The records of the Academy are incomplete, although the inadequacy of the archival record is partly compensated for by the availability of contemporary, published information concerning annual meetings, officers, and constitutional revision in Transactions, the Wisconsin Academy Review, a newsletter, meeting programs, and other sources, all of which are available in the Historical Society Library.
The BACKGROUND AND HISTORICAL MATERIAL consists of several short histories, photographic copies of documents used in the 1970 history published in the Wisconsin Academy Review, and memorabilia. Constitutions and by-laws filed here consist only of a few revisions of this document and not the original 1870 document. This, as well as additional revisions, may be found, however, printed in Transactions.
The internal ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS are quite incomplete, the most serious omission being the absence of minutes. The only minutes filed here consist of one volume from the late nineteenth century and a loose file of council minutes, 1955-1977. Even this file is not complete and it represents not records maintained by the Academy but material culled from a number of miscellaneous files by the Archives in order to provide convenient access to researchers to this important type of historical information. Also arranged here are separate files of minutes of various standing and ad hoc committees active during the 1960's and 1970's. Especially useful are the files of the Long Range Financial Planning Committee which deliberated on the use to be made of the Steenbock bequest. The financial records are primarily comprised of receipt and expenditure ledgers. With the correspondence (described below), they are the most complete form of documentation about the Academy's history. Also included are audits from the 1970's, records of the Centennial Funds, and miscellaneous financial statements and reports.
The CORRESPONDENCE consists of a general file covering the period 1869-1956, and files created by individual officers covering the period 1894-1974. The general correspondence, which represents the material originally catalogued by the Archives (then as call number Wis Mss TF), is arranged chronologically. It consists of material relative to membership, manuscripts printed in Transactions, annual meetings, exchange of publications, and other relatively routine affairs. Scattered throughout the correspondence are occasional financial reports and membership lists. After 1920's the correspondence is very routine except for the years 1947 and 1948 when the Academy had to look elsewhere for funds to publish Transactions.
Special note needs to be made of material in this section that is not routine: a letter of founder and president J. W. Hoyt (January 18, 1870) outlining a general plan for the organization and endowment of the Academy; letters of Julia A. Lapham relative to her father; a letter of Hoyt to Arthur Beatty (February 12, 1911) containing his reminisences on the Academy's beginnings; a letter of Kepler Hoyt (May 27, 1912) enclosing a biographical notice on the life of his father; and letters of E. A. Birge while president.
The files of individual Academy officers are arranged alphabetically by name. These files generally refer to people who served as president or executive director, although several files represent the exercise of other duties as well. Most extensive is the correspondence (1960-1970) of Walter Scott, primarily documenting his role in the planning of the centennial celebration; the correspondence and secretary-treasurer's book of Lowell Noland (1931-1948) which relates to the difficulties of the organization during the years of World War II; and the letter book (1894-1897) of Charles Van Hise. Taken together, however, these files fail to provide complete coverage of Academy history.
The SUBJECT FILES document, to varying degrees, a number of special projects undertaken by the Academy. Included are files on lobbying, the planning for various anniversary events, and the management of the Steenbock estate.
For many years the Academy has regularly published lists of its members. As the result, the MEMBERSHIP RECORDS retained here consist only of information not available in that way: dues ledgers, 1870-1900, and miscellaneous published directories. One dues ledger is available only on microfilm. PUBLICITY consists of Xeroxed clippings about Academy activities and miscellaneous news releases.
