Title: Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Educational Society Records
Inclusive Dates: 1890-1947
Inclusive Dates: 1965

Creator:

• Mabel Tainter Literacy, Library and Educational Society (Menomonie, Wis.)

Call Number: Stout Mss H

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives and Area Research Center, Library Learning Center, University of Wisconsin-Stout; owned by the 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.

UW-Stout Library Learning Ctr. / Stout Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Society, a corporation which owns the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building in Menomonie, Wisconsin, which includes a library, auditorium, and meeting rooms. Records consist of correspondence, clippings, and reports of the librarian and the building and finance committees.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-stou000h

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The Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Educational Society was incorporated of residents of Menomonie, Wisconsin, June 11, 1890, with the purpose of supervising the Mabel Tainter Memorial Library and the Mabel Tainter Memorial Building in which it was housed. The building had been constructed by Andrew Tainter, a wealthy Menomonie lumberman, in memory of his daughter who had died in 1886 at age 19. The building was a gift to Menomonie and besides the library included amusement rooms, an auditorium, a gallery, and reading and study rooms. It was especially intended as a home for the Unitarian Society of Menomonie. Located in the heart of the city, it was elegantly furnished and decorated and was an architecturally significant landmark.

At the meeting of the incorporators of the Society, a statement from Mr. and Mrs. Tainter was read which charged them with “the delivery of lectures and debates, the practice in declamation and public speaking on literary, scientific, historical, social and moral topics, and for rational, liberal or Unitarian religious instruction, and musical concerts or dramatic presentations.” They intended the building and the library to foster open inquiry, enlightenment, and entertainment for all of Menomonie's citizens. The Society was incorporated to provide ownership of the building and management of it with these aims in mind.

The records of the Mabel Tainter Literary, Library and Educational Society date 1890-1947 and 1965. The majority of the collection is annual reports by the librarian and the building and finance committees, beginning in 1906. Especially evident is the growth of the financial responsibilities of the Society; by the 1930s they were supervising stock investments, mortgage loans, and land holdings. The librarians' reports reveal the expansion of service from just Menomonie to rural Dunn County as well. The materials for 1965 are clippings concerning the re-dedication of the Memorial. Ceremonies included a play about Andrew Tainter and the building of the Memorial, a gathering of Tainter descendants, and related dinners, dances, and other events.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Dunn County Historical Society, Menomonie, Wisconsin, 1971. Accession Number: M71-226

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann, August 31, 1971.

Box   1 Folder   1	1890-1920
Box   1 Folder   2	1921-1939
Box   1 Folder   3	1940-1947, 1965