Wisconsin's Attic

A well-worn 32-star U.S. flag.  It became official July 4, 1858
when Minnesota became a state.  It sits in one of thousands of
drawers in the new state archive.
4/6/2019     dwm photo

Moves aren't much fun.  There is all that packing.  And the unpacking. And then you have to find places to put everything.

Imagine it on a much, much bigger scale.  The state archive is moving into its cutting edge State Archive and Preservation Facility.

From flags to taxidermy to clothing to boats and a fishing shanty - it is moving out of the basement of the Historical Society headquarters and other spots where it was kept - into the new place on Madison isthmus.  Delivered a truckload at a time for 15 months.

Our tour guide said the move is 90% complete.

Thousands of books related to state
and North American history are on
file and available for researchers.
5/6/2019 dwm photo

As a member of the state Historical Society, I received an email inviting us to a spot on a tour over the weekend.  It filled fast and we were fortunate to secure two places.

After a short video, our group of 24 began a trek around the very large building.  It is a far cry from the basement of the headquarters - which was never designed to be a permanent storage facility.

We saw where paintings are kept - hung on large, movable fence-like walls.  The walls slide on tracks to maximize space.

The next room held treasures on audio and video tape plus thousands of film canisters.  It is kept at 40 degrees to best preserve the collection.  There is a transition room where items going in or coming out adjust to room or storage temperatures over 24 hours.

A restoration expert shows the workshop where damaged
antiquities are faithfully restored. 4/6/19 (dwm)

While this high-tech "attic" holds items important to the people of Wisconsin, it also has a large number of objects that are part of our country's history.

The building also stores items for the State Veterans Museum

Notably, there is a special area of the Archive and Preservation Facility dedicated to Native American history.  There are 12 distinct American Indian nations in the state - more than any state east of the Mississippi River.

The building is designed so important spiritual objects can be handled according to tribal tradition.  There is special ventilation in a room where sage grass may be burned and an outdoor area laid out for tribal ceremonies.  Many items in the archive will be repatriated.

This chair belonged to renowned
naturalist John Muir.  It is slowly
having decades of paint removed to
reach the original paint. 4/6/19 (dwm)

We saw parts of all four levels in the 190,000 square-foot facility.

There was a really large room which a Big Boy statue shared with a small camper trailer painted in Packer gold with a team logo on either side.

Next to the camper was a fishing boat.  Farther back were two large and very old barrels that used to brew beer.

Up front was an old sled and the Society's 1969 Oscar Mayer Weinermobile (below left).

The hot dog on wheels is considered an educational exhibit, so we were welcome to take pictures with it and poke our head inside.

The attic is receiving the last of half a million artifacts as the move wraps up.  A small percentage of them go on display in the State Museum or to support exhibits at one of the society's Historic Sites.

Folk history includes Chad and his
Polka Rhythms.  4/6/19 (dwm)

There are 200,000 books.  Forget the Dewey Decimal System - each book, shelf, and bookcase is cataloged with bar codes so they can be quickly retrieved if a researcher asks to borrow one.

Also of interest to historians will be 55,000 archival boxes with records and transcripts of state government and our 44 individual governors.

It is an impressive building that very few will ever visit.

A 1969 Weinermobile - a reminder
of the since departed Oscar Mayer
factory and its most famous product.
4/6/2019  dwm photo

That's because it is a storage facility not open to the public.  If a person requests a book or document, it will be sent to the Veterans or State Museum for pick-up.  Which is a reason special guests for the tour enjoyed valet parking since there are only a handful of parking spaces.

The move began last April.  Unlike my moves, people having been working all this time.  There isn't much down-sizing going on, but thanks to those bar codes, they can store things by size to get the most out of every inch.

Our history informs our future - it is worth the investment.

This is the first of two large investments, by the way, as a newer, larger, and modern State Museum is planned to replace the old one on Madison's Capitol Square.