UW Library's digital photo collection impressive
January 12, 2009 | General News
The University of Wisconsin library has diligently collected the history of the college in a digital collection that includes manuscripts, papers, books and over 1,500 images. This impressive collection is available for your review on-line. You may browse The University of Wisconsin Collection here . General college and athletic specific photos are being added monthly.
The collection draws from a broad range of resources such as the On Wisconsin Magazine, the Badger Yearbooks, the history of the University of Wisconsin, the very impressive William J. Meuer Photoart Collections, and a number of written and photographic histories of other disciplines such as chemistry, limnology, engineering, the University Archives and Hoofers Club.
The digital images include many never-before-seen photographs of the campus and university life. The sessionid=01-58377-1073188306&termsrch=%28%28sh%3D+%28Athletics%29%29%29+and+%28is%3D+%28University+of+Wisconsin+archive+images%29%29&next=html/nfbrief.html&bad=error/badsearch.html&entitytoprecno=1&entitycurrecno=1&entitytempjds=TRUE&dbgroup=UW&numrecs=12&fmtclass=gallery"> --> athletics images scan the years from the late 1800s to today.
There are 430 athletics-related photos to peruse that highlight some of the greatest Badgers and sporting moments in Wisconsin history. In the future, all of the football team photos dating back to the early days will be available. There are also many more athletic photos than those displayed online, so if someone is looking for something specific that doesn't appear in the collection, please contact the library directly at uwarchiv@library.wisc.edu.
The William J. Meuer Photoart Collection is an outstanding visual history of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its surrounding community. The collection was compiled by a local photographer, William J. Meuer who with his brother, Roman, opened the Meuer Photoart House on State Street in 1916. This collection includes photographs dating from 1888 to 1935. The albums were essentially catalogs, with the prints affixed to both sides of heavy duty paper. Patrons could browse them, order copies, etc. They mostly cover the University, but have some town photos too.
The library put together a special collection on the life of former Badger and 1954 Heisman Trophy winner Alan Ameche . The five-page collection includes playing photographs and details his life from his birth in Italy in 1933, to his introduction as a freshman who didn't even start for his first JV game. The fast read talks about his college and professional athletic career, and his business career which preceeded his death in 1988.
There are also a number of great photos of Camp Randall Stadium through the years including a close up of the bleacher collapse in 1915. Other facilities photos include the UW Field House and a number of other athletic department and campus venues.
The collection has an impressive gathering of text and images related to the history of women on campus and specifically women's athletics. Information gleaned from the records from the Women's Athletic Association helps paint an accurate picture of the historical presence of women in sports dating back to the late 1800s. There is even a photo of the 1897 women's basketball team.
The photos in the collection may be ordered from the University of Wisconsin library by submitting a digital request . Together with the UWBadgers.com historical photo gallery , an impressive visual record of past years is available for review.
