FEATURED GALLERY | Highlights from over three million photographs, negatives, cartoons, lithographs and posters in our holdings

Victory for Proxmire!, Photograph by George P. Koshollek, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. WHS Image ID 30142

From 1957 to 1988, Democratic Senator William Proxmire represented Wisconsin in Congress. Widely regarded as a political maverick, Proxmire was known for his devotion to curbing governmental waste and mismanagement, issuing a monthly Golden Fleece Award for that month's most "wasteful, ridiculous or ironic use of the taxpayers' money." He chaired the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee, and served as subcommittee Chairman on the Senate Appropriations Committee. From 1967 to 1986, Proxmire also gave daily speeches on the Senate floor in support of the international genocide treaty, finally ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1988. Proxmire's 32-year career is the subject of this featured gallery.

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BROWSE THE COLLECTIONS | A selection of the more than 30,000 digitized visual materials in our online image database

WHS Produces Digital Reproductions

The WHS Images Digital Lab produces quality giclée print reproductions made from high resolution scans of original source material from our holdings. Custom orders are printed on matte or semigloss papers using large format printers and archival pigmented inks.

Additionally, our lab will produce custom digital file reproductions for commercial publishers in traditional print, editorial and advertising as well as for new media projects like websites, CD-ROMs and podcasts. All sale proceeds directly benefit the acquisition, preservation and maintenance of the physical and online collections.

Contact business manager Lisa Marine by email at lisa.marine@wisconsinhstory.org for details.

Politics and Elections

The WHS preserves a detailed record of American politics. Photographs and documents capture protests, candidates seeking votes, major political issues, and average citizens exercising their right to vote. Collections from the State Archives and historical records of groups and individuals document political parties and the ideas of politicians and political movements. Library materials contain books and articles about the American political experience.

Gerhard Gesell Photographs

German photographer Gerhard Gesell (1845-1906) began his career in Reads Landing, Minnesota, but in 1876 moved across the Mississippi River to Alma, Wisconsin, where he remained until his death. Gesell earned a reputation for his fine portraits of his fellow townspeople and other images of daily life in this community along the Mississippi River.

Place File: Alma

Over the last two years, WHS has been scanning and cataloging its collection of images of Wisconsin places. Consisting of over 10,000 items, the collection highlights main street views, prominent buildings in each community, local monuments and other features of interest. Each month our newsletter features a selection of images from a Wisconsin place. This month's featured city is Alma, Wisconsin.

DISCOVER THE VISUAL MATERIALS COLLECTIONS

Currently less than 2% of our total visual materials collections are available online, but we continue to add hundreds of new images to our online image database each month. The Archives online catalog (ArCat) provides access to information about thousands of collections containing photographs and other images. Need help with your search? Drop us a line and we'll be happy to help you find the image you're looking for!

The WHS Images Update is a monthly email newsletter that features gallery exhibits drawn from the Wisconsin Historical Society's visual materials archives as well as highlighting collections in our online image database. To join our mailing list, see our newsletter sign up page. You may unsubscribe from our email updates at any time by clicking here.

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Available online | www.wisconsinhistory.org/whi/