Archives & Special Collections

Milwaukee Public Library’s Archives & Special Collections Department contains materials unique to Milwaukee’s history. These materials represent organizations, events, and individuals that reflect our community’s local history as well as our own institutional history. They take the form of correspondence, reports, meeting minutes, photographs/media, drawings/blueprints, artifacts and ephemera. Researchers of all ages use these materials to write books and articles, for school assignments, family history and genealogy, media/television documentaries, or for their own personal curiosity and edification. Finding aids for these collections are available online by using Archival Resources in Wisconsin to help researchers with what are in the collections and to identify what they want to see. The different collections are:

As we continue to process and digitize materials, finding aids will be added to Archival Resources in Wisconsin and digitized materials will be added to the Digital Collections. Please continue to check back for updates.

For researchers interested in Milwaukee’s Socialist history, please review our Socialist related collections list.

Please check out our Special Collections Instagram account for highlights of our collections.

The library’s collections contain historical content; therefore, some language, views, or ideas present may be out-of-date, offensive, or harmful. This may include content that is racist, sexist or bigoted. Discernment is left to the individual. For historic preservation, content is presented in an unedited format. Digitization and inclusion of resources in MPL’s collection is not an endorsement by the library or library staff of the values or views within a work. The library is committed to open and free access of materials. For more information please see the MPL Collection Management Plan and statement on Race and Social Equity.

Using the Collections

Archives & Special Collections are viewed by appointment only in the Frank P. Zeidler Room of the Central Library. All materials are requested and appointments are scheduled here. Same day access cannot be guaranteed. All research questions should be addressed via e-mail to mplarchives@milwaukee.gov and will be answered in the order received.