Title: Wisconsin. Division of Highways: Highway Project Films
Inclusive Dates: circa 1929-1972

Creator:

• Wisconsin. Division of Highways

Call Number: AE 400-AE 414; CC 695-CC 699

Quantity: 19 films (16 mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Films, circa 1929-1972, made by or concerning topics related to the functions of the State Highway Commission. The material documents road and bridge construction projects and initiatives, tree harvesting and replanting, and state and national economic impacts of highway construction. Some films in this series are possibly work prints for which no known completed print is available. The films are arranged by completed or mostly completed film prints and amateur footage likely taken by employees of the State Highway Commission.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ae400

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See the Agency History in the catalog.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey via B. Brown, 1991. Accession Number: 1991/171

	Series: Films
AE 401	Early Sign Manufacturing, circa 1938 Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, silent  Scope and Content Note Short film demonstrating road sign construction. Includes intertitles. Production: unknown
AE 408	Eau Claire Sand & Gravel Company, 1929 Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, silent  Scope and Content Note: Short film on road and bridge construction in the small towns near Eau Claire, including Thorp, Withee, Stanley and Black River Falls. Features footage of various construction companies working on roads, including F.F. Mengel Company, Vogt-Mengel Company, and Alfred Brown and Company. Footage also show a Wisconsin Highway Commission Inspector and an inspector identified as “Buzz” Cernaghan. Includes intertitles.
CC 697	Medians in Wisconsin, circa 1960s-1970s Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note Shows various types of medians on Wisconsin highways. Production: Presented by Wisconsin Highway Commission
CC 695	On the Record, 1955 February 9 Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, sound  Scope and Content Note Kinescope television press conference moderated by Roy Vogelman with guest Harold L. Plumber, Chairman of the State Highway Department. Plumber is interviewed by a panel comprised of George Roggerson (Wisconsin State Journal), Allen Oscar (editorial services, UW Extension), and Lloyd Woodruff (Assistant Director of Bureau of Government of UW Extension). Produced: Roy Vogelman
CC 413	Plans for Progress, circa 1960s Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, silent  Scope and Content Note: Possibly a workprint containing footage of road and bridge construction throughout the state. Footage of families and groups of people disembarking a Greyhound bus and waiting for a train, possibly at the old depot in Madison, Wisconsin. Footage ends with an airplane departure and aerial views of bridges, highways and airports.
CC 699	Roads and Loads, 1950 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note Scenes of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul Railroad, possibly on West Washington Avenue in Madison. Unedited footage of various farm and other manufacturers of consumable products and the vehicles and roads that bring them to us, including milk producers, Blatz beer, quarries, etc. Shows soil composition and testing at the State Highway Commission Office and testing. This is possibly a workprint. Production: by W.F. Steuber
AE 414	The Road to Prosperity, circa 1960s-1972 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, sound  Scope and Content Note Short film on the interstate highway's impact on the United States economy. Production: Presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Public Roads Producer: William E. Hall Writer/editor: S. Paul Klein Narrator: Peter Jamerson Photography by: George W. Crum and Charles H. Ritter
AE 400	Tree Transplant Program, 1969 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note Unedited footage of tree harvesting and replanting in the Eau Claire area. Possibly an early workprint. Production: State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation
	Series: Amateur Footage	⇧
AE 407	1970 Film Highlights, undated Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Unedited footage of tree harvesting and replanting in the area of Waunona (Madison?). Footage cuts to highway and bridge construction in the Sauk County and Wisconsin River area before cutting again to a marching band exiting a school bus, miscellaneous footage of a ceremony with police and Miss Superior with a flag raising, speeches, and tree planting. Footage of a I-94 highway sign for Madison/Cambridge 2 miles ahead and erecting a sign for 1 mile to Madison/Cambridge. Cuts to Madison Division of Transportation building off of University Avenue in Madison followed by a highway sign for Madison/Sun Prairie.
AE 404	Black River Falls-Hixton Section of I-94 Dedication, circa 1967-1968 Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, silent  Scope and Content Note: Footage begins with a sign for “A Salute to Highway Progress” followed by large crowds and a podium presentation. Reel includes various ribbon cutting ceremonies at locations along the Black River Falls and Hixton section of I-94. Cities include Eau Claire and Mondovi, Osseo and Fairchild, Alma Center and Pigeon Falls, Hixton and Alma Center. Notable creative ribbons ceremonies include incorporation of ribbons made of Land-O-Lake butter packages, cutting a ribbon with a Native American hatchet, Miss Strawberry Queen, and the presentation of a hunting bow and demonstrations of traditional Native American dancing.
CC 698	Disctrict 7-South 182 Before Reconstruction, 1970 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Sign for Iron County followed by miscellaneous point of view car footage of the road, water in a ditch, signs, bridges and both rural dirt and less maintained roads contrasted with new roads. Footage cuts to fall colors on trees, lake footage and signs for Connor Industrial Forest, Rat Lake Block, and Nicolet National Forest.
AE 405	District 7, #2, St. Germain Lake Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Seeding test plots and car point of view shots of a highway, trees and bridge. Footage cuts to a sign for Crystal Muskie Campground Beach-Picnic area with miscellaneous campground footage. Sign for Sparkling Lake with more campground footage followed by signs for Diamond Lake and Grandmother Falls.
AE 406	District 7, #3, undated Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Sign for Laona and footage of a main road in a small town. Scenes at a lumberyard and then a wooded area with a creek. Footage cuts to a water tower with “Petticoat Junction” written on the side. Point of view shots a small town from inside a car and a sign for Prentice.
CC 696	Dodge County Road Building, circa 1930s-1940s Physical Description: 16 mm, black & white, silent  Scope and Content Note: Footage of construction and road building in Delton by Sarrington Company and of Iron Ridge, Wisconsin. The Iron Ridge footage includes scenes of Herman Street, Pleasant Avenue, East Avenue, Hyland Avenue and North Main Street. Construction scenes include surveying, laying cement and blasting with dynamite.
AE 402	Interstate Route 94 in Waukesha County/U.S. Route 141 North of Milwaukee/ U.S. Route 41 near Richfield, Washington County, circa 1959-1960 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Aerial footage of Interstate 94. Also contains footage of U.S. Route 41 near Richfield, Washington County and U.S. Route 141 north of Milwaukee.
AE 411	Kingsley Bend Project, circa 1960s-1970s Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Footage of men excavating patches of earth and measuring out square land in a wooded area before shifting to a view of a dirt road looking towards a finished highway with miscellaneous views of a river and train tracks. More views of wooded areas along with construction equipment and tree removal. This footage possibly shows Indian mounds in construction areas from either the Devil's Lake or Wisconsin Dells area in 1971.
AE 412	Return to Roads and Loads #2, circa 1960s-1970s Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Road construction and repair footage, including highlights on poor road conditions, cracks, and potholes. Includes split screen view of the road before and after repair.
AE 409	Scenic Easements, circa late 1960s-early 1970s Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Unedited footage of signs, including Mueller Climatrol Division of Worthington Corporation and Schneider's. Various scenes of a river and bluffs from the point of view of a car driving along a highway. Also includes shots of a family in the car. More river/bluff footage and a historic marker for the Mississippi River Parkway, highway views and a family picnic.
AE 403	South Madison Beltline, 1971 May 7 Physical Description: 16 mm, color, silent  Scope and Content Note: Amateur footage of a sign for “Beltline West” in Madison, Wisconsin. Footage of cars and construction on the beltline and cars being redirected for construction. Signs for “South Beltline” and “Nakoma Road,” and the intersection of “Seminole Highway” and “Avon Road.”