The records of the Wisconsin Civil War Battle Flags are divided into two series: Records and Photographs.
Records (1866-2003) document the major effort in the mid-1980s through the 1990s to conserve the Civil War battle flag collection of the Wisconsin Veterans Museum (W.V.M.). The subseries documents different aspects of that effort: conservation, fundraising, and publicity. The conservation subseries contains records relating to several conservationists who consulted or worked with the W.V.M. on its flags. The Welter Studio did the majority of the conservation work during this time period and their condition reports, which list problems with the unconserved flags as well as proposed treatments, are included along with bills and notification of shipping and receiving the flags. Correspondence files consist largely of received letters that inquire about the state of flags, give advice about the conservation of flags, or ask for recommendations in conserving flags. Extended correspondence with Wisconsin flag expert H. Michael Madaus includes his assessment of the W.V.M. flag collection, and some letters from the MacArthur Foundation pertain to their unsuccessful attempt to obtain the flag of the 24th Wisconsin, that Arthur MacArthur carried when he earned the Medal of Honor, on loan from the W.V.M. A considerable amount of material relates to the flag of the 1st Tennessee, found in the W.V.M. collection. Correspondence and newspaper clippings relate to the effort of the State of Tennessee and several Confederate fraternal organizations to have the flag returned to Tennessee. Finally, the flag was loaned to Tennessee in 1998, while the W.V.M. retained ownership. Conservation sketches of Wisconsin flags show the size of lettering and describe the colors and materials used in the flags. Other papers provide information about two Wisconsin flags once kept at the tomb of Ulysses S. Grant, the Civil War flags of other states, proposed conservation treatments and storage systems considered by the W.V.M., and papers from a symposium on flag conservation.
The fundraising subseries consists largely of correspondence. It reveals that the W.V.M. pushed very hard to obtain funding for the conservation of the flags. They appealed to fraternal organizations, local business, communities, and other groups who might have an interest or connection to a particular flag with some success. Financial records also reveal that the Wisconsin legislature voted to match conservation funding up to $20,000. Magazine and newspaper articles can be found in the publicity subseries, which includes materials relating to the W.V.M. collection as well as flags in general. Local and state newspapers gave moderate coverage to the unveiling of flags and subsequent conservation in the 1980s and 1990s.
Photographs (1977-2003) contain photographs, both pre- and post-conservation, of many of the Civil War battle flags in the Wisconsin Veterans Museum collection. Because so many of the flags are so similar, they are organized by regiment and there under by the museum accession number. The 'Before Conservation' subseries has pictures of the flags as they were unfurled, showing significant wear and damage. Many flags have holes and tears, and the painted symbols show fading and damage. Most of the photographs were taken at the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in Madison, though some are from a conservator's shop. The 'Post Conservation' shots are professionally done, in color, and include contact prints of the conserved flags as well as many enlarged copies of the contact prints. These shots make very clear the work done on the flags repairing the holes, tears, fading, and other damage. There are also negatives for almost all of the post conservation photographs and some of the before conservation photographs. Publicity photographs document several ceremonies regarding the flags, including the unveiling, the dedication of several flags at which Wisconsin Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus spoke, and the dedication of the 1st Tennessee flag. Also included are several battle flag prints that have been scanned into the Wisconsin Veterans Museum Civil War database.
