The collection consists of John P. Otis's photographs, slides, and compiled histories of
about 5,000 Wisconsin churches and a few synagogues. Most photographs are 3" x 3" color
exterior images of the buildings, housed in twenty albums. The photographs are indexed by
"history" cards, arranged alphabetically by locality, providing county, faith, album and
page number, the year the congregation was founded, date the current building was erected,
date a previous building was razed, a brief history, and notes.
An index of "sent" cards appears to be an earlier version of the "history" cards. A
sampling of the "sent" cards found that all the information was transcribed onto the
"history" cards.
Otis compiled the history of the churches through a standard form which requested the year
the church was founded, the first pastor, and denomination or sect. A number of the
respondents provided additional historical information. The forms are maintained in files,
arranged alphabetically by locality and/or county, which also contain histories of the
churches, and newsclippings. The "history" and "sent" cards note if a form or other
materials are in the files.
The collection includes Otis' correspondence (1968-1979) concerning the acquisition of
materials; the development of the project; miscellaneous faith and denomination histories;
newsclippings; solicitation of funds; and efforts to donate the collection.
Otis recorded his travel routes and the locations of many of the photographed churches on
seventy-two maps, which are arranged alphabetically by county.
The collection includes four boxes of negatives, in no apparent order, but the envelopes
provide the names of the enclosed churches.
Information on church locations by county, mailing lists, and miscellaneous notes are also
included in the collection.
The slide collection, includes interiors and exteriors of Wisconsin churches and
synagogues, as well as images of church grounds and the surrounding area, and festivals.
Also included are slides of St. Francis Seminary. A guide to the slide collection provides
identifying information.
A videocassette contains local news reports and a TV
Workshop (1991) featuring John Otis.
Box 21 contains additional materials not yet fully integrated into the collection.
