Madison, Wis.—Public Relations Director invites journalism students and interns to schedule public relations tours prior to visiting the archive at the Wisconsin Historical Society starting Dec. 13.
The Wisconsin Historical Society is one of the largest journalism resources in the University of Wisconsin system located at the UW-Madison Library Mall. The Wisconsin Historical Society facility hosts journalism exhibits located on the fourth-floor available for view through the archive. Wisconsin’s Historical Society boasts having one of the largest newspaper collection outlets, which is a great place to go for campus investigative projects.
“The Wisconsin Historical Society’s Outreach team delivers statewide programs, support, resources and services to further the Society’s mission throughout the state,” said Janet Seymour Interim Director of Outreach.
Connecting with the society page
Setting up a tour with the society public relations office assists visitors with navigating the facility and locating hard to find items. Public relations assists students and interns by taking a deeper look into how society operates through public opinion. Setting up a tour allows those who are new to the journalism field the ability to find examples of personalities in print who specialize in their journalism craft.
“In addition to serving the public as a whole, the Wisconsin Historical Society library and archives is part of the UW-Madison Libraries system, making its collections seamlessly discoverable for all UW-System students,” said Cynthia Bachhuber North American History Librarian.
Discovering your community page
Public Relations Director Kara O’Keeffe offers her facility tour services upon request. O’Keeffe offered to assist with a last-minute request that offered more than the average tour. Her passion as a director is to help students and interns who visit for their first time avoid getting lost in their search. Her goal as a tour guide is to teach fast-track methods when locating journalism resources on site.
“We welcome all students of the University of Wisconsin to explore our Wisconsin Historical Society through tours upon request and wil assist journalism and multi-media interns with interviews as well,” said O’Keefe.
Visit the Wisconsin Historical Society website here: https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/
Students of the University of Wisconsin who would like to set up public relations tours should notify O’Keeffe with a request, preferably by email first prior to visit and plan the whole day when they visit.
Tour Requests:
Name: Wisconsin History Public Relations Tour, Information
Division: Office of the Director – Public Relations
Email: Kara.Okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org
Phone: 608-261-9596
Address: 816 State St.
Madison, WI 53706-1482
The Tour:
The Wisconsin Historical Society building offers a nostalgic aura combined with a monolithic marble presence. Between the ambiance of the fourth-floor archive met by the aura of the hallway’s presence the facility’s character is welcoming to all who visit. The first-floor hallway welcomes guests to investigate and explore trophy cases filled with literature and artifacts of yesteryear.
The entire facility is filled with labyrinths from the days of old. Tours start at the Circulation Desk in the library that assigns quiet rooms for literature and newspaper reviews. The Wisconsin Historical Society hosts both scholarly figures and scholarly sources. Librarians will assist with interviews who are highly recommended when seeking to interview knowledgeable academic sources who know where to find material on site.
The overall operation runs on public donations. Once the tour was completed the facility noted the Wisconsin Society Foundation maintains the archive and building on public donations. The foundation has kept the state facility afloat throughout long periods of financial uncertainty. Although donations are not mandatory, they do keep the facility operational for future journalists to share their relics as well.
The Wisconsin Historical Society is a free-will offering and can be found here:
The Archive Investigation:
The first place to start when investigating resources is by visiting the library to conduct a Google search. Google searching led to unearthing the Wisconsin State Historical Society YouTube channel, which is also a valuable source. Google searching and YouTube are new methods of archive. Artifacts come to life through documentary, which are forms of journalism as well.
Accessing archives and Wisconsin State Historical Society files.
Starting out with a practice procedure helps. Investigating the ’67 Dow Riot on the Wisconsin Historical Society website combined with retrieving the Stuart Brandes File located on the fourth-floor archive will help those who are new fast track how the archive record request process works.
Google Search: https://www.worldcat.org/title/dow-chemical-protest-papers-1967-1968/oclc/145773972
Records Retrieval:
The 1967 Dow Riot example features many forms of journalism writing located in the Stuart D. Brandes file. The 1967 Dow Riot during the Vietnam War brought out campus protest that quickly escalated and the Brandes file tells the story from an eyewitness account. Brandes’ methods of writing articles from start to finish exhibit the process of published writing. Having an example helps writers discover their significance as journalists.
Students who utilize the Wisconsin Historical Society can only view newspaper articles on-site through the archives. Archive staff requires new students to follow their proper methods of archive retrieval. The first part of the archive retrieval process is to notify staff you would like to view files. Staff will ask viewers to stow away all material in a locker with facility issued keys prior to entering the viewing area. Viewers can use smart devices for picture taking but are not allowed to use pens or office items other than pencils that may cause damage to archive files.
The ’67 Dow Riot Brandes folder exhibit contains examples of ways to write award-winning editorials by journalists who were on the scene fast-tracking crowd protest that escalated into rioting as eyewitnesses. State, National and global media outlets were on-site that can be viewed through the society archive. The University of Wisconsin saw a moment in time when the Vietnam War brought out the worst in administration as well. Archiving is a form of journalism often overlooked as a resource. University of Wisconsin journalism students and interns will find the Wisconsin Historical Society a helpful tool during times of writer’s block that will quickly guide them through the archives when attending the newly available public relations tours.
1967 University of Wisconsin Library Mall Dow Riot
