The Division of Public History was created in 1996 within the State Historical Society of Wisconsin (SHSW). It was headed by the State Historian and replaced the Research Division which in recent years had been within the Division of Archives and Research Services. Moved into the new Division was the Editorial Division, the Office of Local History, and the Office of School Services.
The editorial functions of the Historical Society have been conducted virtually from its organization in 1846. Conducted by the superintendent himself with editorial assistants at various times, editorial activities included publication of annual Proceedings, various bulletins, the Collections of the Society, and, beginning in 1917, a quarterly magazine. A Publications Supervisor first appears in the Blue Book in 1954. The Editorial Division was established as such in January 1963, combining the functions of the Division of Book Publications and the Magazine of History. In 1983 the division was joined with the Research Division, the Library, and the Division of Archives and Manuscripts; this new Division was orginally designated the Research Services Division, then renamed the Division of Archives and Research Services in 1986. However, editorial staff remained at a separate office within the division. In 1996, it moved to the newly-created Division of Public History.
John O. Holzhueter worked in a number of capacities during his nearly four decades at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. He began his association with the Society in 1964 when he became a graduate student assistant to the Wisconsin Magazine of History. From 1965 until his retirement, he also served as a research assistant for the History of Wisconsin Project (1965-1970); contract writer for the history of Madeline Island (1972-1973); contributor of weekly Wisconsin history sketches to Wisconsin Public Radio from 1975-1990; manager of the Frank Lloyd Wright Oral History Program from 1990-1995; and assistant or associate editor of the Wisconsin Magazine of History; a principal editor for the six-volume History of Wisconsin Project; and a reference consultant to SHSW staff, the academic community, and the public on a wide range of Wisconsin historical subjects (1973-2000). In addition, Holzhueter wrote and reviewed for the Wisconsin Magazine of History, contributed the Wisconsin entry in the Encyclopedia of African-American History, and represented the Historical Society as a speaker on numerous occasions.
See the Agency History in the catalog.
