Archives are essential resources for both library history scholars and library history buffs. Wisconsin is fortuanate to have many excellent archival collections. In celebration of American Archives Month, the Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has created a blog to celebrate Wisconsin’s archives. Go to http://archivesmonth.blogspot.com/. Throughout October, they are posting entries about archival repositories that preserve and make available for use the records of Wisconsin’s rich heritage.
Wisconsin’s First Library School
The postcard above shows the second floor atrium of the Madison Public Library when it was located in the building financed by Andrew Carnegie, now razed. It was here that the Wisconsin Library School, now the School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was located from 1906 to 1938. Carnegie gave additional funding to enable the library school to be located in the public library building. The message on the back of the postcard which was mailed in 1925 is from library school faculty member Winifred Davis to Mrs. N. A. Cushman, Librarian of the Reedsburg Public Library. Davis invites Cushman to visit a library school exhibit at the University Exposition.
Library education in Wisconsin dates back to 1895 when the newly created Wisconsin Free Library Commission (WFLC) sponsored the first Summer School of Library Economy. The summer school was the idea of Frank Hutchins, the Commission’s first Secretary. The school was personally financed by library legislative champion Senator James H. Stout and was directed by Katharine Sharp, director of the Library School of the Armour Institute in Chicago.A full time Wisconsin Library School, still under the auspices of the WFLC, was founded in 1906 and housed on the second floor of the Madison Public Library. Mary Emogene Hazeltine was its first Perceptor or Principal. She served in this capacity until 1938. In 1938 administrative control of the library school was moved from the WFLC to the University of Wisconsin.
An excellent web history of SLIS is located here. A collection of digital images was created as part of the library school’s centennial celebration in 2006. Information on Tradition and Vision, a printed centennial history of SLIS, can be found here.
Hutchins, Stout, and Hazeltine will be among the first group of individuals inducted into the Wisconsin Library Hall of Fame during the WLA Conference in Middleton in November.
The Holy Grail of Library Artifacts
The entire Wisconsin Historical Society Library was housed in this bookcase in 1853. It is currently located on the second floor of the library near the circulation desk. It has been described as the “Holy Grail” of Wisconsin library artifacts. The WHS Library has grown from this small beginning to be one of the world’s greatest historical libraries. Few libraries have preserved an artifact that is as significant to its history as is this bookcase to the WHS Library. What is the most historically significant artifact that has been preserved by your library? The WHS Library is included on the Wisconsin Library Heritage Trail.
Another Log Cabin Library
On September 10, I posted an entry about the Forest Lodge Library in Cable, Wisconsin which claims to be the oldest log cabin library in the state. That claim has been challenged by the Wabeno Public Library in Forest County which is also located in a log building. Lois Radloff, Director of the Wabeno Public Library, has provided the following information about the library building.
In 1993, the Wabeno Public Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The research for that designation was completed by the Nicolet National Forest Service in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The structure was completed by the Chicago Northwestern Railroad as its land office in 1895. The application for designation on the National Register states “the Land Office turned the building over to the city of Wabeno in 1923 to be used as the library.” It has been in continual use as a library to this day.
Thanks to Lois for bringing this information to our attention. We have included the Wabeno Public Library on the Wisconsin Library Heritage Trail.
Wisconsin Library Postcards
A real photograph postcard (RPPC) view of the interior of the old Lancaster Public Library. This postcard was mailed from Lancater to Blunt, South Dakota on Sept. 19, 1908. Real photograph postcards are photographs printed on paper with a postcard format backing.
Library postcards are one of my favorite kinds of library collectibles. I’ve been collecting Wisconsin library postcards since 1995 and my collection now consists of about 300 cards which feature 140 different Wisconsin library buildings. Ann Waidelich, a retired Madison librarian and advocate of historical preservation, introduced me to library postcard collecting. Ann has a collection of 283 Wisconsin library postcards which feature libraries in 119 Wisconsin communities. One of these days it would be nice to get these two collections digitized so that images of the postcards could be added to the Web. In the meantime, I will continue to add selected Wisconsin library postcard images to the WLHC website.
There are also several collections of Wisconsin library postcards already available on the Web. Judy Aulik’s website “Library Postcards: Civic Pride in a Lost America” includes a substantial group of Wisconsin library postcards. As does the Sharon McQueen and Richard Douglas Library Postcard website. The American Library Association Archives is in the process of adding digital images from the postcard collection of Sjoerd Koopman to its website which includes many Wisconsin library postcards. There are also a number of Wisconsin library postcards included in the digital image collection of the Wisconsin Historical Society (search using the term “library building”).
Postal Librariana Exhibit in Milwaukee
The former Carnegie library building in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is pictured on the envelope above. All but a portion of the Carnegie building has been razed. One way that communities in the first two decades of the 20th century sought to attract new businesses was through advertising on envelopes. These envelopes typically included pictures on the front of the envelope that depicted significant buildings and attractions in the community. Libraries are often one of the buildings being depicted on these envelopes.
The Sheboygan advertishing envelope is part of my postal librariana exhibit “The Evolution of the American Public Library”. The exhibit includes more than 300 postal and related artifacts. The exhibit will be on display at Mt. Mary College in the Milwaukee area on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (Sept. 12-13). The exhibit is one of many which will be part of MILCOPEX, Milwaukee’s annual national level stamp show. For information on the stamp show click here. For information on the exhibit click here.
Wisconsin’s Oldest Log Cabin Library
The Forest Lodge Library in Cable, Wisconsin claims to be Wisconsin’s oldest log cabin library. Are there really more? The library was founded in 1925 and has been in the same building throughout its history. Located on County M in Cable, it’s certainly worth a visit, so we’ve added it to the Library Heritage Trail page of the WLHC website. The Forest Lodge Library does something that every library should do. On its website, it has an “About the Library” section and in this section it has a brief history of the library. Your library’s heritage should be part of your marketing/public relations plan and the library’s website is a great place to put it front and center.
Update: As it turns out there is another log cabin library in Wabeno, Wisconsin which also claims to be the oldest log cabin library. See the entry on the Wabeno Public Library here.
Evansville Celebrates a Centennial
A personalized stamp depicting the Eager Free Library in Evansville
The Eager Free Library in Evansville is one of several Wisconsin libraries celebrating significant anniversaries this year. The building in which the Eager Free Library is housed is one hundred years old this year. The architect for the building was the architectural firm of Claude and Starck which was responsible for the design of nearly forty libraries in the Midwest. The library’s design was the first Prairie School design by Claude and Starck. Local merchant Almeron Eager bequeathed $10,000 for the contstruction of the building in 1902. When finally completed in 1908 the cost was $16,000. Ruth Ann Montgomery, a member of the Wisconsin Library Heritage Center Steering Committee, has written a history of the library for its centennial.
Other Wisconsin libraries celebrating anniversaries include the Milwaukee Public Library which is celebrating the the 130th anniversary of its founding and the 110 anniversary of its building; the Bloomington Public Library which is celebrating its centennial, the Black Earth Public Library which is celebrating its centennial; and the Independence Public Library which is also celebrating its centennial.
Tips of celebrating anniversaries can be found here.
Digitizing our Library Heritage
Photograph of an early Marathon County Public Library bookmobile along with library trustees. Reproduced with permission of the library.
Many library institutions are digitizing a wide variety of printed resources which record our cultural heritage. Wisconsin has a number of major initiatives for digitizing such resources. As is often the case, libraries have a tendency to overlook their own unique heritage when pursuing digital projects. This is not the case with the Marathon County Public Library. One of the collections in the “State of Wisconsin Collection” of digital resources is the “Libraries and Schools of Marathon and Lincoln Counties” collection. For this collection the Marathon County Public Library has contributed 96 images relating to the library’s history. These images include photographs and historic documents. Other libraries are encouraged to emulate the Marthon County Public Library and digitize similar resources related to your library’s heritage.
Carnegie Was Also Academic
Andrew Carnegie is noted for his gifts for the construction of public library buildings. However, he also gave gifts to help build 108 academic libraries in the United States. In addition to the Carnegie grants for 63 public library buildings in Wisconsin, there were two academic institutions that received Carnegie grants for library buildings – Beloit College and Lawrence University. The Lawrence University Carnegie building was razed in 1974, but the Beloit College Carnegie building still survives. In 1962 it became home to the Pettibone Center for World Affairs. Check out the “Carnegie Libraries” link on the right to find out more about Carnegie library buildings in Wisconsin.
Postcard showing the Lawrence University Carnegie Library Building
Postcard showing the Beloit College Carnegie Libray Building