University of Wisconsin Digital Collections

Schools (almost) out for summer

2011-05-02T12:33:00.000-05:00

The spring semester is winding down and for many UW students this will be our last week of classes before the dreaded week of finals. So let's take a moment to reminisce about the times we have had this semester in lectures, labs and discussions across our UW campuses statewide.

On the left are some students from the UW La Crosse campus sitting in a lecture hall in 1962. Professor Jim Lafky is teaching his class in Main Hall. Does this scene look familiar to any UW La Crosse students this year?

Here are some students working in a lab at UW Oshkosh in the 1930s-1940s. I wonder what kind of experiments they are working on? How are the student scientists out there doing; are you almost finished with your work for the semester?

And lastly, what about all of you artists out there? Have you had enough time this semester to explore your artistic side? These students on the left are listening to their professor during an art education class during the 1960s. I hope you have had enough time to prepare and are ready to turn in your final pieces.

Well, this is it, the final days of the semester. I hope everyone learned a lot and will be ready when fall rolls around again.

Happy Arbor Day!

2011-04-29T10:56:00.001-05:00

Faculty planting trees, UW Oshkosh

Today while the UW community is celebrating UW Spirit Day, the nation is also celebrating Arbor Day! Arbor Day is all about celebrating and encouraging tree planting and care. Founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, it's celebrated on the last Friday in April every year. If you want to learn more about the history of Arbor Day or find ways to celebrate you can visit the Arbor Day Foundation website.

We have tons of images of trees in our collection, and even a few that tie in with Arbor Day pretty well. The image on the left is from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh collection. It shows faculty planting Oak trees in 1946. I bet today those trees have grown and are a great place to sit on a beautiful day like this! Anyone on the Oshkosh campus sitting under one of these trees today?

Here is also a book from our collections called Hardy evergreens: a practical handbook on the planting, growth and management of all hardy evergreens, exclusive of the broad-leaved species. This book is perfect for Arbor Day. Are any of you planting an evergreen tree today?

It is such a beautiful day to celebrate Arbor Day. I hope you all get a chance to be outside a enjoy our beautiful trees. Maybe take a nap, read or book or eat your lunch under a tree today.

Wedding Fashions

2011-04-27T10:36:00.000-05:00

As I'm sure everyone in the world knows by now, this weekend is the royal wedding. On Friday, Prince William and Kate Middleton will be married at the famous Westminster Abbey. The flowers have been chosen the seating plan is confirmed, but one important piece is still being kept secret: the dress. There have been rumors about who will design the dress and what it will look like, but the people will not know until that day.

While the world is thinking about what dress Kate will wear, we thought we would look at some wedding dresses from our collections.

On the left is Ernst and Adela Oemichen Witthuhn in their wedding attire from the late 1800s. She is wearing a high-necked dress, draped with fringe and rows of beads. We know Kate's dress will also be very modest and covered up, much like this dress.

Now this dress on the right is fit for a royal. This is a model of a wedding dress in the Middle Atlas. The image is from our Africa Focus collection and was taken by Douglas Boyan. I'm guessing that Kate's dress won't be this colorful, but it should be this grand much like the dress Princess Diana wore at her wedding.

Our collections are full of wedding dress fashions from around the world. Soon we will have a day of Twitter images dedicated to wedding dresses.

So what do you think Kate's dress will look like? Will you be watching the royal wedding?

Celebrating 100!

2011-04-22T10:30:00.000-05:00

Today we are celebrating our 100th blog post! We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blogs and will continue to read them as we go. We want to keep providing you with interesting and useful information. To celebrate our 100th, we asked some of our coworkers what their favorite collections were, here is what they said.

Alhambra

One person said they could get lost in our Casselman archive. The Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain is a beautiful image collection containing over four thousand color slides and black and white photographs of medieval Spain taken by the late Eugene Casselman during his thirty years of travel throughout the Iberian peninsula. It is easy to see how you could get lost in this collection, the images are so detailed and interesting.

"Blackbirds" - group of men and women on a fallen tree

Another collection, which many of you may recognize, got two votes for staff favorite, one of them being mine. The Kenosha County History collection is another well digitized image collection. The image collection is made up of the Dewey Lantern Slides and the Louis M. Theirs Glass Negatives. I highlight this collection quite a bit, but I can't help but love the great images of my hometown. This image is probably my favorite in the Kenosha History collection and arguably my favorite in our entire collection.

Lastly, the Artists' Book collection was also mentioned as a favorite. This collection is a descriptive index to the Artists’ Book Collection, located in the Kohler Art Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. The images in the collection provide a detailed looks at the books within the physical collection. The database indexes approximately 760 of those titles, over 500 of which have one to four images to visually represent the structure and/or content of the book. These books are very intricate and detailed. If you haven't yet, take a look and then visit the actual books over in the art library.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will continue to read out posts. Do you have a favorite collection? Let us know! We'd love to hear from you.

Happy Birthday to the Wisconsin Band!

2011-04-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

This past weekend the University of Wisconsin Varsity Band performed three concerts celebrating their 125th anniversary. The birthday celebration featured pyrotechnics, multimedia, special guests and surprises, all led by conductor Michael Leckrone.

To commemorate this 125th birthday, we wanted to highlight some images of the Varsity band through the ages. On the left is the first known photograph of a University of Wisconsin-Madison band. The photo dates back to 1896. This band looks pretty small compared to the 300 person band we see at football games today. I wonder if they even had enough people to make a stable pyramid?

Here is a photo of Mike Leckrone directing the band in 1982. Leckrone has been the band director since 1968. I wonder if he knew how to 'Bucky' back then?

Our UW Madison History collection is full of images of the band. There are images from football games, hockey games, images of the band in formation and standing on their heads. It is a great collection and anyone interested in the band should take a look.

For those that went to the concert this weekend, how was it? Do any of our images do justice to your experience? Let us know!

Union South Grand Opening

2011-04-15T10:50:00.000-05:00

1975 Yearbook

Today is finally the day the new Union South opens. At 11am, a large terrace chair will be moved from Memorial Union to the new Union South to symbolize the connecting of the two buildings and mark Union South as officially open to students, union members and their guests. There are events happening all day, and all weekend at the new union. For more information on events visit the Grand Opening website.

To help celebrate the opening of Union South, we thought we would take a trip down memory lane and look at the old Union South with the help of our Badger Yearbooks collection. The first Union South was opened in 1971 at the same spot the new union is now. Union South has always offered students a different atmosphere then Memorial Union, and this new one has many of the same features.

In the 1975 Badger Yearbook, they had this article on the two unions. The article says Union South is especially for students "on the other side of campus" or for those who had classes past the railroad tracks. At this union students could play video games, pool, table tennis, go bowling and hang out at the Snack Bar.

1976 Yearbook

One tradition that always took place at Union South was Fasching. Fasching was the beer drinking festival that students looked forward to just before Ash Wednesday. Students could travel between both unions on buses to celebrate. There was polka music and lots of beer. Fasching brought lots of great entertainers to the union and the students were treated with free sauerkraut, brats and cheese.

This all sounds wonderfully Wisconsin to me. Maybe in the next few years we will see some of these traditions come back to the unions. For now, everyone should try and make it to some of the Union South Grand Opening celebrations.

Welcome, Union South, we cannot wait to make more memories with you.

Wisconsin Goes to War

2011-04-13T12:48:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War. We've been tweeting Civil War related images all day and though it would be nice to highlight one collection in particular, the Wisconsin Goes to War: Our Civil War Experience collection.

Wisconsin Goes to War is filled with first person stories and narratives from Wisconsin soldiers and citizens. The collection includes poems, letters, diaries and other written records that help us understand Wisconsin's part in the Civil War and how it effected us at home.

Many of these items are hand written and were chosen based on subject matter and legibility. Many of them also include a typed transcription to help with research.

In the collection is a poem written by Jules Francois in March 1862 while in Camp Utly at Racine, Wisconsin. Here is an excerpt from the poem:

We come from the valleys of the young Badger State,
Where the prairies are so grand, so magnificent and great.
We have rallied round the banner of the brave and the free,
Around our own starry banner in Dillion's battery.

The rest of the poem can be read in the collections. When you have time, take a look at some of the letters, they can help you get a real sense of Wisconsin's part in the Civil War.

National Library Week

2011-04-11T11:05:00.000-05:00

This week, the UWDC and libraries all over the country are celebrating National Library Week 2011. We are celebrating by highlighting some library gems in our collections.

This image on the left is from our History of UW-La Crosse collection. Students and faculty worked “all day and into the evening” Feb. 4, 1957 for operation book lift. They carried books from the library in Graff Main Hall to the university’s new library, the Florence Wing Library, named for the school’s first librarian.

This image on the right is from the Kenosha County History collection. The image takes place in Library Park and the large building in the back is Simmons Library. I remember visiting this library for the first time when I was little, it was beautiful. This image was taken on the day the monument was unveiled.

Do we have any images of libraries that you want to celebrate this week? Let us know and we will highlight them for you!

Also, we are tweeting libraries all day! If you aren't already, follow us @UwDigiCollec.

Wisconsin Supreme Court History

2011-04-04T11:21:00.000-05:00

As everyone may know by now, tomorrow is the election in the state of Wisconsin for Supreme Court. We thought we would highlight this event with a little history information about the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Our Wisconsin Blue Books collection remains the primary one-volume reference source about the state, documenting the organization of the state’s three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial). Our collection dates back to 1853 and includes all sorts of information on Wisconsin government.

This image on the left is from the 1907 Blue Book. It has sketches of the Supreme Court Judges.

If you search "Supreme Court" in the collection you will find tons of sketches and interesting information. Take a look and see what you can find.

A Hidden Gem

2011-04-01T11:35:00.000-05:00

This collection is little known but is a great for anyone who enjoys reading Vogue or any other women's magazine of today. The Peterson's Ladies National Magazine collection contains two magazine's from 1865 and 1867.

These magazines are extremely interesting and document stories and fashions of the time. This image on the left is from the 1865 magazine and talks about the latest fashion from Paris, the Patti jacket. The article talks about how this fashion came to be, how it is made and the different styles it comes in. There are reviews on books and other culture references.

This is a great collection for a day like today when the weather is terrible and you just want to lay around and look at something interesting. This is a bit of a hidden collection but take a look and you will be surprised at the material that people were talking about in the 1860s.

Congratulation LSTA Winners!

2011-03-28T15:25:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, LSTA, the WI Library Services and Technology Act, will grant 5 libraries funding for projects. These libraries include the Kenosha Public Library, Indianhead Federated Library System, Hedberg Pubic Library, Eastern Shores Library System and New Glarus Public Library. We want to say congratulations to these libraries!

In the past, we have worked with three of these libraries on digitizing their content. One collection that you may recognize is the Kenosha County History Collection. This collection contains texts that depict the early European-American settlement in Kenosha and a great image collection. The family albums in the collection are two of the most well-preserved documents created by L. M. Thiers. Handwritten photograph captions and detailed descriptions make them the most personal works featured in this collection.

We have also worked with Indianhead Federated Library System on the Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, St. Croix, and Rusk Counties: Local History Collection. The Indianhead Federated Library System is comprised of 53 member public libraries in West-Central and Northwestern Wisconsin. The collection’s texts are comprised of community records, local history narratives, retrospectives, and high school yearbooks. The collection’s images include street scenes, historical buildings, notable people, and important events.

Lastly, we worked with Hedberg Public Library on our Janesville's Past Collection. This is an excellent image collection, which also includes city and County directories, providing researchers information for both the 19th and 20th centuries.

These are all great collections and are widely viewed and appreciated. We are excited to see what new projects all of the grant winners will be working on this year.

It's a crazy hat kind of day...

2011-03-25T11:33:00.000-05:00

This week has been pretty stressful and to easy the tension I thought I would blog about something fun, crazy hats. Hats are awesome, and at some point in your life you will either want to or have to wear a crazy hat. So let's have a little laugh this friday, and look at some crazy hat pictures.

Now this image at the left does not really have a crazy hat in it, but come on, a dog in a hat is crazy. This picture just makes me less tense just looking at it.

This hat on the right, is amazing. If I could find a hat like that I would definitely wear it. Can you guess what this hat is a uniform for?

And then there is this picture of the crazy hat store! Oh wait, these are “Royce” brand women’s hats at the Henderson-Hoyt department store in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The display includes more than a dozen hats!

This woman on the right has the kind of crazy hats I want to wear. I wonder if she bought this hat at the store in the previous picture?

All of these hats have made my day a little more fun. Do you have any favorite images of crazy hats in our collection? Or maybe a fun story about your favorite crazy hat?

I hope everyone goes out and has a great weekend.

Fun Facts and New Collections

2011-03-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we tweeted images from one of our new collections, the School of Library and Information Studies Teaching Slides Collection. This collection brings together unique and valuable teaching materials from University of Wisconsin staff and faculty. This collection hopes to aid in scholarship and study of these materials and disciplines.

Our Twitter and Facebook fans enjoyed seeing parts of this collection and we learned some fun facts about the content.

Fun Fact #1: The image on the left is from the book Der Struwwelpeter, which also happens to be the book Dwight reads to the children in The Office episode, Take your Daughter to Work Day.

Fun Fact #2: We also learned that one of our Facebook friends was given this book while they lived in Germany to learn the language!

This collection is very interesting and different then a lot of other materials we have throughout our collections. Did you see anything yesterday or in the collection that you thought was particularly interesting or had a fun fact you want to share?

We are the Champions...

2011-03-21T15:06:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to all of the UW-Madison students who went away for spring break. I hope you all got reenergized for this last push until summer. But, while you were laying on the beach or laying on your couch at home, the women's hockey team was winning championships.

The Wisconsin women's hockey team won its fourth national championship in the past six years yesterday. They beat Boston University, 4-1, to win the title. You can find more information about the game and the players in this article on the athletic website.

This article is from the 2000 Badger Yearbook. It highlights the first time the women's hockey team took the ice at UW-Madison. There were nearly 4,000 fans in attendance at that game including the Govenor and Olympic Gold Medalists Cammie Granato and Karen Bye.

We also have the athletic media guide for this inaugural season. Our UW-Madison Athletic Department Collection has media guides for almost all of the seasons.

We just wanted to say congratulations to the women's hockey team, and thanks for a great season and many seasons past.

And to all of the students out there, stay focused we're almost done!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

2011-03-11T13:17:00.000-06:00

This weekend will be filled with students commuting somewhere for spring break. Campus will be quiet for a while, but I bet you can find students using all means of transportation to get to their final destination.

Maybe you are one of the lucky going somewhere warm for break. Laying on the beach or and relaxing sounds great, but I hope you booked a larger airplane then this one.

Maybe you are a student participating in an alternative break. Building houses and helping people sounds like a great way to spend your time. How are you commuting, maybe a train like this one?

Or maybe you are a student like me, heading home to unwind from a long week of finals and papers. You might live far away and be taking a plane or a train like the ones pictured, but I will be taking a bus to good 'ol Kenosha.

Whatever your plans are I hope your transportation goes smoothy and you have a relaxing break.

See all of you back on campus soon.

History of UW-La Crosse

2011-03-09T10:30:00.002-06:00

Our University of Wisconsin Collection is still growing. Today I thought I'd highlight the newest collection. The History of UW-La Crosse is a great image collection showing the evolution of this campus.

You can search the collection for information or browse the images by subject: athletics, buildings, daily life, events, landscape, music, people and traditions.

The image on the left is from the athletic section. It shows cheerleaders on the UW-La Crosse campus circa 1980s. There are a ton of great sports images in this collection.

The image on the right is from the traditions section. The image shows the homecoming hanging of the lantern tradition. The "Hanging of the Lantern" tradition began over the south entrance to Graff Main Hall at the suggestion of English teacher Orris O. White who said, "We'll hang the lantern in the old college tower...You won't need to look for the key - the door will be open."

The images in this collection are great. We highlighted a few on Facebook and Twitter on Tuesday, do you have any favorites? Let us know!

The Art of Books

2011-03-07T14:35:00.000-06:00

One of our Facebook Fans requested we highlight our Publishers' Bindings Online collection. This collection is a partnership between us and The University of Alabama, University Libraries. The collection contains decorative bindings, along with a comprehensive glossary and guide to the elements of these objects. This collection hopes to bring greater awareness to the cultural and historical significance of books.

The collection brings together 5,000 decorative bindings from two collections in one place. This project increases the awareness of the general public about the importance of publishers' bindings as reflections of historical events, art movements, and the evolution of commercial binderies.This resource will encourage people to look at their own books, and to gain an understanding of design movements and trends both within the United States as well as in Europe.

The book shown on the left is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The book dates back to 1899, and the binding is signed by Margaret Armstrong. The book is covered with white checkerboard grain cloth with gold, red, orange and green stamping on the front and spine. The endpapers are printed with brown goblet, pipe and pitcher pattern.

The book on the right is a book of poems by Emily Dickinson. The book is bound with Half white leather with black and tan floral printed paper sides. It also has gold stamping on front and back. The endpapers are printed with black floral pattern.

For those interested in books or material culture this is a great collection for you. But for those who may find a book at grandma's house with beautiful binding, take a look at this collection, you may learn something about that book.

Exploring the Chipstone Collection

2011-03-02T10:28:00.000-06:00

Desk and Bookcase, ca. 1750

On Monday, I asked our Facebook Fans what collections they would like to hear more about or share with other users. We had a couple people mention our Decorative Arts collection, so today I will share with you more information about, in particular, our Chipstone Collection.

The Chipstone Collection contains more then 1,250 digitized images of beautiful ceramics, furniture and prints dating from the 17th to early 19th century. The objects belong to the Chipstone Foundation, which was created in 1965 in part to preserve and interpret the decorative arts collections of Stanley and Polly Stone of Fox Point, Wisconsin.

This image on the left is a beautiful piece of furniture found in the collection. This desk and bookcase dates back to the 1750s and is attributed to John Welch. This piece is made of mahogany and is intricately carved with great detail.

This piece on the right is part of the ceramics collection. This harvest jug also dates back to the 1750s and is attributed to John Hockin. The jug is pale red-brown earthenware and is extremely detailed. The piece has a unicorn and a lion holding the Royal Arms with the initials GR for George II. Also below the handle the rhyme:

Harvest Jug, 1748

now I am come for

to Supply your workmen when

in harvest dry when they do

Labour hard and Sweat good drink

is better fare then meat also

in winter when tis cold I like

wise then good drink can

hold both Seasons do the

Same require also most

men do good drink desire

John Hockin

1748

This collection is great for furniture enthusiasts and just people who appreciate great craftsmanship. The collection also has prints that show views of Boston and other U.S. cities during the 1700s.

The Chipstone Collection is only one part of our Decorative Arts Collection. Dig around a little and you never know what you could find. Let us know what you think!

History of UW-Oshkosh

2011-02-28T12:01:00.000-06:00

Dempsey Hall, 1930s-1940s

Our University of Wisconsin collection has such great images we love highlighting them. Today I'm going to focus on one of our newer collections. The History of UW-Oshkosh collection documents the evolution of this campus over time. This collection is still evolving and includes published materials, books, images, recordings and other archival materials.

The collection has great images of buildings, students and activities on campus. The image on the left is of Dempsey Hall taken in the 1930s-1940s. Today Dempsey Hall is the oldest building on campus.

Female Students at Dempsey Hall

But this collection is not just old shots of buildings, it also has some quirky shots of students. This image on the right shows three female students standing on a light post in front of Dempsey Hall in 1932.

This collection has tons of interesting images. From giant elephant decorations in the front yards of houses, to cheerleaders striking a pose and images of students taken all over campus, this collection is just fun to look at.

Take moment out of your busy day and check out this collection.

A Look at Madison Parks

2011-02-23T10:37:00.000-06:00

Lagoon in Tenney Park

At this point in winter, I am starting to think about how excited I am for summer to come so I can spend some lazy summer days in Madison's beautiful parks. But I've never thought about how those parks came to be. Recently we went live with a collection dedicated to the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, these are the people who helped create the parks we have today.

Maple Bluff, Farewell Drive

The Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association Reports and Related Materials collection provides accessibility to early information about the City of Madison around the turn of the 20th century. The reports detail money coming in and going out and work done on various parks and pleasure drives. The drives and parks that this group helped create are an integral part of our Madison community.

During the turn of the 20th century, the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association wanted to attract attention to this cities beautiful lakes. They wanted to make Madison a popular place for summer vacation homes and visitors.

If you've ever wondered how our parks and pleasure drives were constructed take a look at this new collection. And cross your fingers that we will be able to enjoy our Madison parks soon.

A History of Protesting

2011-02-18T14:52:00.000-06:00

The whole nation is watching the protests going on at the capitol right now. Here at the UWDC office we wanted to share some history of protests on the UW campus.

Have any of you been apart of past protests on campus. Our UW-Madison History collection contains tons of images from protests and other events on campus, but on our Flikr we have highlighted the protest images into one easy to view collection.

Take a look at our Protest at UW-Madison set on Flickr and maybe you could learn a little more about the history of protests on campus.

It's all about love

2011-02-14T15:26:00.000-06:00

Love Rock, Wisconsin Dells

As I'm sure we all know, today is Valentine's Day. We want to celebrate by highlighting everything love related in our collections.

First lets start with this image of Love Rock in the Wisconsin Dells. The image was taken in 1908, and is part of our Brittingham Lantern Slides Collection. I couldn't find any information out about this Love Rock or the history behind it but maybe you know the story. Care to share with us?

I Love Her Just the Same

Maybe for Valentine's Day some of you sang a song, wrote a song, made a mix tape or used music in some way to make the day romantic. Well did you use this song? I Love Her Just the Same is a song from 1896 found in our Wisconsin Sheet Music Database. The chorus starts off: I love her, yes I love her just the same. If you didn't add this to your music selection, you might want to think about it.

Crown Imperial

Or some of you may have received flowers from your significant other. Were they as pretty as these? These flowers are from our Bowles's Florist book in the Decorative Arts collection. The book contains images of flowers with instructions on how to draw and color them according to nature. The flowers are beautiful maybe you can find the ones you received in this book.

Today is really just about celebrating love. So take a moment to celebrate who you love or what you love.

Darwin Day

2011-02-09T10:38:00.000-06:00

Well for all of you evolution lovers, it is that time of year again, Darwin Day! The UW will hold its 6th annual Darwin Day Celebration from February 10-12. This year the UW has planned lectures, films, and family-friendly activities to celebrate evolution. So for any of you that love Darwin come out and join in on the activities.

For Darwin Day we wanted to share our Galapagos Collection. This collection documents the University of Wisconsin Madison Zoological Museum's expeditions to the Galapagos islands. Since 1978, UWZM has been one of only 3 museums granted permission by the Ecuadorian Government to collect, preserve, transport, and maintain scientific anatomical specimens from the Galápagos Islands.

This collection contains interesting materials for any Darwin fan. Take a peek and let us know what you think!

Voices from the Badger Village

2011-01-28T11:37:00.000-06:00

Today I wanted to share another new collection with you. The Badger Village Collection is the third collection in the UW-Madison Campus Voices series. Badger Village was a housing community for married student veterans and their families located in Baraboo, Wisconsin from 1946 to 1951. The collection consists of excerpts from interviews with UW residence staff, administration, and student veterans and their wives who lived at Badger Village.

Along with the audio recordings, the UW-Madison Collection also contains images of the village and many images of the students living there.

Take a listen to some of the interviews while looking at the image collection. You will learn about a little slice in UW Madison's student history.

Let us know what you think!

UW Stevens Point

2011-01-25T14:59:00.000-06:00

College of Natural Resources - Mural

Over the holiday break, the UWDC went live with a few new collections. The one I want to highlight today is the History of UW-Stevens Point.

The History of UW-Stevens Point Collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources deemed important to the study of our state's university system and its campuses.

The collection has some great images that will probably make there way to Twitter at some point. Take a look and let us know what you think!

My Winter Break

2011-01-18T12:05:00.000-06:00

Well, winter break is over and I'm reminiscing about all the things I learned. I had some new experiences over break and would like to share them with you.

#1 New York is has a lot of people in the city during the holiday. I've never been to New York City before and decided to visit a friend for New Years. The streets were so crowded, I was actually happy to take the subway. Also during this trip I learned to not stand to close to the end of the subway platform because those cars fly through the stops.

#2 If a man with a top hat and a cloak gets on the subway, don't get off, you will miss something fabulous. While riding the subway home one night a short man with a large mustache, top hat and cloak got on our subway car. Needless to say he was a little intoxicated, told some hilarious jokes and serenaded the train car to a beautiful rendition of a song by Carol Burnett. I wish I would have video taped it.

#3 Weddings are all about facial expressions, sit back and watch the awkwardness ensue. I haven't been to a wedding in a long time and was asked to go with my friend to one just a couple weeks ago. I didn't know the couple but boy was it fun to just watch the reactions from the bride, groom and family. Much like the picture at the right the bride seemed slightly insane and the groom scared out of his mind, and well the wedding party was mostly just drunk. All in all it made for quite the reception.

So these are some of the things I learned and experienced over break. Do you have any good stories to tell?

New Go Live!

2010-12-15T12:29:00.000-06:00

Today We are going to share another new collection with you. Recently we went live with Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, St. Croix, and Rusk Counties: Local History Collections. This collection is made up of both texts and images. The collection’s texts are comprised of community records, local history narratives, retrospectives, and high school yearbooks. The collection’s images include street scenes, historical buildings, notable people, and important events.

The collection allows users to search the text collection for information they may be interested in. The image collection is broken down into five sub-categories including Downtowns, Storms, St. Croix County, Pepin County and Dunn County. The images are really interesting and a good quality.

If you are from this area you might appreciate this collection of local history. Take a look and let us know what you think!

Barry goes to the Hall of Fame

2010-12-08T11:34:00.001-06:00

Today we are sending a proud congratulations to former Head Coach and current Athletic Director, Barry Alvarez. Yesterday Barry was inducted into the college football Hall of Fame. Everyone from Biddy Martin and current Head Coach Brett Bielema to former players and friends and family from Alvarez's home town, Burgettstown, were there to support the Hall of Fame inductee.

Here at the UWDC we just want to say that we are proud of you, Barry!

The image on the left is from 1990, before Barry changed the football helmets to show the motion W. If anyone would like to see more images of Barry, visit our UW-Madison Collection.

Cure for the Cold

2010-12-06T11:18:00.000-06:00

Today I'm feeling a bit under the weather and thought I'd blog about some of my cures for the common cold.

My first cure is hot tea. Every time I'm sick I try and drink as much hot tea as I can. It warms me up and soothes my throat. This tea pot from our Decorative Arts Collection looks like it could hold some delicious tea! and its extremely intricate.

Also when I'm sick I always have a bowl of soup. Sometimes chicken noodle or french onion, yum I love hot soup. I've never tried cheeseburger soup, which is what this artist book at the right is titled, but you never know it could hit the spot!

The last thing I like to do when I'm sick is watch a ton of movies. Today I think I'll watch How To Train Your Dragon, which if you haven't seen is a movie about Vikings and Dragons. I know it's a kids movie but it's exactly what this cold needs. This image on the left is of a silver Viking ship with dragon heads. It looks like it could be right out of my movie!

I hope this combination cures my cold! What do you do to make yourself feel better when you're sick?

The First Snow

2010-12-03T11:05:00.000-06:00

The weatherman is predicting what could be the first big snow fall of the winter season. Personally the first snow fall is my favorite. Everything is clean and crisp and people want to get out and play in the snow.

Isn't this image on the left beautiful, so peaceful and white.

So what type of things do you like to do when the first snow falls?

Some of you students at UW-Madison might be preparing for the giant snowball fight that occurs every year. The snow fight always congregates on Bascom Hill and spreads to the surrounding areas. The image on the right is what it looks like just before the students charge.

One thing I never understood is how people can still ride their bikes after it snows. I guarantee my face would hit the ground almost immediately. This little girl on the left doesn't seem to happy about riding her bike in the snow either.

I love the first snow. I plan on curling up with some hot tea and watching a movie, in between the studying that is. I hope you all have a fun first snow!

The Finals Daze

2010-12-01T11:32:00.000-06:00

Everyone keeps saying that the semester is winding down to a close, but this couldn't be more wrong. The semester might be ending soon but it is far form winding down, it is actually winding up. The libraries are full, printers are running out of ink from printing final papers and students are getting less and less sleep. I would definitely not consider this winding down.

We thought we'd look through the pages of old Badger Yearbooks to see what past Badgers have said about their finals experience. On the left is an article from the 1977 yearbook, page 85. The article talks about how books take priority over beer during finals and that students line up at the libraries to claim their "territory" for the day. The article gives a fun look into studying during finals.

Also in the 1977 yearbook, on page 86, I found this section titled, The Amateurs' Guide to International Etudiance. The section talks about students reverting to ancient methods of cramming for exams. The images are comical as is the text. Take a quick read and see what methods you may have tried.

We hope that these articles are a nice break from the study session you are most likely in right now. Let us know what else could make your studies a little more fun.

What I'm Thankful For...

2010-11-22T10:12:00.000-06:00

Since Thanksgiving is getting closer I thought I'd share with you some of the things I'm thankful for...

First, I'm thankful for sleep. This past week has been full of exams and papers for me and I will be thankful tomorrow night when I can finally sleep in my bed at home. This lullaby sounds like it could put me to sleep right here.

Secondly, I'm thankful for wine. My family drinks wine at every meal, especially Thanksgiving. It is a staple at family events and I am looking forward to having a glass and relaxing.

Now this third one goes out to my grandma who I am very thankful for. She is quite the character and I bet if you ask her what she is thankful for, she would say bananas. My grandma loves bananas so much I have contemplated buying her a banana tree. And once a banana goes bad, she makes banana bread, which I am also thankful for, because it's the most delicious bread you will ever eat.

Lastly, I am thankful for family. I love holidays when everyone comes over for food and drink.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for?

German Studies

2010-11-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! Today I thought would be a great day to blog about the German Studies Collection. This weekend UW Madison with Humboldt College are paying tribute to Jost Hermand on his birthday. Earlier this year the UW payed tribute to Hermand as the most famous living scholar of German literature and culture, whom still teaching in Berlin and Madison.

Within our German Studies Collection is a sub-collection called The Wisconsin Workshop. Beginning in 1969 the Department of German at the University of Wisconsin, Madison sponsored “The Wisconsin Workshop,” an annual, interdisciplinary conference traditionally held in the fall and focused on a topic related to German culture. It was remarkable in the way it brought together young and mature scholars of German literature, arts, culture, and history, creating a transatlantic bridge for scholarly exchange about “things German.”

Reinhold Grimm and Jost Hermand, the department’s two senior Vilas Research Professors, organized the annual event with support from younger colleagues and published the volumes from 1970 until 1982 in Germany and from 1986 until 1994 under the imprint of the University of Wisconsin Press.The selected proceedings of each Wisconsin Workshop were published in volumes that have accompanied and documented major trends in the discipline of German Studies. Many of these volumes are considered path-breaking contributions in the field, others have become standard reference works.

We hope you take a look at his collection, especially all you Germans out there. And lets all say a Alles Gute zum Geburtstag to Jost Hermand.

Cambodian Radio

2010-11-17T13:22:00.000-06:00

Today we have another new collection to share with you, the UNTAC Archives. The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia is mainly a radio archive and can be considered as a Cambodian historical item. The collection features the democratic transition in Cambodia in early 1990s, after the end of Cold War. The radio program was established in 1992, began broadcasting in 1992 and ended in 1993. The radio was a very effective tool for UNTAC to get its information on the electoral process, human rights and other UNTAC’s activities to Cambodian people across the country.

The collection consists of around 232 programs in which comprises of 2,462 paper documents and 2,113 distinct tapes. The transcript and other types of text-based documents are in English, Khmer or/and French, while audio tapes are only in Khmer except some interviews with non-Khmer speakers.

Take a listen and let us know what you think.

UW Forward

2010-11-15T14:09:00.001-06:00

Now there is a new way to search some of our digital collections. UW Forward, a resource discovery tool that offers a unified search interface for library data, has added five of our digital resources to its search library. You can now search through these collections along with UW System library holdings. The collections that can be found in UW Forward include Africa Focus, Artists' Books, Publishers' Bindings Online and SouthEast Asian Images and Texts. Take a look at this new search system and let us know what you think!

The Tale of Two Rivers

2010-11-10T11:16:00.000-06:00

The Mueller Bros. Brewing Co.

Two Rivers History is another collection we recently went live with. The collection contains the Hubert R. Wentorf Photo Collection and Fisher-Hamilton Industries Product Catalogs.

Mr. Wentorf was both a local photographer and a collector of historical photographs. His images focus on local landmarks, industries and institutions, and people going about daily life in Two Rivers. Many of his photographs include group shots of organizations and civic groups.

Artists Sketch of Hamilton Manufacturing Company

The Fisher-Hamilton catalogs document the products manufactured by the company and the evolution of these products (and the company itself) over the years. These catalogs serve as a valuable resource to antique hunters.

Take a peek at this great image collection. Maybe you will find a little history of your own.

The Springs of Waukesha

2010-11-08T10:35:00.000-06:00

Bethesda Spring

Last Friday, we showed you our new Bunny Berigan Collection. Today I wanted to highlight another of our new collections, the Waukesha County History Collection.The materials selected document the industries, people, and structures important to the development of Waukesha County. Many of the images come from Warren S. O’Brien, a prolific Waukesha photographer.

The 1870s marked the beginning of the Springs Era in the city of Waukesha. As mineral springs were discovered and their waters bottled, Waukesha’s health and tourism industries flourished. Large and small bottling plants cropped up, giving rise to Waukesha’s beverage and bottling business.

Fountain Spring House

Known as the “Saratoga of the West,” Waukesha became a nationally recognized destination for those seeking relaxation and restoration of the mind and body. Beautiful parks dotted the landscape, lakes offered recreation opportunities, and grand resorts welcomed visitors.

This image and text collections highlights this era is Waukesha history.

Take a peek and let us know what you think!

Bunny Berigan, Jazz Legend

2010-11-03T13:42:00.000-05:00

Bunny with his trumpet, 1937

This month we went live with three new collections within our State of Wisconsin Collection, I wanted to highlight one of them for you today.

Bunny Berigan, Fox Lake's Own is an image collection of everything from the famous trumpeters days in Wisconsin. Although born in Hilbert, Wisconsin, Bernard “Bunny” Berigan, a prominent jazz trumpeter, is considered Fox Lake’s own. He moved there with his parents when he was only a few months old.

At the end of his sophomore year in the Fox Lake, Bunny transferred to a Madison high school. Bunny joined a band with his Uncles and was discovered by Hal Kamp. He signed Bunny to play with the Kamp Orchestra leaving for a European Tour. During this tour Bunny made his first big trumpet solo.

Bunny Berigan Band at Paramount Theater, NYC in 1937

When Bunny got home he was famous. He was associated with such great names as Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Red Norvo and Frankie Trumbauer. Later Bunny led his own band.

The collection is full of great images throughout Bunny's life. If your a Bunny fan or a jazz fan this is the perfect collection to put on some music and take a peek at the making of a jazz legend.

To the Dells!

2010-11-01T12:52:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the start of the Wisconsin Library Association Annual Conference. Since this year's conference is being held in Wisconsin Dells, we thought we would highlight some of the collections that have images from the Dells.

The image on the left is from the Great Lakes Maritime History Project Collection. The caption says this is the Alexander Mitchell, at landing in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, passengers are posing on both decks.

The image on the right is from the Brittingham Lantern Slides Collection. The picture is A view of rock formations and water in the Upper Dells of Wisconsin.

Both of these collections can be found in the State of Wisconsin Collection.

We hope everything goes well at the conference this week and maybe we will see some of you there!

They're Creepy and They're Cooky, Mysterious and Spooky

2010-10-29T10:44:00.000-05:00

Halloween weekend is officially here! Everyone's costumes are ready and its almost time for the Halloween parties to begin.

This year we thought we would put together a collection of some of our scariest photos from all of the collections. We added the collection to our Flickr site. It's called UWDCC Fright Night!, check it out!

My favorite creepy picture from our collections is the one on the left. The people look like ghosts next to this huge fire!

We have tons of scary pictures in this Flickr set. From clowns and spiders to ghost babies and cemeteries, we have something creepy for all of you.

We are also tweeting creepy images all day. Check out our Twitter @UWdigiCollec.

Do you have a favorite creepy, Halloween inspired picture from our collection? Let us know!

Freakfest 2010

2010-10-27T11:52:00.000-05:00

Halloween weekend is finally here. I hope everyone has their costumes finished and is ready for Freakfest. I still have a few things to pick up for my costume but I am looking forward to the State Street activitites.

Our UW-Madison Collection has great images from past Halloweens. On the left in a picture from Halloween in 1982. Back then they used to have the festivities on Library Mall. They also used to sell beer at the event.

The image on the right is from 1983. These costumes seem a little creepy. What are you and your friends planning on being for Halloween this year? Something scary? Cute? A group costume?

The Wisconsin Alumni Association has put together a timeline of the History of Halloween at UW Madison. Did you know the first one was in 1979? Take a peek at their timeline before you head out Saturday.

Hopefully everyone will have a great Halloween. You can catch me on State Street Saturday. I can't wait to see all of your costumes.

UW Volleyball

2010-10-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

Back in the day, alright not that long ago, volleyball was my sport of choice. I'm starting to miss playing a little and thought today would be a good day to celebrate UW Madison's Women's Volleyball. Tonight the women's volleyball team takes on Iowa and on Sunday they play Minnesota.

In our UW Athletics collections contains media guides from the early years of UW Volleyball. The image on the left is the cover of the booklet from the 1982 season.

On the right is an image from a game in 1989.

The media guides contain images from games along with stats from previous seasons. There are also small bios about the players, coaches and athletic department staff.

Take a peek at the history of UW Volleyball and don't forget to tune in and support the volleyball team this weekend!

Adventures in Local History Digitization

2010-10-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

Today we thought we should alert everyone to the WLA conference coming up in November. Some of our very own from the UWDC will be giving presentations.

The conference, titled Raiders of the Lost ARCs (and Public Libraries): Adventures in Local History Digitization, will be held on Nov. 3 in Wisconsin Dells.

Steven Dast and Catherine Phan, from the UWDC, will give a presentation on the challenges and downfalls of trying to maintain and digitize local histories.

Also presenting is Leah Ujda, from the UWDC, with Jamie Stoltenberg, from the Robinson Map Library, on an important project for Wisconsin. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there is a collection of ariel photographs of the state, the oldest in existance. The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, the Robinson Map Library, the State Cartographer's Office, and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation received a three-year grant to scan and geo-reference the collection. They are also building a web space to house the information. Ujda and Stolenberg's presentation will describe the project and discuss certain details.

It should be an interesting event. Hopefully we will see some of you there!

The Future Homemaker

2010-10-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

Today we thought we'd share with you a little known gem in our collections. Playing House: Homemaking for Children is a collection of manuals used to educate young girls on how to be a good housewife.

American domestic advice or homemaking manuals emerged in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and served to advise the housewife in the care and upkeep of the home and its contents and occupants. While most of these manuals were written to assist the “woman of the house”, others aimed at educating young girls, the homemakers of the future.

These books provide instruction on a wide range of topics including cooking, cleaning, laundry, household management and occupational training for young maids. Through them, young girls could learn among other things, the proper way to make a bed, polish the silver, decorate a table, and prepare and serve a nice meal.

This book is interesting to look at. Whether you are a modern day working woman or a homemaker, this book is cute and a tad comical. Enjoy!

Show Stopping

2010-10-13T11:51:00.000-05:00

Recently we went live with the History of UW-Parkside collection. The collection includes resources that document the history and evolution of this campus. The collection includes published material as well as archival materials and may eventually include additional books, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs, maps and other resources. The collection is particularly full of images from past theater productions. Take a peak, you may have seen some of these plays!

Scene from Hold Me, 1983

Scene from Peppermint Bear, 1985

Battle for the Axe

2010-10-08T11:59:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow our Wisconsin Badgers will face the Minnesota Golden Gophers. These teams will be competing for the ever famous Paul Bunyan's Axe.

The trophy goes to the winner of the annual University of Wisconsin--Madison vs. Minnesota game, the longest football series in Division I-A football. The teams first met in 1890 and have played consecutively since 1907. The axe replaced other trophies in the rivalry, such as the walnut Slab of Bacon, and was a gift of the National W Club in 1948. The winners of all the Wisconsin-Minnesota games are engraved on the handle. In November 2003 the original axe was donated to the College Football Hall of Fame and replaced by a sturdier version with room for more names on the handle.

Now keeping in mind that the gopher is part of the badgers regular diet, I hope to see all of you out there supporting our team!

Also in the spirit of Homecoming, we have created a special Flickr collection dedicated to UW Madison Homecoming images through the decades. Take a peek!

UW Homecoming

2010-10-06T11:58:00.000-05:00

The Homecoming festivities have already started, this year's theme is the Legends of Bucky Badger. We wanted to take some time and show you how campus used to celebrate Homecoming traditions! All of these photos and more can be found in our UW Madison Collection.

Get out your paper mache, all you student organizations and Greeks! This years parade is on Friday, Oct 8 and will go from Gilman to State Street. The parade has been going on for years and the University community always has some great floats! From Homecoming paper mache animals to a hobo band, in 1986 there was even a Homecoming camel!

The pep rally is another time honored tradition on campus. The image on the left is from the Homecoming pep rally in 1947. This year's pep rally will follow the parade. And don't miss out on the fireworks!

Homecoming is a fun time here at UW Madison. Have you and your friends participated in any of the events in the past or this year?

On Friday, we will blog about the upcoming rivalry game between Minnesota and our Badgers. So look out for the axe.

If you want more information on the festivities this year go to the UW Homecoming site.

It's time to pick up a book

2010-09-29T12:27:00.000-05:00

The Wisconsin Book Festival starts today and will run until October 3rd. The festival attracts accomplished writers from all over America and encourages literacy across Wisconsin.

One event that took place this year just before the Wisconsin Book Festival started was the Lorine Niedecker Wisconsin Poetry Festival. Our Historic Fort Atkinson Collection contains manuscript materials, notes, letters, text & audio interviews with people who knew Lorine, video productions about Lorine and numerous photographs. The image on the left is from the collection and shows Lorine sitting at her desk.

One of the presenters this year is Curt Meine, Ph.D. He is a conservation biologist, historian, and writer. Meine has edited and authored several books. His biography Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work, published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 1988, was the first full-length biography of Leopold, and was named Book of the Year by the Forest History Society.

Our Aldo Leopold Archive Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948.

There are many other interesting presenters and events going on this week. Check out the Wisconsin Book Festival Schedule for more information!

Presidential Happenings

2010-09-27T09:45:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, Tuesday Sept. 28, President Obama will speak in library mall. They have begun setting up for tomorrow's events and we thought it might be fun to do a little before and after of library mall!

Wisconsin's Natural History

2010-09-22T12:55:00.000-05:00

Today we thought we would share one of our new collections with you. The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Digital Collection contains more than 4,000 black and white photographs taken by field geologists working for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey between 1910 and 1935.

The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, part of the University of Wisconsin–Extension, conducts research on Wisconsin’s rocks, soils, and groundwater.

Since its official creation by the state legislature in 1897 the Survey has produced publications describing the natural history, geography, geology, soils, and groundwater of the state. WGNHS continues to produce maps and publications for geology professionals and for the general public. City and county governments, engineers, schools, and conservation groups are among those that depend on research done by the Survey for projects and developments.

The pictures show natural rock formations; Wisconsin landscapes including lakes, rivers, and dams; and economic activities such as brick making, mining, road building, and farming. The collection also includes photographs of the field parties and their families as well as a few images from neighboring states and from the Southwest.

We hope that you take a look and enjoy!

Illuminating campus

2010-09-17T11:47:00.007-05:00

Yesterday, while I was walking to class, dancers were everywhere dancing over bridges, on the grass and outside campus buildings. I was slightly confused until I realized that it was the kick off for Illuminate: UW-Madison Year of the Arts 2010-2011.

From September until August the UW will have over 300 exhibitions, performances, speakers, and other events celebrating the arts on campus.

The digital collections contain images of various art events over campus history and have a few collections dedicated to art.

The Artists' Book Collection is an illustrated, descriptive index to the collection located in the Kohler Art Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Presently, it contains over 800 titles.The artists’ books are finely crafted and visually stimulating works made by more than 150 presses and artists worldwide. They comprise limited edition, one-of-a-kind, and offset books, representative of major book artists working during the past thirty years, including many who trained in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department.

The Arts Collection brings together, in digital form, primary and secondary materials relating to the creative arts as broadly defined: visual, literary, musical, and performing. Our first submission to the collection was the journal Arts in Society, published on the University of Wisconsin campus from 1958 to 1976. Now the collection hosts over 10 sub collections ranging from exhibition catalogs to Latin American Cartonera.

Take a look at the Illuminate website for a schedule of all the events going on around campus!

A Whole New World

2010-09-15T11:36:00.006-05:00

Tonight at the Memorial Union is the Study Abroad Fair. From 4 p.m. til 7 p.m. the Great Hall will be filled with students trying to decide which study abroad is right for them.

I know I will be there night possibly looking at a study abroad that fits my interests, probably somewhere in Italy. But many of you might take a look at the study abroad in Ghana for example. If you do the image on the left shows the University you might attend.

Others may want to travel to the South East of Asia and study in Vietnam or Thailand. If you do, maybe you will make a trip to Cambodia and see the temples, like the one at the right, at Angkor Wat.

Where ever you go it will sure to be an adventure. Before you leave the U.S. check out some of our collections. We have images from different cultures around the world.

Holding on to the Summer Weather

2010-09-13T11:37:00.006-05:00

Even though summer vacation is over, the weather has been perfect for outdoor activities. I spent some time this weekend on the terrace.

Here are some great photographs of the terrace from The Cultural Landscape of the UW-Madison Campus Collection.

How have you been spending your free time?

First and Ten Wisconsin!

2010-09-10T11:19:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow marks this football season's home opener for the Badgers. At 11 a.m. the Badgers will kick off against San Jose State at Camp Randall Stadium. According to the Wisconsin Athletics site, The Badgers have won 14 consecutive home openers, dating back to 1996.

The image on the right shows Al Toon in 1983 when he played for the Badgers. Tomorrow we will be cheering on his son, Nick Toon, as he plays wide receiver.

We hope that you will all be cheering on your Badgers whether at the game or from home.

The Helen C. House Party!

2010-09-08T12:00:00.007-05:00

Welcome back everyone!

We hope you all had a great summer, but now it's time to get back to school. This Thursday, Sept. 9th from 7-11 p.m., Helen C. White Library is having their 2nd annual Helen C. House Party!

Come spend some time at the library enjoying carnival games, video games, arts-n-crafts, movies, entertainment and free food! You can visit the Helen C. House Party website for a schedule of events.

These pictures are from a Campus Carnival in the 1960s from the University of Wisconsin Collection. They had everything from carnival food and games to a clown contest!

Come out and enjoy the start of the school year, and have a little fun at the library!

Primary Resources in UWDCC

2010-07-06T10:36:00.005-05:00

We're not just funny photos! Did you know the UW Digital Collections contains primary resources of interest (and use!) to researchers in a variety of fields including American history, American foreign policy, Native American history and Wisconsin history? Some of these collecitons include:

Documents Relating to Indian Affairs
U.S. government documents presenting debate and decisions related to Native American affairs including Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratified Treaties With Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869 and the Office of Indian Affairs, Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.

Foreign Relations of the United States (1861-1961)
The official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions that have been declassified and edited for publication.

The Wisconsin Blue Books (1853-2004)
The primary one-volume reference source about the state including extensive description and statistics on virtually all aspects of life in Wisconsin such as population, geography, history, election data, educational resources, social services, finance, agriculture, industry, and transportation.

Public Documents of the State of Wisconsin (1852-1914)
Annual and biennial reports of all important Wisconsin state agencies from 1852 through 1914.

A Day in the Life...

2010-06-11T11:47:00.015-05:00

Ever wonder what it was like to be a college student 100 years ago? Where did they live? What did they study? How did they unwind after a long week of lectures? Published by Stanford University in 1939, Diary of a student of the University of Wisconsin, 1886 to 1892 recounts the experiences of Waukesha native and UW Madison student, Sidney Dean Townley, through his six years on campus.

http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/UW.StudentDiary

From his very first day on campus, Townley shares his daily experiences at UW Madison, providing detailed and often humorous commentary on his fellow students, courses, faculty and surroundings. For example, Halloween hi jinx are nothing new to campus. Back in '87 (as in 1887), this time-honored campus celebration included ducks, guns and spontaneous serenading of professors living on campus. Oh those naughty undergrads!

Equally important, Townley provides an in-depth first hand account of literary society debates, campus lectures and courses taught by UW Madison's founding faculty including Bascom, Chamberlain and others. He shares detailed information about campus housing, his mandatory military training, social activities, athletic events, campus traditions (including "taking over the fence" on Bascom Hill!), local politics and the city of Madison environs during this period. Townley received his BS in 1890, his MS in 1892, taught Mathematics and worked for the Washburn Observatory on campus. He went on to hold positions at the University of Michigan and the University of California. By 1939, he was Professor of Astronomy and Geodesy, Emeritus, at Stanford University. He published this diary while at Standford University.

(photo from UW Madison Class Album, 1890)

Happy Memorial Day!

2010-05-27T12:39:00.003-05:00

This weekend, we honor Wisconsin veterans by sharing one of our more recently completed and most captivating collections: World War II Veterans of Mount Horeb.

This project, completed in partnership with Mt. Horeb Public Library in 2008, presents digitized photographs, oral history interviews and memorabilia that document the myriad wartime experiences of six Mt. Horeb natives: Florian Stamm, Willis Martinson, Pat Hitchcock, Ray Cunneen, Wesley Field and Clarence Thronson. Their stories are compelling and serve to remind us of the sacrifices made by service men and women throughout the ages.

Happy Memorial Day and thank you, vets.

Welcome to Finals

2010-05-05T11:03:00.006-05:00

Well this is it. We all survived mifflin and made it to that time of year when libraries get the most attention and students get the least amount of sleep... finals. Student diets include large amounts of coffee and there is enough stress in the air to power a small town.

But just around the corner is summertime. We all just need to calm down and think that this could be us soon...

Good luck with finals everyone, and stay sane! See you back here in the fall!

Graduation

2010-05-03T12:25:00.008-05:00

School is coming to a close and for some that means it is time to graduate. Whether it is graduating to a higher grade level or moving on to the real world graduation is a time for celebration.

Our collections have images of graduations of all kinds. The image on the left shows soon to be UW Madison graduates on Bascom Hill ca. 1920s.

The image on the right shows girls Dancing at Graduation in the Sande Society. The image is from Liberia in West Africa.

We have images of graduations from high school, military school, etc. Every one with it's own traditions of celebration.

We hope that those graduating this year find the right way to celebrate!

The Legend of Miffland

2010-04-30T10:32:00.008-05:00

This Saturday, May 1st, is the much anticipated Mifflin Street Block party. Although students from all over come to party not many of them know the history behind this event.

It all started as a street protest in 1969 against the Vietnam War. The event arose as part of a continuing conflict between students and police in the "Miffland" area. The image on the left is from the Wisconsin Badger of 1977. It gives a nice description of "Miffland Days" and the Block Party.

Then in 1996 riots broke out after students started throwing bottles at a fire truck putting out a bonfire that the students had started. The image on the right shows some of the after effects of that year's party.

The Mifflin Street Block party had 20,000 attendees in 2002. After that year the police started making strict laws to keep the party under control.

The Mifflin Street Block Party is legendary and the people attending should know a little bit of the history behind the chaos.

Take a look though our Badger yearbooks and UW-Madison collections and party like its 1969 tomorrow!

Wisconsin's Civil War Band

2010-04-28T10:47:00.004-05:00

Alright all you Civil War enthusiasts , summer is just around the corner and its time to get ready for reenactments. Our collections have tons of Civil War materials but one in particular that I wanted to highlight is the Civil War Band Collection: 1^st Brigade Band of Brodhead, Wisconsin.

In 1857, a group of citizens of Brodhead, Wisconsin, decided to form a brass band. They purchased a set of brass instruments and became known as the Brodhead Brass Band, or "B.B.B." Under that name, they performed at the debate between senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas on August 27, 1858 at Freeport, Illinois.

The musical legacy of the 1st Brigade Band presented here consists of a set of twelve, leather-bound partbooks (although one of the twelve has lost its leather cover and some pages) and seven envelopes of other music manuscripts. The partbooks contain about 55 numbered selections and several unnumbered tunes. About half of the pieces in this collection are identified as quicksteps.

This collection has lots of interesting information for anyone who loves Civil War history.

100 Years of Lathrop Hall

2010-04-26T12:24:00.003-05:00

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Lathrop Hall. In 1910 the building opened its doors as the Department of Physical Training for Women. According to University News, the original Lathrop Hall had a bowling alley, cafeteria, laundry, theater, three-story gymnasium with a running track, swimming pool, dressing rooms with lockers and showers, club rooms, social lounges, kitchens, reading rooms, home economics laboratories, classrooms and faculty offices.

Our Cultural Landscape of the UW-Madison Campus Collection contains images of Lathrop around the time it first opened.

The Cultural Landscape of the UW-Madison Campus image gallery was developed as a research tool to support a two-year effort to inventory and assess cultural landscape resources on the University of Wisconsin-Madison main campus.

Take a look at our historic images and come out to celebrate Lathrop's anniversary. For a list of events see this University News Article.

Wanna Race?

2010-04-23T10:56:00.004-05:00

This Saturday, April 24th, is the 29th annual Crazylegs Classic Run! According to the Crazylegs Classic website, the race was thought up over a couple beers (how Wisconsin of them). The run raises money for the UW-Athletic department and was named after the then athletic director, Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch.

Although we don't have any images from the first race in 1982, we do have some classic images of Crazylegs Hirsch himself!

Crazylegs" Elroy Hirsch, number 40, was star of the 1942 team before joining the Marine Corps in World War II.

After the war he transferred to the University of Michigan and starred for their football team. He played professionally for the Chicago Rockets from 1946-48 and the Los Angeles Rams from 1949-1957 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968. Hirsch returned to Wisconsin as Athletic Director from 1969-1987.

These are some great images of his days as a Badger!

It's time to party Madison!

2010-04-21T10:33:00.006-05:00

Spring on campus seems to be a great time to celebrate. This week, April 17-23, is All Campus Party. The Wisconsin Alumni Association (WAA) and the Wisconsin Alumni Student Board (WASB) along with student organizations, businesses and national corporations to sponsor All-Campus Party to celebrate the end of the school year, the onset of spring and the enthusiasm of the campus community.

Although we don't have images from past All Campus Party celebrations, we do have images of past campus events.

The image on the left shows a toga party sponsored by the Wisconsin Student Association in 1979. There were approximately 10,000 people in attendance that night.

The image on the right shows the bed race at UW Madison in May of 1971.

Our University of Wisconsin-Madison collection contains great images of all past Madison events such as Homecoming, football games, rush week, and much more. Take a look at the collections and see how the UW used to party!

Spain's Moorish Influence

2010-04-19T10:10:00.006-05:00

Moorish architecture and decoration can be found in various regions in Spain. James Cavanah Murphy spent the last 12 years of his life preparing notes and drawings for a publication on this Moorish architecture. The resulting book, The Arabian Antiquities of Spain, was only partially published at his death in 1814.

Thomas Hartwell Horne added text descriptions to Murphy’s measured drawings, and the whole was reprinted in 1815. Murphy’s careful documentation of the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada are appreciative acknowledgements of the Moors’ artistic achievements.

The large format illustrations in the book conveyed details of Islamic-influenced ornament to help fuel the Romantic fascination with non-Western cultures. Moorish Revival style became popular in both Europe and America throughout the 19th century.

This book contains beautiful hand drawn images that show the ornamental decoration on these buildings, it is almost like seeing them in person.

Football is Back!

2010-04-16T10:42:00.006-05:00

GO BADGERS! It's time to get in the mood for football! This Saturday, April 17th, the Wisconsin Badgers will hold their Spring Game at 2p.m.

The Wisconsin Athletic Communications Office has for years produced media guides for all of the sports at the UW-Madison. In our UW-Madison Athletic Department Collection we have digitized football programs dating back to the 1950s!

They once were intended solely for use by the media as factual reference guides. They have since become "yearbooks," publications designed to assist in the recruitment of student-athletes to the UW. Regardless, they are filled with biographical and historical information that Badger fans will enjoy.

I hope everyone gets to come out tomorrow and see the game!

It's that time of year again, the Farmer's Market!

2010-04-14T10:43:00.008-05:00

The Dane County Farmer's Market officially starts this Saturday, April 17th! The farmer's market on capital square has been a tradition since 1972.

Our State of Wisconsin Collection has images of farmers dating back to the early 1900s! The image on the left is of a celebration for farmers at the Farmers Supply Company in Slinger, Wisconsin in 1910.

Also from the State of Wisconsin Collection, on the right is an image from "Fair Day" in Denmark, Wisconsin. On this day farmers in the surrounding territory would bring in their hogs and ducks, geese and even dogs to sell. They would trade among themselves, however, there were also quite a few cattle buyers there.

Take a look at our old time farmer's images and get ready for a great summer at the Farmer's Market!

A Guide to Drawing the Human Figure

2010-04-12T11:51:00.008-05:00

Our Decorative Arts and Material Culture Collection has something for anyone who appreciates art. One Collection in particular, the Johann Hienrich Ramberg pictorial guide to drawing the human figure, is perfect for anyone who loves to draw or sketch.

Ramberg (1763-1840) was one of the most popular illustrators in Germany. He worked in a variety of media but his strength was in linework.

This compendium contains variously-dated plates, including studies of heads, limbs, and bodies in

multiple views.

The guide demonstrates the various ways to sketch multiple parts of the human figure. One page contains images over 100 ways to draw a hand and foot.

Anyone who has ever tried to sketch the human figure will appreciate the techniques found in this book.

The Forest Atlas

2010-04-07T15:00:00.006-05:00

We recently went live with the Forest Products Lab Atlas Collection. The Forest Atlas of the National Forests of the United States was originally published in 1913. The forest distribution information was compiled from a vast number of published records, partly from numerous unprinted reports, notes, and the knowledge of individuals whose observations were still unrecorded.

Most of these maps are hand colored but a few of the later maps were mechanically reproduced.

George B. Sudworth, along with his assistants in the Section of Forest Distribution, W. H. Lamb, Georgia E. Wharton, and Mary C. Gannett, compiled on separate cards many thousands of locality records for individual species, based upon published botanical lists, unpublished notes, and herbarium specimens. For each species these localities were plotted by number on a large cloth-backed contour map of North America.

Take a look at the maps and you will see the research that these foresters collected.

Happy Spring Break!

2010-03-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

We will be back after a short relaxing vacation. Have a great break everyone!

Water Week

2010-03-24T10:40:00.007-05:00

The University of Wisconsin -- Madison is celebrating Water Week this week on campus. The UWDC has multiple collections dedicated to water research.

One in particular is The History of Limnology This image collection is a depiction of three generations of limnological research in Wisconsin. The collection mainly focuses on the important pioneers of limnology, Dr. Edward A. Birge, Chancey Juday and Arthur D. Hasler, research laboratories, and field equipment. A significant portion of the 125 images are from the photo archives of the Center for Limnology Library.

The Center for Limnology is a research facility affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Center for Limnology was established in July 1982 to plan, conduct, and facilitate inland freshwater research.

Take a look at this collection and all of our water related resources and take time this week to celebrate water.

The Natural History of Wisconsin

2010-03-22T11:49:00.006-05:00

Dr. Virginia E. (March) Kline was a plant ecologist with a thirst for knowledge about the natural world. She enthusiastically taught the wonders of nature and the science of ecology to students of all ages. In her role as the University of Wisconsin Arboretum Ecologist and Research Program Manager, she helped to develop the new field of restoration ecology. She lectured and consulted around the world in the field of restoration ecology and received many awards for scientific excellence and community service.

The Virginia M. Kline Collection includes a series of slides reflecting the natural history of Wisconsin, past and present. Also included are a series of audiotapes from the course "Reading the Landscape," taught by Dr. Virginia M. Kline. The images were part of the personal slide collection of Dr. Kline. She used the slides for numerous courses and presentations. Some of the slides have become faded and scratched and the quality of many of the audiotapes is less than ideal. Nevertheless, the collection records a story of the natural history of Wisconsin and of the life and work of Dr. Kline.

Take a look at the collection. You might recognize some of the plants growing in your own backyard.

Sacred Songbooks

2010-03-17T09:32:00.010-05:00

American Sacred Music provides access to sacred music published in the United States, with a focus on publications from the Midwest. Dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, these are primarily collections of hymns and anthems, with other types of sacred music, such as cantatas and revival songs, also represented.

This digital collection illustrates the variety of religious and sacred music found within the musical life of Wisconsin. Hymns, anthems and sacred songs were by no means restricted to congregational singing during church services. At revival meetings, at home, at singing schools and in the classroom, sacred music was an important community activity.

The books have interesting music lessons for school along with practical lessons, like the one above, that should be practiced every day. Browse the collection and you might learn something about singing.

The TA's Voice

2010-03-15T11:55:00.003-05:00

In 1970 the Teachers Assistant Association went on strike on the UW campus. According to the TAA-Madison website the UW had refused to move on issues critical to the TAs. The TAs went on strike, and four weeks later won most of their demands.

At the UWDC we have a project focusing on these strikes.

Campus Voices is a project meant to capture, present, and preserve some of the strongest historical stories and memories of UW-Madison, through the people who lived them. The project’s first album focuses on the 1970 Teaching Assistants Association strike, in commemoration of its 40th anniversary.

The interviews are available to listen to and the transcripts are also included.

Take a look at what the TAs had to say.

Home Sweet Home, Kenosha

2010-03-12T13:02:00.005-06:00

Kenosha County is situated in the most southeastern part of Wisconsin adjoining the Illinois State border, and is this bloggers home town.

The C.E. Dewey Lantern Slide Collection contains images of this time period from the 1830s to the early 1940s. Cortland Ernest Dewey collected Kenosha County photographs, images, drawings, and maps and also provided detailed descriptions of these materials from old settlers, their descendents, and news stories.

The Louis M. Thiers Glass Negative Collection contains images from the 1880s into the 1910s. The Louis M. Thiers Glass Negative Collection is comprised of over 1,000 glass plate photographic negatives. In 1938 Mr. Thiers gave his glass negatives, albums, notebooks and other items to the Kenosha County Historical Society. The stability of the glass plates has wonderfully preserved the images of people, homes, buildings, industries, domestic and recreational scenes, animals, landscapes, and events in Kenosha County, primarily from the late 1880s into the early 1910s.

The eight books chosen for this collection represent the early days of European-American settlement in Kenosha County, document the history of Racine and Kenosha Counties, and profile prominent residents.

This collection contains amazing photographs showing Kenosha before my time. This picture on the left looks exactly like a log that me and my friends used to hang out at in Petrifying Springs park, who knows maybe it's the same one.

Check it out, Kenosha might surprise you!

The Endangered Language

2010-03-10T10:53:00.004-06:00

The Wisconsin Oneida Language Preservation Project presents original stories and curriculum, with accompanying audio that teaches the Wisconsin Oneida language. Materials presented here include Kindergarten through Grade Six curriculum, songs, and stories, and approximately 800 stories recorded as part of the 1930-40's Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.

By UNESCO standards the language of the Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin is critically endangered, which means there is a real and present danger that the language will be irretrievably lost in the foreseeable future. At this point there remain only three native speakers of the Wisconsin dialect of Oneida. All of these elders are over 90 years old.

This collection is interesting and educational. The stories are available in audio files as well as paper copies. Take a look and you might discover great traditions.

You Go Girls!

2010-03-08T12:26:00.006-06:00

March is Women's History Month and today specifically, March 8th, is International Women's Day!

One collection in particular that highlights women is our History of Women at the University of Wisconsin. The collection augments the general histories of the University by focusing on the roles and activities of women students, faculty, and staff and on the development of women's studies throughout the UW System.

It consists of seven works published by the University. Four are part of a series of essays entitled University Women. The collection includes writings on how women's education changed over time at University of Wisconsin system schools.

Women at Stout: A Centennial Retrospective specifically highlights the history of women on the Stout campus.

These collections are a great way to learn about the history of women on UW campuses. Take a look and maybe you will learn a little something.

Celebrating Aldo Leopold

2010-03-05T10:05:00.006-06:00

This weekend, March 5-7, marks the 11th annual Aldo Leopold Weekend in Wisconsin. According to the Aldo Leopold Foundation on March 4, 2000, the citizens of Lodi congregated to read A Sand County Almanac aloud, cover to cover. And in March 2004, Governor James Doyle signed legislation designating the first weekend in March Aldo Leopold Weekend across Wisconsin.

The UWDC is lucky to have the Aldo Leopold Archives in our collections. Aldo Leopold is considered by many to have been the most influential conservation thinker of the 20th Century. Leopold's legacy spans the disciplines of forestry, wildlife management, conservation biology, sustainable agriculture, restoration ecology, private land management, environmental history, literature, education, esthetics, and ethics.

He is most widely known as the author of A Sand County Almanac, one of the most beloved and respected books about the environment ever published. The Leopold Collection houses the raw materials that document not only Leopold's rise to prominence but the history of conservation and the emergence of the field of ecology from the early 1900s until his death in 1948.

We hope that you enjoy our collection of Aldo Leopold works and go out and participate in the Aldo Leopold festivities in your town!

Zazzle Print of the Month

2010-03-03T10:49:00.005-06:00

March is finally here and all I can think about is spring coming. For the Zazzle print of March we wanted to pick something that made us think of spring. These daffodils are perfect for spring time.

This image comes from Bowles's Florist: Containing Sixty Plates of Beautiful Flowers, Regularly disposed in their Succession of Blowing, To Which Is Added, An accurate Description of their Colours, With Instructions For Drawing and Painting them according to Nature. Being A New Work Intended for the Use and Amusement of Gentlemen and Ladies Delighting in that Art. This small volume, hand-colored and ornately bound with gilt edges, intended for the "amusement of gentlemen and ladies," exemplifies the refined taste of 1777 London.

This image, along with other flower prints from this book, can be purchased on our Zazzle.com store. Take a look and think spring, it will be here soon!

And the Oscar goes to...

2010-03-01T12:39:00.009-06:00

In the spirit of the Academy Awards this Sunday, we thought we should share with you our collection of Haresfoot Club production images and programs in the Selections from the University of Wisconsin Madison Archives collection.

The Haresfoot Club featured all-male casts in their productions. They performed throughout the state, known for their actors in drag.

More of these great images can also be found on the UW Digital Collections Flickr page! Take a peek at the costumes and chorus lines in the UW Haresfoot Club Set!

Exploring Africa

2010-02-26T11:09:00.007-06:00

The African Studies Collection is new to our archives this year. This collections houses The Harold E. Scheub Collection.

Dr. Harold Scheub is one of the world's leading scholars in African oral traditions and folklore and can be found on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus as the Evjue-Bascom Professor of Humanities in the Department of African Languages and Literature. To record oral traditions he has walked more than 6000 miles through South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho. Dr. Scheub has published more than two dozen books and more than 70 articles.

Within his collection are two sub-collections. South African Voices is a three-volume work of audio files. The image collections contains images from his journey through Africa.

His images are beautiful and interesting. I would encourage you to take a look, you will be happy you did.

Mythological Beasts: The Bestiary

2010-02-24T10:52:00.006-06:00

The History of Science and Technology Collection contains interesting materials worth highlighting. One in particular is The Book of Beasts. White's The Bestiary: A Book of Beasts was the first and, for a time, the only English translation of a medieval bestiary.

Bestiaries were second only to the Bible in their popularity and wide distribution during the Middle Ages. They were catalogs of animal stories, combining zoological information, myths, and legends. Great attention was given to bizarre, exotic, and monstrous creatures. Much of the content of bestiaries was drawn from much older sources including Aristotle, early English literature, and oral traditions.

White provides an excellent appendix that explains how the creatures of the bestiary influenced the development of allegory and symbolism in art and literature.

The book contains interesting images of beasts with descriptions of their nature and behavior. I would encourage you to take a peek at the book, it's surprising and entertaining.

Wisconsin's Olympic Gold

2010-02-22T11:54:00.012-06:00

The Olympics bring out the best athletes in Wisconsin. Sunday night's USA Men's Hockey win over Canada has inspired the UWDC to tweet images of Suter, Rafalski, Heatley and Pavelski. Follow us on Twitter @UwDigiCollec!

Many athletes have pasted through the University of Wisconsin Madison and gone on to become Olympians.

Our University of Wisconsin Archives contains pictures of these athletes from there college days!

Mark Johnson, son of legendary Wisconsin coach Bob Johnson, was the first Badger to win WCHA Rookie of the Year honors (1977), 1978-79 WCHA MVP, two-time All-American, and one of the leaders of the US Olympic gold-medal team in 1980. Johnson became head coach of Wisconsin's women's hockey team in 2002 and is the women's hockey coach at the 2010 Olympics.

Suzy Favor Hamilton of the University of Wisconsin--Madison won the Honda-Broderick Cup Trophy as the 1989-1990 Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year. Favor Hamilton was the NCAA indoor mile champion in 1987, 1989 and 1990 (when she was also 3000 meter champion). She was the NCAA outdoor 1500 meter champion in 1987 through 1990 and also 800 meter champion in 1990. Favor Hamilton competed on the US Olympic teams in 1992, 1996, and 2000.

Russ Hellickson was an outstanding wrestler at Wisconsin, and he also a member of the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team in 1976 and 1980, winning a silver medal in 1976. Hellickson also played football for the Badgers.

These are just a few of the Olympians that are pictured in our collections. Check out more images of Carie Graves, Cindy Bremser, Bob Suter and the many other athletes that have been Badgers!

Wisconsin's African-American Pioneers

2010-02-17T10:53:00.007-06:00

February is nationally known as Black History Month. University of Wisconsin Madison campus organizations have prepared various activities to celebrate. Visit the UW Madison events calendar for more information on the films, art exhibitions, dance performances, and other Black History events planned around campus.

Our State of Wisconsin Collection contains great archive documents of the first African-American settlement in Wisconsin. Papers of Charles Shepard and other residents of the black settlement of Pleasant Ridge(now Beetown), Wisconsin,

including letters, tax receipts, and community history. Shepard (Sheppard) was the head of the first African-American family to settle in what became a pioneer black community about five miles west of Lancaster, Wisconsin.

This collection of documents is a celebration of Black History in Wisconsin. We hope that you will take the time to look at the collection and are able to attend some of the activities on campus.

Bon Appetit, Badger Cookbooks

2010-02-15T11:42:00.007-06:00

The UW Digital Collections recently went live with the Badger Bites: University of Wisconsin-Madison Cookbooks. Over the course of University history numerous campus-related organizations produced cookbooks. Containing more than just recipes, these cookbooks provide a look at how food has played a role in campus culture and identity. Whether designed for fundraising or for promotional purposes they capture a snapshot view of campus organizations of yore and the cultural environment surrounding them.

The Associated Women Students produced the cookbook pictured on the left as a new feature of Coeds’ Week in 1955. The book, called Bucky’s Favorite Foods, contains “tried and true” favorites of faculty, staff, and students at the University. Recipes were contributed by campus notables such as Carson Gulley, legendary campus dining hall chef, and Mrs. Alan Ameche, the wife of the UW football legend.

Delta Sigma Epsilon (1914-1956) was one of several sororities to produce a cookbook. Food Fare was produced by the “Friendship House Board” as “a book of recipes assembled to help convert our dream of FRIENDSHIP HOUSE, into a reality.”

These cookbooks are a glimpse into past student organizations on the UW Madison campus. They also might contain recipes you will want to try out, bon appetit!

Celebrate Evolution!

2010-02-12T11:00:00.010-06:00

The University of Wisconsin will celebrate Darwin Day tomorrow, February 13th! A full day event will be held at the Microbial Science building on the UW campus. The event is free and open to the public. Check out the activities planned for Darwin Day 2010!

The UWDC wants to help you get in the Darwin spirit with our Galápagos Collection. The collection of Galápagos materials that includes anatomical specimens, images, and papers at the UW-Madison Zoological Museum (UWZM) is unique and rare. Ten expeditions since 1969 to the Galápagos by UW-Madison scientists and researchers have produced a wealth of invaluable museum specimens: approximately 669 complete and 675 partial skeletons. In addition these expeditions have produced thousands of images and papers that up until now have not been preserved in any format.

The images in the collection are great examples of the animals found on the island and provide great views of the land. The image on the top left shows the Galápagos Tortoises with a great view of the landscape of the island. On the right is an image of the Galápagos Penguin and Marine Iguanas sitting on lava.

Celebrate Darwin's 201st birthday by taking at look at these images.

Blast from the Past, Winter Carnival

2010-02-10T10:58:00.008-06:00

For all the UW Madison students on campus, it's that time of year again, the Winter Carnival! Hoofers Winter Carnival is a weekend of events centered around fun in the outdoors. This year features an open skating rink on the MemorialUnion Terrace and the sunken Statue of Liberty from 1979. Memorial Union. This year the Winter Carnival will have open ice skating on the terrace, a Broomball tournament, an ice sculpture contest, carriage rides and other fun winter activities. Check out the Hoofers Winter Carnival site for more details.

Here at the UWDCC we have great historic images of this event. The top picture shows a sled race during the Winter Carnival of 1984. On the right is an image on women's broomball hockey which was played on Lake Mendota in the 50s! And the bottom picture is from the 1950s featuring a ski jump competition.

These images and more of our great Winter Carnival pictures can be found at our University of Wisconsin Collection. Check out more of our images and go out to the Hoofers Winter Carnival this weekend for fun winter activities!

Zazzle Print of the Month

2010-02-08T12:06:00.005-06:00

This past weekend the Badgers defeated the Wolverines in the Camp Randall Hockey Classic! Because of this win and all the other great winter activities that have been going on around campus we decided to highlight this image as our Zazzle Print of the Month!

The image taken in 1929 features hockey players Donald Meiklejohn (L) and Gilbert Krueger (R) on an ice rink on the current Library Mall at the University of Wisconsin--Madison. The image is part of our University of Wisconsin Archives and is available for purchase at our Zazzle Store.

If you like this print take a look at all the great images at our Zazzle Store! These prints are great for any gift giving holiday!

Ice Skating at its best!

2010-02-05T11:11:00.007-06:00

This weekend the University of Wisconsin will host the Culver's Camp Randall Hockey Classic at Camp Randall Stadium. Also tonight the UW is offering open skating in Camp Randall. In light of this great ice skating weekend we thought we would look through our collection and check out some of our great ice skating pictures.

The State of Wisconsin Collection has great winter ice skating pictures. This was one of my favorites from the Manitowoc Local History Collection. How awesome would it be to skate next to those ships!

Also in the University of Wisconsin Archives we have some great images from past Ice Carnivals. This one is of an ice skating race on the lake! Looks like some pushing and shoving going on, where's the ref!

If you are really interested in hockey, the Madison Athletic Department Collection contains media guides from hockey games back to the 70s!

Check out all of our hockey and ice skating images, we'll be tweeting them all day! And we hope you can watch the game, GO BADGERS!