Chippewa Local History Room

We're trying, bit by bit, to ready the Chippewa Falls Local History room here at the library. The idea is to make the collection easier to access. As it stands now, those wishing to use certain parts of the Chippewa Falls collection have to use a key to get into locked cases. Our idea is to have the materials moved into a secure room that will allow users a bit more freedom within. We hope to have the room done by the end of February.

In that room we plan to keep the centennial cigar box, shown above. It was found by a Mr. Lee Gisvold of Norway, Iowa at a recent auction. The date marked on it is "1937," commemorating the 100 years since the Ojibwe tribe signed the Treaty of 1837 (Pine Treaty),in which they agreed to cede their tribal lands to the United States but retain fishing rights.

Mr. Gisvold thought enough of our community to purchase it and send it to us unsolicited, and we thank him and his family. We have placed it in the locked case in the lobby.

The National Jukebox

The Library of Congress has, for a long time, made digital files of historical recordings available. Up until now, it has been largely hit or miss. Well, we information geeks can now relax. It was pointed out to me today that the Library of Congress has organized its best recordings into a searchable database that it calls National Jukebox.

Some of the thousands of recordings here are downloadable, many aren't. All are available as streaming audio, however, and the wealth of sound here is great for educators and music aficionados alike. The recordings are all from 1929 and earlier, by the way, so don't expect the Beatles.

Take a look!

Just in case you're wondering: Library of Congress Recording: 'On Wisconsin!'