Jump to: Selected Subcollections | University of Wisconsin Mission | Technical Note | Other Materials in Collection | Related Materials
About the Collection
 When does an aggregation of "stories" become a "history"? The history of the University of Wisconsin is far too colorful and texture-rich to be told in a single document. Within these collections you will find images, manuscripts, papers, and books, all relating in some way to the University's mission (detailed below). Each record speaks its own truth; each highlights different people, places and accomplishments; each contributes a unique piece of the story.
The teacher, researcher, or curious citizen is encouraged to explore this collection on a continuing basis, since items will be added to it regularly. The door to the vault has been opened, but only just, and new treasures will continually come to light.
The University of Wisconsin Mission
Each institution of the University of Wisconsin System shares in the mission of the system.
The mission of this system is to develop human resources, to discover and disseminate knowledge, to extend knowledge and its application beyond the boundaries of its campuses, and to serve and stimulate society by developing in students heightened intellectual, cultural, and humane sensitivities; scientific, professional, and technological expertise; and a sense of purpose. Inherent in this mission are methods of instruction, research, extended education, and public service designed to educate people and improve the human condition. Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth.
More Information about Selected Subcollections
Jump to: Badger Chemist (1953-2003) | Badger Yearbooks | The Cultural Landscape of the UW-Madison Campus | The Experimental College | Free Speech and its Relation to Self-Government | The History of Limnology | The History of Women at the University of Wisconsin | University of Wisconsin Hoofers Club | The University of Wisconsin: a History | University of Wisconsin Alumni Directory, 1849-1919 | University of Wisconsin Archive Images | University of Wisconsin - Madison Athletic Department Collection | William J. Meuer Photoart Collection | Wisconsin Alumni Magazine | The Wisconsin Engineer
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 The Badger Chemist is a newsletter publication of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Chemistry. Initiated in 1953, The Badger Chemist is published annually and features articles, commentary, news items, and photographs concerning students, faculty, and alumni of the Department of Chemistry.
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 The first yearbook of the University of Wisconsin was published in April 1884 and called the Trochos, which is a Greek word for badger. The second yearbook, also called Trochos, was not published until 1887. The first Badger was published in February 1888, and the Badger was published until 2003, with one hiatus in 1973-74. The Alumni Association helped publish volumes for those two years which basically only contain student photographs.
A confusing fact is that until 1932 the yearbooks were done by the junior class and the date on the cover is the class year of the junior class. Thus the first Trochos has '85 on the cover, and the first Badger, although published in 1888, is called the '89 Badger. This means, for example, that a person who was a senior in 1910 would have their senior photograph in the 1911 Badger. Also, the yearbooks covered athletic and social events of the year, or even two years, before the date on the yearbook. In 1932, the yearbook became a senior class publication; there are two 1932 yearbooks, and afterwards the date on the yearbook is of the senior class.
Also remember that many people did not have photographs in the yearbook, so you may not find a senior picture, although you may find a person in a group photograph of a fraternity, sorority, sports team, etc. Also, because the Badgers were often printed on colored paper, with various type fonts, images on pages with text over them, etc., the search engine may not work well. You may want to browse individual years of the Badger.
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 This photo 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. The study will culminate in November 2005 with the publication of a Cultural Landscape Resource Plan. This plan will provide university administrators with direction for preserving and managing these culturally significant places. <more>
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The Experimental College
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/UW.MeikExpColl
 The University of currently provides access to two important works by noted philosopher and educator Alexander Meiklejohn. Meiklejohn was, among other things, the founder and director of the Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he pursued his vision of exploring innovative (and sometimes radical) approaches to teaching and learning. The two works included here are: "Free Speech and its Relation to Self-Government" which was published in 1948 and "The Experimental College" which was published in 1932.
Noteworthy features of this distinguished work, the first edition, include the use of cross-refrences; the Dedication to the King, George II, and the compiler's "Plan of the Work," within the prefatory section, volume one.
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 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. The Center grew out of almost one hundred years of limnology at the University initiated by E.A. Birge and Chancey Juday, who founded limnology in North America through extensive descriptive and comparative studies. Our roots were further developed by Arthur D. Hasler, who led the way in experimental limnology and facilitated four decades of aquatic studies at Wisconsin. Our present program builds on these approaches and has expanded to include long-term studies, synthesis, modeling, Great Lakes research, and application to resource management and environmental issues.
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 The History of Women at the University of 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 System. The initial collection consists of seven works published by the University. Four are part of a series of essays entitled University Women. The parts are They Came to Learn, They Came to Teach, They Came to Stay; Wisconsin Women, Graduate School, and the Professions; and Women Emerge in the Seventies, all edited by Marian J. Swoboda, and Audrey J. Roberts in 1980; and Women on Campus in the Eighties: Old Struggles, New Victories, edited by Marian J. Swoboda, Audrey J. Roberts, and Jennifer Hirsch in 1993. Transforming Women’s Education: The History of Women’s Studies in the University of Wisconsin System, a collaborative project of and by the University of Wisconsin System Women’s Studies Consortium (1999), presents the history in a topical/chronological arrangement, with chapters of the early history of women at the University of Wisconsin, the work of UW-Extension, the beginnings of women’s studies, and the work of the Systemwide Women’s Studies Consortium.
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 The scrapbooks in this collection were created by members of Hoofers to document their organization. Through photographs, newsletters, newspaper clippings and other memorabilia, the scrapbooks detail the group’s outings and activities from the 1930s through the early 1960s.
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 There have been many histories written of the University of Wisconsin and its schools, colleges, and departments. The University is fortunate to have a major, scholarly 4 volume history covering 1848 to 1971. The first two volumes, covering 1848-1925, were written by Merle Curti and Vernon Carstensen and basically defined the genre of university histories. The second two volumes (1925-1945, 1945-1971) were written by E. David Cronon and John W. Jenkins.
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 The alumni directory published in 1921, which covers 1849-1919, is considered to be the most complete of the early directories. It lists graduates alphabetically by name (including degree granted, date, and where he/she was living in 1920/21), by year of graduation, and by state or country of origin. It also includes a directory of faculty members and officers up to 1919.
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 The University Archives is digitizing photographs and other images of university history. Currently there are collections dealing with the Chancellors and Presidents, Memorial Union, Student Activities, Student Protest, and Athletics. To access the collections, click on Search the Catalog. You will see a series of thumbnails which you can click on to browse the images. You can also search by keywords, e.g. football, Sterling Hall, women, etc.
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 The University of Wisconsin - Madison Athletic Department Collection contains photos and archival materials that document a variety of sports, coaches and student athletes, and their experiences competing for the UW-Madison teams.
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 The William J. Meuer Photoart Collection is an outstanding visual history of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community. The collection was compiled by renowned local photographer William J. Meuer who with his brother, Roman, opened the Meuer Photoart House on State Street in 1916. Dating from 1888 to 1935, 25 large bound albums contain nearly 27,000 individual prints.
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 The Wisconsin Alumni Association has published a magazine continuously since October 1899. The publication was called the Wisconsin Alumni Magazine from 1899 to 1935 (volumes 1-37), the Wisconsin Alumnus from 1936 to 1988 (volumes 38-89), and the Wisconsin Alumni from 1988-90 (volumes 90-91). In 1990 the publication became On Wisconsin.
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 The Wisconsin Engineer was first published in June 1896 by the College of Engineering of the University of Wisconsin, and it continues to this day. For recent issues, see Wisconsin Engineer.
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About the Collection
Tailback Brent Moss #33 carries the ball for the University of Wisconsin-Madison team during the 1994 Rose Bowl game. Wisconsin defeated UCLA 21-16.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Department Collection contains photos and archival materials that document a variety of sports, coaches and student athletes, and their experiences competing for the UW-Madison teams.
Media Guides
The Wisconsin Athletic Communications Office has for years produced media guides for all of the sports at the UW-Madison. These publications have evolved over time. 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.
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About the Collection
William J. Meuer on a 1918 auto trip to Northern Wisconsin.
May Fete was a 'rite of spring' ritual featuring outdoor dancing and frolicking widely attended by university students and 'townies', as well. This one was taken in 1914.
The 'bag rush' or 'class rush' was an annual competition between the freshman and sophomore classes held in the mall area in front of what is now Memorial Library. Unfortunately, the older students would sneak onto the 'playing field' beforehand and water down the frosh side of the field, thereby gaining a considerable advantage in the event. This one taken in 1914.
The William J. Meuer Photoart Collection is an outstanding visual history of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community. The collection was compiled by renowned local photographer William J. Meuer who with his brother, Roman, opened the Meuer Photoart House on State Street in 1916. Dating from 1888 to 1935, 25 large bound albums contain nearly 27,000 individual prints. Some are copies of photographs from other sources but the vast majority are originals taken by Mr. Meuer and, occasionally, other photographers.
The albums were essentially catalogs, with the prints affixed to both sides of heavy duty paper stock which could be handled frequently by patrons of the Photoart House. Customers from the university, the local business community, and the general public enjoyed browsing through the collection and ordering copies of interesting images they could share with friends and family. University students, in particular, avidly paged through the albums hoping to find themselves in the camera’s eye. It’s no surprise that in an era when photography in the upper Midwest was still a rather exotic commodity, the Meuers’ photo duplication business did a brisk trade. And, in the teens and twenties when picture postcards were popular, an ample supply of some of the more interesting images was always available at the counter for quick sale to regular customers, visitors and tourists.
The vast majority of the images in the collection relate to the University. Hundreds of portraits of faculty and administrators are featured, including Charles Van Hise, Glenn Frank, E.B. Fred, Charles Sumner Slichter, John R. Commons, George Sellery, Edward Birge, Benny Snow and many other prominent individuals. Lectures and other academic functions of faculty and staff, as well as their social events and town and gown activities are documented. All aspects of UW student life are depicted, including dramatic and musical programs, and intercollegiate, intramural and informal sporting events and recreational activities. An entire album is devoted to the junior proms held in the state capitol during the 1920s. Photographs of other campus traditions including May Fete, Bag Rush, Venetian Nights, Homecoming Bonfire, The Pipe of Peace Ceremony, and The Engineers’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade, appear throughout the collection. The intercollegiate sports portion is extensive, with many individual portraits of student athletes and action shots of track and field events, and football, basketball and baseball contests. Recreational activities such as skiing, skating, sailing and swimming are covered. Commencement and honorary degree ceremonies were a popular regular feature. Celebrity students and alumni represented include Charles Lindbergh, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins, Fred Bickle a.k.a. Frederic March, Arlie Mucks Sr. and many others. Campus buildings and scenery are beautifully illustrated, sometimes with large prints that entirely cover both facing album pages. At times these larger prints are ‘framed’ by original artwork and graphic designs with stylized decorative lettering. Visits to campus by U.S. Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson were photographed, and many state politicians including Senator Robert M. Lafollette, and most of Wisconsin’s governors from the era appear attending university sponsored political events and exercises. Madison street scenes and structures and State of Wisconsin buildings are also featured, including historic views of the various state capitols in the city. There are also a few images of rural scenery and events from around the state. William Meuer, himself, appears in one of these images, which recorded his 1918 automobile trip through the forests of Northern Wisconsin with Noble Clark of the College of Agriculture and another friend.
It is very rare to find such an extensive catalog of images from this era devoted primarily to life in a large American public university and its surrounding community. As nearly all of the original glass negatives from the collection are lost, it is imperative that we meet the challenge of preserving this wonderful historical resource for future generations. The University Archives and the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center are proud to present the first eight albums of The William J. Meuer Photoart Collection in digital form. We intend to make every effort to continue this project and hope to eventually digitize the entire collection.
About the Collection
 The UWDCC currently provides access to two important works by noted philosopher and educator Alexander Meiklejohn. Meiklejohn was, among other things, the founder and director of the Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he pursued his vision of exploring innovative (and sometimes radical) approaches to teaching and learning. The two works included here are: Free Speech and its Relation to Self-Government which was published in 1948 and The Experimental College which was published in 1932.
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This search allows you to access images, audio, video, and text records. To search within the texts, choose "search only the full text"
© This compilation (including design, introductory text, organization, and descriptive material) is copyrighted by University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
