New digital projects from East Troy and Mineral Point

Two Recollection Wisconsin contributors — East Troy Lions Public Library and Mineral Point Public Library — recently completed their first projects to digitize local historical resources. Both projects were made possible through Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds awarded to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

The Mineral Point Archives, part of the Mineral Point Public Library, brings online more than 250 photographs depicting this historic southwest Wisconsin settlement’s early residences. By making these images available online, the Library hopes to provide local residents with source materials for undertaking historically accurate restorations of their own homes. Read more about this project here.

The East Troy Lions Public Library worked with several community partners to create their digital collection, which documents the history of the East Troy Electric Railroad. The East Troy Viewfinders Camera Club photographed fare boxes, uniforms, ticket stubs and other artifacts from the collections of the East Troy Electric Railroad museum. Issues of Rail and Wire, a newsletter for employees of the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, were loaned by the Milwaukee Transit Archives and Museum for scanning by the library. The East Troy Area Historical Society will help publicize the project with a public reception this spring. Read more about this project here.

Both collections are hosted by the Milwaukee Public Library. They can be discovered alongside more than 200,000 other historical resources from libraries, archives, historical societies and museums across the state at recollectionwisconsin.org.