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.

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!

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!

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.