Abstract: James O. “Jim” Holmlund was born in Bangor, Wis., in 1918. He attended Luther College in Decorah, IA, from 1936-1940 pursuing a degree in journalism, and then enlisted in the U. S. Army and served in World War II. He served in the North African and Italian campaigns and was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. He moved to La Crosse, Wis., and worked for the La Crosse Tribune as a news reporter from 1948-1968, thereafter establishing his own business, the Independent News and Features where he served as a freelance writer and photographer. Holmlund died in La Crosse, Wis., in 2001.

Most of the photographs are not dated or labeled. The photographs taken by James O. Holmlund generally are not dated nor is there much information about them. The photographs taken by others were sent to him to help add photographic interest to his stories of the area and some exist only in copy negative form, while others are vintage and yet others are positive reprints. Most of these photos are of Bangor and West Salem, Wis., people and scenes from the past. Among the more notable photographs that were taken by other people include scenes from Bangor and West Salem, both villages in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, around the 1890s-1920s.