Popular photographs now online

Portions of the Wisconsin Historical Society’s photographic images, which range from mid-19th century daguerreotypes to early 21st century digital files, are now available on the Web.

Before the Internet, only a small segment of the public, such as scholars, children’s book authors and historical magazine editors, knew about and purchased prints from the visual materials collection.

The online collection includes a broad range of images — from Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, to early pioneers and early forms of transportation. The collection also includes a number of quirky views of Wisconsin. Visitors to the Wisconsin Historical Images Web site, http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/whi/, can see a few hundred of the most popular images, read descriptions of each one, and download an order form to buy a print suitable for framing. Profits from these sales support the collection.