The Federal Writers' Project of Wisconsin collection does not consist of administrative records of WPA, but writings and research produced by the project. The collection consists of four parts: biographies of famous Wisconsinites, tour guides and histories of some Wisconsin cities, radio scripts of dramatized biographies and dramatized recollections of pioneer days, and miscellaneous writings.
The BIOGRAPHIES consist of three different sets of records, each of which profiles different individuals: completed biographies, rough drafts or “field notes” of biographies, and notes for biographies that were never written. The completed manuscripts and drafts are arranged together alphabetically, while the notes for intended biographies are arranged by occupation. A list and abstracts are available for each category (completed, rough drafts, notes) in box 9.
In general, the TOUR GUIDES AND HISTORIES consist of a history of each city (Madison, Milwaukee, Mineral Point, Wausau) and descriptions of points of interest in the city and surrounding area.
For the Madison area tours, the region within a fifty mile radius of Madison was divided into five main tours. These in turn were divided into smaller areas. The tours describe the historic and scenic spots in the lead region, the lower Wisconsin river region, the Dells, the Baraboo Bluffs, the Four Lakes country, the Koshkonong region and the Rock and Sugar River valleys.
The essays and notes on Madison were compiled for the history which was never completed. Each essay traces the development of a particular segment of Madison's industry and culture: e.g. art, music, labor, etc.
The Milwaukee guide consists of three parts. Part I includes a calendar of annual events, history, information on government, labor, industry, the press, and the arts. Part II is a tour of the city by section, and Part III is a tour of the surrounding area.
The Mineral Point guide contains maps, illustrations, a history, information on mining and the land, and a tour of the city.
The history of Wausau also includes points of interest in the city and maps. The Writers' Project was commissioned by the Wausau Centennial committee to write this history as part of the community's 100th anniversary.
The RADIO SCRIPTS consist of dramatized recollections of 19th century life in Wisconsin and dramatized biographies. The “Pioneer Recollections Series” scripts were based on the papers of early settlers that were published in the series of volumes, Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. The scripts were written in 1939 but the air date is not known. The shows were produced by WHA and broadcast on station WHA (Madison) and WLBL (Stevens Point). The dramatized biographies were composed for the “Wisconsin Men and Women Series,” which was produced weekly between May 15, 1940 and May 28, 1941 on station WIBA (Madison).
The MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS portion of the collection consists of material commissioned by sponsors but never published. These include the history of the Camp Hayward Transient camp, an index to names of Milwaukee persons in the Wisconsin Magazine of History, 1917-1940, a history of Milwaukee street names, a catalog of relics at the Rhinelander Logging Museum, 1940, and notes from Karl Roeser's newspaper, the Wisconsin Demokrat, 1854-1860, which includes biographical data on Roeser and is in German.
