By the will of Hon. George B. Burrows of Madison, who died in 1909, his entire estate was bequeathed, subject to certain contingencies, to the State Historical Society. Through the death in October, 1916, of the testator’s only son and heir the estate at length comes to the Society. At the time of Mr. Burrows’ death in 1909 its appraised value was fixed at $219,000. It is the belief of those best informed in the premises that its present value is considerably in excess of that sum. The property will be available for the Society’s use when the usual court procedure shall have been gone through with.
By the death of Miss Genevieve Mills of Madison at the close of 1916 another important bequest to the Society became public knowledge. Miss Mills made a will by the terms of which the Society is ultimately to receive her half-interest in the old Mills homestead at
the corner of Monona Avenue and Wilson Street, Madison. The will states that the property is given “as a tribute to the loyalty of my mother Maria L. Mills and my father Simeon Mills toward the State and the State Historical Society they loved and helped to found.” The sum realized from the property is to constitute a perpetual fund, named in honor of the giver’s parents the “Maria L. and Simeon Mills Editorial Fund”; the proceeds of the fund thus established are to be devoted to the editing of materials for middle-western history, preferably that of Wisconsin itself. The present value of this wise gift is supposed to be in the neighborhood of $25,000. How soon it will become available to the Society is still uncertain.
The last few months have witnessed an unusually large number of changes in the staff of the Wisconsin Historical Library. In September, 1916, Mr. Frederick Merk, for five years research assistant on the Society’s staff, began an indefinite leave of absence, with a view to prosecuting his graduate studies at Harvard University, where he had received a teaching-fellowship appointment. In January Miss Lydia Brauer of the editorial staff was compelled by illness to relinquish her position. In February Miss Alice Whitney, assistant in the museum, withdrew to accept a much better position in the Emporia Normal School. The close of the fiscal year in June witnessed several resignations of long-time members of the staff. Miss Eleanore Lothrop, for several years the superintendent’s secretary, withdrew in order to accept a position in the East. Mr. Lyell Deaner of the newspaper division answered the call of his country by enlisting in the army. Others whose resignations went into effect in June were Miss Pauline Buell of the reference division, and Miss Ora Smith of the order department.
To fill these and other gaps in the ranks of the Library staff the following appointments have been made: In September, 1916, Miss Ruth Hayward, for several years cataloguer in the Cincinnati Public Library, became a member of our cataloguing staff. In February, Miss Genevieve Deming and Miss Ruth Roberts, recent graduates of the University of Wisconsin, began work as assistants in the order department and museum, respectively. Mr. Gaige Roberts of Madison filled the vacant position in the newspaper division. In July Miss Marguerite Jenison of Fond du Lac, a recent graduate of the state university, began work as assistant to the superintendent and calendarer of the Draper manuscripts. Mr. Theodore Blegen, teacher of history in the Riverside High School, Milwaukee, spent the summer months as research worker on the Society’s staff. Finally, Dr. John W. Oliver, of the Indiana State Library, began work in September on an appointment as research assistant.
The current year of the Society (October, 1916-October, 1917) has been one of unusual activity in the field of research and publication. In the nine months ending July 1, 1917 three substantial volumes and two bulletins were issued, in addition to certain minor items. The volumes were: Frontier Advance on the Upper Ohio (Collections of the Society, Vol. XXIII), edited by Louise P. Kellogg; An Economic History of Wisconsin During the Civil War Decade (Studies of the Society, Vol. I), by Frederick Merk, and the Proceedings of the Society for 1916. Each of these volumes will receive fuller notice elsewhere. The two bulletins were a List of Portraits and Paintings in the Wisconsin Historical Museum and a checklist of Periodicals and Newspapers currently received by the library.
A new publication feature, begun in February, 1917, is a monthly Checklist of Wisconsin Public Documents. Each issue, appearing about the tenth of the month, lists the documents of the state issued during the preceding month. Of this publication the Mississippi Valley Historical Review for June, 1917 says: “This is a unique undertaking for a state historical agency. The value to historians, librarians, and state officials, of such a series of bulletins makes it a welcome bibliographical addition.” It may be added that, so far as the Society’s administration is aware, the undertaking is unique not simply for a “state historical agency,” but for any agency whatever. The Library of Congress attempts to do for the entire country what the Wisconsin Checklist does for our state alone. Useful as the Library of Congress list is, however, it cannot possibly cover the various states with the promptness and comprehensiveness which attaches to our own list for Wisconsin. The credit for the conception of this publication enterprise of the Society and for its execution belongs to Mrs. Anna W. Evans, chief of the public-documents division of the library.
Of research enterprises under way but not yet completed, or if completed not yet issued from the press, the following may be noted. A valuable account, as it is believed, of the public-documents division of the library, prepared by Mrs. Evans, has been long in the hands of the state printer. Material for a succeeding volume of the Draper Series (to be published as Vol. XXIV of the Society’s Collections, with the title Frontier Retreat on the Upper Ohio, 1779-1781) should, with reasonable promptness on the state printer’s part, be distributed to our members about the time they receive this magazine. Copy for Volume XXV of the Collections was given to the printer in the spring, and in the usual order of things it may be expected to be ready for distribution near the close of 1917. It consists of the letters of Edwin Bottomley, a pioneer Racine County
farmer, written to his father in England in the years 1842-50. At the time of writing (July) the preparation for the printer of a second volume of the Draper Calendar Series, is approaching completion, and its publication may be expected to follow the usual interval of time required by the state printer. Dr. Edward Kremers of the University of Wisconsin has been engaged for many months in the editing of what will become the initial volume of the Society’s Hollister Pharmaceutical Series. More definite announcement concerning it may well be postponed for the present. It is believed, however, that the Society’s constituency may anticipate with pleasure the appearance of this initial volume of what will constitute a new and unique undertaking among American historical societies. Another, but minor, research enterprise under way is the preparation by Mr. Blegen of a comprehensive report on the Wisconsin archives situation—a subject, it may be noted, concerning which there is crying need of public enlightenment. To conclude this summary catalogue, in the Wisconsin Magazine of History the reader has before him the initial installment of the Society’s most recent publication enterprise.
A sum of money has been placed at the disposal of the National Board for Historical Service whereby it is enabled to announce a prize essay contest open to public school teachers in each of the several states of the Union on the subject “Why the United States is at War.” To teachers in the public high schools of Wisconsin five prizes ranging from $75 down to $10 are offered; for elementary public school teachers, three prizes ($75, $25, and $10) will be awarded. Essays must not exceed 3,000 words and must be in the hands of Waldo G. Leland, 1133 Woodward Building, Washington, D. C., not later than six o’clock P. M., November 15, 1917. The awards will be made by boards of Wisconsin judges appointed by the State Historical Society. The essays will not be signed and the committees of award will not be informed concerning the author’s names until after their decision shall have been rendered. In announcing the contest the National Board states that it is intended to lay stress, in making the awards, on intelligent use made of such materials as may be accessible to the competitor living in small communities with no large library at hand. It is to be hoped that a large number of Wisconsin teachers will enter this contest. Every participant in it will be a winner; this regardless of whether he gains one of the prizes awarded, since the intellectual and patriotic stimulus he will experience will in themselves more than repay the labor involved. For full particulars concerning the contest apply at your nearest normal school or college, or directly to the National Board for Historical Service, 1133 Woodward Bldg., Washington, D. C.