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.
