This file is a combination of overlapping runs of proclamations received from the Governor's office (former Series 66, 68, 69) and the Secretary of State (former Series 328) which were consolidated in 1995 in order to make as complete a run as possible; thereafter duplicate files from the Governor's office were not retained by the Archives. Only a few loose proclamations of the pre-1866 period are included. The majority of these are clerk's copies without the official seal from the Governor's file. Missing proclamations dating from this early period in state history, however, may be found in Series 329, the Executive Record, and Series 135, the Executive Journal.

Also included is a file of special proclamations that memorialized Presidents, Wisconsin governors, and other constitutional officers who died during the period 1881-1908. Files on Matthew Carpenter, Lucius Fairchild, and C.C. Washburn contain correspondence on funeral arrangements and the Carpenter file includes correspondence on the purchase of an official portrait.