Title: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1899-1930

Creator:

• Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

Call Number: Series 1474; PH Series 1474

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (1 archives box and 5 flat boxes), 770 photographs (in 5 archives boxes), and 4829 nitrate negatives (in 1 archives box and 6 card boxes)

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

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

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Miscellaneous records of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey dating from its existence as an independent state agency which ended in 1931 when the Survey was transferred to the University of Wisconsin. Included are seven letterbooks of outgoing correspondence, 1901-1910, of geologist Samuel Weidman, and one of hydrographer L. S. Smith; departmental budgets and brief related correspondence of Director E. A. Birge; and reports of rural road conditions dating to the pre-1912 period when the Survey was responsible for state highways. Also included are photographs and negatives used to illustrate publications and to document summer field work, ca. 1910-1930. In addition to its documentation of the geologic concerns of the Survey, the series includes strong visual documentation (ca. 1900) of the Wisconsin landscape including lakes, rivers, and dams and of economic activities such as brick making, mining, road building, and quarrying. Additional photographs that do not appear to have been published document similar topics as well as the work of scientists George Collie, N. M. Fenniman, and Charles Van Hise.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ser01474

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The textual records consist of annual budgets and brief related correspondence between E. A.Birge, director of the survey, and other members of the staff and letterbooks of outgoing correspondence of geologist Samuel Weidman and hydrographer L. S. Smith. These volumes are internally indexed. Also included are reports of road conditions submitted by rural mail carriers. These reports are arranged alphabetically by county and, although undated, they are known to date from the pre-1912 period when the Survey included a highway division. The visual documentation which is the strength of the series consists of 1) 4829 nitrate negatives that refer to albums documenting WGNHS summer field work, 1910-1930; 2) photographic prints and copy negatives used to illustrate the survey's research Bulletin and other research publications; and 3) additional photographs similar to those used in the Bulletin for which no publication information could be found. The original albums were returned to the Survey offices after photocopying in 2002.

The photographs in all three categories are similar. All document Wisconsin landforms, topography, water resources and geological outcroppings. All cover the entire state, although coverage is best for northern and western Wisconsin. Occasionally, all include local residents and workers, rural farmsteads, urban and rural road conditions, and other aspects of the built environment. The images from the summer fieldwork albums often include candid shots of the field crew at work. The visual documentation used for publication is of high quality, and it is useful not only for its representation of the Survey's geologic concerns but also for its visual documentation of the appearance of many parts of Wisconsin at the beginning of the 20th century. Some photographs show men at work in a variety of occupations such as mining, brick making, and road construction.

The summer fieldwork negatives are accessed via photocopies of the albums. The images in the albums are numbered in roughly chronological order. Each image is also captioned, generally identifying individuals and legal descriptions of the land. Photographers are occasionally identified by their initials, and at least some views were taken by F.T. Thwaites, a member of the UW Geology Department faculty. (Additional geologic photographs taken by Thwaites are part of the Thwaites Family Papers.) The nitrate negatives are arranged by number.

The illustrations for publication are arranged by bulletin number. Thereunder the arrangement varies. Prints which appear not to be associated with particular issues or which were collected for publication, but not used are arranged by subjects.

Acquisition Information

Includes 2002/116; former Series 1475, 1477; and former Lots 166, 514, 525, 528-530, 551, 562, 564-565, 603, 609, 1665, 2239, and 3302. Portions received from the state geologist without accession number, 1953. Series 1476 and Lots 524, 531, 536, and 563 were deaccessioned.

Box   1 Folder   1	Series: Budgets and estimates, 1914-1929
	Series: Outgoing correspondence, 1901-1910	⇧
	Weidman, Samuel
Box   2 Folder   1-2	1901, June-December 3, 1903
Box   3 Folder   1	1903, December 8-June 2, 1904
Box   4 Folder   1-2	1904, June 3-June, 1907
Box   5 Folder   1-2	1907, November-November, 1910
Box   3 Folder   2	Smith, L.S., 1904, January-April
Box   6	Series: Road reports of rural mail carriers, ca. 1910	⇧
	Series: Photographs	⇧
	Subseries: Summer fieldwork albums
Box   1 Folder   2-10	Photocopied album pages
PH Series 1474	Original nitrate negatives
	4×5 negatives
Box   6	#1-#800
Box   7	#801-#1700
Box   8	#1701-#2500
Box   9	#2501-#3300
Box   10	#3301-#4200
Box   11	#4201-#4826
Box   12 Folder   1	5×7 negatives (#3216-#3243, #3580-#3585, #3741-#3778)
Box   12 Folder   2	Damaged negatives (#1801-#1900)
	Subseries: Illustrations for research publications	⇧
	#6 Copper-bearing Rocks of Douglas County, by U.S. Grant, 1901
Box   1 Folder   1	Black River Falls
Box   1 Folder   2	Fond du Lac Mine
Box   1 Folder   4	Stratification/Lava
Box   1 Folder   6	Berlin Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   5	Black River Falls, Haleyon Brick & Tile Works
Box   1 Folder   7	Burlington Brick & Tile Co.
Box   1 Folder   9	Grand Rapids Pressed Brick Co.
Box   1 Folder   10	Green Bay, Wm. Finnegan Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   11	Hersey Superior China Clay Works
Box   1 Folder   12	Jefferson Brick & Tile Co.
Box   1 Folder   13	Menomonie, Red Pressed Brick Co.
Box   1 Folder   14	Milwaukee Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   15	Racine, Hilker Bros' North Point Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   16	Shawano Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   17	Sheboygan, Zimbol & Sons
Box   1 Folder   18	Stockbridge, Cook & Brown Lime Co.
Box   1 Folder   19	Tomahawk Brick Yard
Box   1 Folder   20	Unidentified brick yards
Box   1 Folder   21	Unidentified clay pits
	#8 Lakes of Southeastern Wisconsin by N. M. Fenneman, 1902
Box   1 Folder   22	Ada Lake
Box   1 Folder   23	Big Cedar Lake
Box   1 Folder   24	Beulah Lake
Box   1 Folder   25	Chain of Lakes, Waupaca
Box   1 Folder   26	Green Lake
Box   1 Folder   27	Lake Geneva
Box   1 Folder   28	Lake La Belle
Box   1 Folder   29	Lake Mendota
Box   1 Folder   30	Lake Monona
Box   1 Folder   31	Lauderdale Lake
Box   1 Folder   32	Mirror Lake
Box   1 Folder   33	Nagawicka
Box   2 Folder   1	Nashota lake
Box   2 Folder   2	Oconomowoc Lake
Box   2 Folder   3	Pine Lake
Box   2 Folder   4	Silver Lake
	Unidentified lakes
Box   2 Folder   5	By S.D. Littlefield, Delevan
Box   2 Folder   6	By Fenneman
Box   2 Folder   7	By D.G. Munger, Oconomowoc
	#10 Highway construction, by E.R. Buckley, 1903
Box   2 Folder   11	WGNHS equipment
Box   2 Folder   12	Appleton
Box   2 Folder   13	Baraboo
Box   2 Folder   14	Grand Rapids
Box   2 Folder   16	Madison
Box   2 Folder   17	Marinette
Box   2 Folder   18	Merrill
Box   2 Folder   19	Milwaukee
Box   2 Folder   20	Oshkosh
Box   2 Folder   21	Racine
Box   2 Folder   22	Sheboygan
Box   2 Folder   23	Unidentified locations
	Quarries
Box   2 Folder   24	Ablemans, Wisconsin Granite Co.
Box   2 Folder   25	Devils Lake, Western Granite Co.
Box   2 Folder   26	Ives, John O. Laughlin Stone Co.
Box   2 Folder   27	Menomonee Falls, Lannon Stone Co.
Box   2 Folder   28	Red Granite, Bannerman's Quarry
Box   2 Folder   29	Rib Hill, Wausau Sandpaper Co.
	#16 Geology of North Central Wisconsin, by Samuel Weidman, 1907
Box   2 Folder   30	Specimens (samples of photomicrographics)
	Topography and landforms
Box   3 Folder   1	Antigo
Box   3 Folder   2	Arnot Moraine
Box   3 Folder   3	Eau Claire River
Box   3 Folder   4	Miscellaneous views
Box   3 Folder   5	Neillsville area, Marshfield Moraine
Box   3 Folder   6	Wausau area
	#20 Water Power of Wisconsin, by L.S. Smith, 1908
Box   3 Folder   7	Bad River, Ashland County
Box   3 Folder   8	Baraboo Waterworks Dam
Box   3 Folder   9	Black River at Niellsville
Box   3 Folder   10	Centralia Pulp mill dam
Box   3 Folder   11	Chippewa Falls, Big Mill
Box   3 Folder   12	Eau Claire River, Dells Paper & Pulp Co. dam and mill
Box   3 Folder   13	Fox River, Kaukauna, Rapide Croche, and Cedar
Box   3 Folder   14	Glen Mill on Dancan Creek
Box   3 Folder   15	Janesville, Rock River
Box   3 Folder   16	Menominee River
Box   3 Folder   17	Park Falls, Lower dam and paper mill on Flambeau River
Box   3 Folder   18	Peshtigo River Falls
Box   3 Folder   19	Shawano dam on Wolf River
	Wisconsin River
Box   3 Folder   20	Rhinelander Paper Co.
Box   3 Folder   21	Site of Kilbourn Dam
Box   3 Folder   22	Stevens Point and Conants Falls
Box   3 Folder   23	Wisconsin Rapids
Box   3 Folder   24	Miscellaneous small dams, all taken 1907
Box   3 Folder   25	Unidentified dams and rapids
Box   3 Folder   26	#21 Fossils and stratigraphy of the Middle Devonic Period, by H.F. Cleland, 1911
	#23 Soil survey of northwestern Wisconsin, by Samuel Weidman, 1911
Box   3 Folder   27-28	Landscapes identified location
Box   3 Folder   29	Landscapes identified by legal description
Box   3 Folder   30	Soil sections
	Subseries: Illustrations of unknown purpose	⇧
Box   3 Folder   31	Baraboo rocks, Hand colored plates
Box   4 Folder   1	Collie, George, Identified photographs of rural central Wisconsin terrain. (Includes Baraboo, Beloit, Kaukauna, and La Crosse)
Box   4 Folder   2	Devils Lake rocks by Congyear and Hodge
Box   4 Folder   3-4	Ice Ramparts on Madison Lakes, 1900-1901, by E.R. Buckley and Charles Van Hise, for Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy
Box   4 Folder   5	Lake Mendota, 1899
Box   4 Folder   6	Lake Superior rock formations and islands by H.A. Wilkinson
Box   4 Folder   7	Landforms, Unidentified
	Mines
Box   4 Folder   8	Black Jack Mine, Galena
Box   4 Folder   9	Enterprise Mine, Platteville
Box   4 Folder   10	East Dubuque, Ilinois
Box   4 Folder   11	Kennedy Mine, Hazel Green
Box   4 Folder   12	Limestone quarries near Platteville
Box   4 Folder   13	Rowley Mine, Buncombe
Box   4 Folder   14	Unidentified mines
	Quarries
Box   4 Folder   15	Ashland, Babcock & Smith
Box   4 Folder   16	Ausberg, Marinette County
Box   4 Folder   17	Colfax, Chippewa Falls Construction Co.
Box   4 Folder   18	Hermann & Sons
Box   4 Folder   19	Lake Superior area, Pike's Quarry
Box   4 Folder   20	Milwaukee Monument Co.
Box   4 Folder   19	Stevens Point
Box   4 Folder   20	Story Bros.
Box   4 Folder   21	Waushara Quarry
Box   4 Folder   22	Wauwatosa, Marigold Quarry
Box   4 Folder   23	Williams & Lawson
Box   5 Folder   1	Unidentified quarries
Box   5 Folder   2	Sauk County deposits
Box   5 Folder   3	Stratigraphy of northwest area by Hotchkiss, 1913
Box   5 Folder   4	Tomahawk wood products factory, n.d.