage you to contact us to report them.

Limitation of Liability

Neither the State of Wisconsin nor any of its agencies nor any of its employees shall be held liable for any improper or incorrect use of the information described and/or contained herein and assumes no responsibility for anyone's use of the information. In no event shall the Wisconsin Historical Society or its employees be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, procurement or substitute goods or services; loss of use, data, or profits; or business interruption) however caused and on any theory of liability, whether in contract, strict liability, or tort (including negligence or otherwise) arising in any way out of the use of this system, even if advised of the possibility of such damage. This disclaimer of liability applies to any damages or injury, including but not limited to those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of record, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, negligence, or under any other cause of action.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The Wisconsin Historical Society is a distributor of content sometimes supplied by third parties and users. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including information providers, users, or others, are those of the respective author(s) or distributor(s) and do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Wisconsin Historical Society and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Disclaimer of Duty to Continue to Provision Data

Due to the dynamic nature of the internet, resources that are free and publicly available one day may require a fee or restricted access the next, and the location of items may change as menus, homepages, and files are reorganized. The user expressly agrees that use of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s website is at the user's sole risk. The Society does not warrant that the service will be uninterrupted or error free. The documents and related graphics published on this server could contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically added to the information herein. The Society and/or its respective agencies and programs may make improvements and/or changes in the information and/or programs described herein at any time.

Changes to Terms

We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms at any time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use of the site after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

Governing Law

Construction of the disclaimers above and resolution of disputes thereof are governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin. The laws of the state of Wisconsin, U.S.A., shall apply to all uses of this data and this system. By use of this system and any data contained therein, the user agrees that use shall conform to all applicable laws and regulations and user shall not violate the rights of any third parties.