We need YOU to help make our collections more searchable and discoverable. 

The Wisconsin Historical Society has collected and shared stories for more than 170 years. Many of these stories are handwritten personal diaries and correspondence that document the everyday lives of Wisconsin women, politicians, farmers, Civil War soldiers, scientists, and more. In later years, records of individuals were also typewritten in government records, documenting immigrants, soldiers, and professionals.

Discovering these stories can be difficult and this is how you can help!

The Society has launched the Wisconsin Scribes project. This project provides an opportunity for anyone to read and transcribe the stories of our collective past and, along the way, learn more about the history of Wisconsin. All of the transcriptions will be imported back into our digital collections to provide full text searching, helping future historians, genealogists and students to discover these resources and tell new stories about our past.

Help us transcribe these collections:

• Vel Phillips Papers, 1951-2009: The personal and professional papers of Milwaukee’s Vel Phillips, whose work as a lawyer, city alder, civil rights leader, judge, and Secretary of State profoundly influenced Wisconsin’s civil rights history throughout the latter half of the 20th century.

• Wisconsin Citizen Petitions, 1836-1891: This collection comprises citizen petitions written to the legislatures of the Wisconsin Territory and later the State of Wisconsin, from 1836 to 1891. At the time, petitions were the only direct means for citizens to communicate with the government. From requesting dams, roads, and money to build schoolhouses, to recording views on slavery, suffrage, and statehood, these petitions reveal what settlers wished to achieve for their communities, and the ways in which they hoped to connect Wisconsin to the expanding commerce and intellectual life of the United States.

• Wisconsin Women’s History: Papers of prominent Wisconsin suffrage movement leaders Carrie Chapman Catt, Clara Colby and Mathilde Franziska Anneke.

Are you ready to help?

• Visit https://fromthepage.com/wiscribes
• Read the about and help pages for each of the collections available to be transcribed.
• Create a free login and return to the collection.
• You can browse the works to find one of interest or click the "Pages that Need Transcription" button on the right.
• Type what you see – keep it simple.
• Have fun and thanks for helping us share these stories!