From: "Seymour, Janet I - WHS" <Janet.Seymour@wisconsinhistory.org> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:40:33 -0600 Subject: List Serve - Intro to Lake States Railway Historical Associaton Message-ID: <488E289A5C909049B0E55F6B651B5B35F90D47BC19@MEWMAD0PC01G02.accounts.wistate.us>
List Serve members,
Here is information about a newer history group in Wisconsin, who asked tha
t we share this over the list serve.
Janet Seymour
Field Services Representative - Northern Region
Wisconsin Historical Society
Review past messages at: http://listserve.uwec.edu/localhistory/
I wish to introduce you to Lake States Railway Historical Association (LSRH
A), a not-for-profit, educational organization. We were incorporated in Wi
sconsin in 2006 and received our tax-exempt letter qualifying us as a 501(c
)(3) corporation in 2007. The primary goal of LSRHA is to establish a larg
e, recognized center for railway history featuring a renowned archive and r
esearch facility for the history of railroads serving the upper Great Lakes
area with special focus on the growth time period from 1880 - 1916.
In the first two years of our existence, we established our archive in Bara
boo and supplied it with office furniture, computers and archival software,
video equipment, file cabinets, and storage shelving. Also during this pe
riod we succeeded in acquiring several large collections for our archive an
d expanded our sustaining endowment to over $50,000. The added collections
to date include some privately held collections, the extensive personal co
llections of several of our founding members, the donated Copper Country co
llection from the Kevin Musser estate, all the business records of the uppe
r Wisconsin short line railroad Brillion and Forest Junction Railroad, some
of the business records of the Copper Range Railroad, and a large collecti
on of rolling stock drawings of the Chicago and North Western Railway and i
ts acquired railroads from 1870s to the 1950s. All of these railroads play
ed significant roles in the commercial development of the upper Great Lakes
states.
Our immediate goals include bringing our database cataloging up to date, ob
taining funding for archival storage media and a consultant for proper arch
ival methodologies, and planning for a symposium on railway history in Wisc
onsin to be held later in 2009 or 2010. Goals beyond 2010 include increasi
ng our sustaining endowment, enlarging our storage and retrieval capacity,
expanding our public access and educational outreach capabilities, and incr
easing the acquisition of pertinent private collections and corporate archi
ves. We eventually plan to grow with paid staff and professionally trained
personnel from income obtained from research services and reproductions of
our collection items and from additional grant funding.
Our support presently comes from board members and volunteers who are dedic
ated to our cause but we are presently seeking grants to help fund some of
our growth. More information about Lake States Railway Historical Associat
ion may be obtained by contacting us.
Regards,
Byron Long, Development Director, ex gratis
Richard Goddard, President
Don Ginter, Vice President
Lake States Railway Historical Assoc., Inc.
319 Water Street, Suite 800
Baraboo, WI 53913
608-356-5555
www.lsrha.org<http://www.lsrha.org>