From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Wisconsin Historical Society is a private membership, state funded organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, specifically the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Founded in 1846 and chartered in 1853, it is the oldest historical society in the United States to receive continuous public funding.^[1] The society's headquarters are located in Madison, Wisconsin, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

In fulfilling its mission to educate the public on areas relating to Wisconsin history, the Wisconsin Historical Society coordinates many programs to preserve objects and information of historical interst while keeping them available to the public. The society's library and archives, which together serve as the library of American history for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contain nearly four million items, making the society's collection the largest in the world dedicated exclusively to North American history.^[2] In addition to this library, the society runs the Wisconsin Historical Museum in downtown Madision. The society also operates a publishing house, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, which publishes a variety of books on Wisconsin and American history in addition to printing a quarterly magazine, the Wisconsin Magazine of History. In more recent times, the society complemented its printed materials with a website boasting numerous features which include a large, searchable collection of historical images and a vast digital archive containing thousands of scanned documents relating to Wisconsin history.

In addition to all its other pursuits, the Wisconsin Historical Society owns nine historic sites which can be toured by the public. These sites are located in cities across the state.

1. ^ About page at the Wisconsin Historical Society website.
2. ^ "Wisconsin Historical Society" at www.madison.com.

• Official Site