Title: Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters Records
Inclusive Dates: 1869-1983

Creator:

• Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

Call Number: Mss 429; Micro 1095

Quantity: 5.0 c.f. (13 archives boxes) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)

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:

Records of a Wisconsin organization founded in 1870 to foster research and publication in the arts, sciences, and letters. Included are incomplete minutes, officers' correspondence, receipt and expenditure ledgers and other financial records, membership directories, and subject files relating to special activities such as anniversary celebrations, and management of the bequest of Harry Steenbock. General correspondence covering the period 1869-1956 includes letters from John W. Hoyt, founder and first president, to Increase A. Lapham; and papers of Edward A. Birge as president. Additional files includes papers of officers Lowell Noland, Walter E. Scott, Charles Van Hise, and others.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00429

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The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters was founded in Madison and incorporated by the Legislature on March 16, 1870. The purpose of the organization, as stated in its charter, is “to encourage investigation and disseminate correct views in the various departments of science, literature, and the arts.” Persons interested in the “promotion of sciences, arts, and letters in the state of Wisconsin” were eligible for membership; generally the membership has included teachers, physicians, lawyers, businessmen, government employees, and the clergy.

Chiefly responsible for the formation of the Academy was John W. Hoyt, secretary of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society; Increase Lapham, Wisconsin's most renowned scientist; and Philo R. Hoy, a Racine physician. It was largely due to Hoyt's influence that the organization embraced the sciences, arts, and letters within one organization and he envisioned it as the source of all original research in Wisconsin. Although activities did not match Hoyt's vision, the Academy met quarterly, established a journal (Transactions) to publish the research and writings of members, and launched a library based on exchanges. For many years the Academy received an appropriation from the Legislature for the publication of Transactions. In 1873 the Legislature also provided funds to allow the Academy to begin another special concern, a geological survey of the state. Twenty years later Edward A. Birge revived the project.

During the Depression the Legislature halted appropriations to the Academy for publication of Transactions. The uncertain financial situation created by this did not end until 1967 when Harry Steenbock made the Academy self-sustaining through a general bequest. During the 1940's the Academy became involved in the Junior Academy of Science movement, and it aided in launching such an organization in Wisconsin. In addition, in 1954 the Academy launched the Wisconsin Academy Review which contained news and short articles of more general interest.

Several more detailed histories of the organization are filed in the first folder of the collection. In addition, a review of the Academy's first one hundred years was printed in the 1970 Spring issue of the Wisconsin Academy Review.

The records consist of BACKGROUND AND HISTORICAL MATERIAL, ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, CORRESPONDENCE, SUBJECT FILES, MEMBERSHIP RECORDS, and PUBLICITY.

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.

Acquisition Information

Portions presented by H. A. Schuette, and Robert Dicke, 1934, 1959; and by the Academy, Aaron Ihde, and Walter E. Scott, Madison, Wisconsin, 1971-1986. Accession Number: M71-11, M72-320, M77-119, M77-287, M81-576, M86-140

Mss 429	Series: Background and Historical Material
Box   1 Folder   1	Historical background, 1870-1970, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Documents and photographs for Centennial history, 1970
Box   1 Folder   3	Constitution and by-laws, 1963-1983
	Series: Administrative Records	⇧
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   4	General minute book, 1884-1897, 1900-1901
Box   1 Folder   5	Miscellaneous minutes, 1944-1950
	Annual meetings
Box   1 Folder   6	Miscellany, 1960-1971
	Program planning
Box   1 Folder   7-9	1955-1961
Box   1 Folder   10	1971
Box   2 Folder   1-4	1972-1977
	Council
Box   2 Folder   5-7	Minutes, 1955-1977
Box   2 Folder   8	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1958-1971
	Committees
Box   2 Folder   9	Business Efficiency, Committee on, 1965-1966
Box   2 Folder   10	Long Range Planning committees, 1960-1977
Box   3 Folder   1	Long Range Financial Planning Committee, 1959-1971 (and Finance Committee)
Box   3 Folder   2	Miscellaneous committee reports, 1965-1973, undated
	Financial records
Box   3 Folder   3	Audits, 1971-1983
Box   3 Folder   4	Budget estimates, 1969-1971
Box   3 Folder   5	Centennial Fund, 1966-1970
Box   3 Folder   6	Gifts, 1965-1969
	Ledgers
Box   3 Folder   7-9	1899-1956
Box   4 Folder   1-5	1959-1967, 1969-1971, 1975-1977
Box   4 Folder   6	Statements and reports, 1960-1971
Box   4 Folder   7	Tax exempt status, 1971
	Series: Correspondence	⇧
	General
Box   5 Folder   1-7	1869-1909
Box   6 Folder   1-10	1910-1940
Box   7 Folder   1-8	1942-1948
Box   8 Folder   1-9	1949-1956
Box   9 Folder   1-3	Baier, Joseph G., 1946-1965
Box   9 Folder   4	Batt, James R. (Executive director), 1974
Box   9 Folder   5	Darling, Stephen F. (President), 1956-1957
	Noland, Lowell
Box   9 Folder   6	Secretary-treasurer's minute book, 1931-1936
	Correspondence
Box   9 Folder   7	1941-1947
Box   10 Folder   1	1947-1948
Box   10 Folder   2	Olson, Norman C. (President), 1970
Box   10 Folder   3	Reis, Raymond H. (President), 1957
Box   10 Folder   4	Sarles, William B. (President), 1969-1970
	Scott, Walter
Box   10 Folder   5-8	1960-1970, September
Box   11 Folder   1	1970; undated
Box   11 Folder   2	Van Hise, Charles (President), Letterpress book, 1894-1897
	Series: Subject Files	⇧
Box   11 Folder   3	American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, 1956-1971
	Centennial celebration
Box   11 Folder   4	Committee planning, 1968-1969
Box   11 Folder   5	Program and ceremonies, 1970
Box   11 Folder   6	Publicity and clippings, 1970
	Critical issues
Box   11 Folder   7	Planning material, 1975-1976
Box   11 Folder   8	Miscellany
Box   11 Folder   9	Recommendation forms, 1975
Box   11 Folder   10	Exchange programs, 1954, 1968-1971
Box   12 Folder   1	Fiftieth anniversary, 1920
Box   12 Folder   2	Legal miscellany, 1970-1971
Box   12 Folder   3	Legislative contacts, 1959-1971
Box   12 Folder   4	Miscellaneous correspondence, 1963-1971
Box   12 Folder   5	Ninetieth anniversary scrapbook, 1960
Box   12 Folder   6	Steenbock bequest, 1968-1970
Box   12 Folder   7	Steensland Memorial, 1968
Box   12 Folder   8	Transactions, Miscellaneous editorial correspondence, 1957, 1964-1971
Box   12 Folder   9	Wild Rivers Project, 1965-1971
	Series: Membership	⇧
Box   12 Folder   10	Dues ledger, 1970-1976
Micro 1095	Dues ledger, 1870-1900
Mss 429	Miscellaneous directories
Box   12 Folder   11	1947-1969
Box   13 Folder   1-2	1974-1983
	Series: Publicity	⇧
Box   13 Folder   4	News releases, 1960-1971
Box   13 Folder   4	Clippings