History Resources
Highlights
New York Times Historical is an invaluable resource for National History Day students and other historical researchers who need primary sources. It includes PDF images of all articles published between 1851-2001.
(This resource is paid for by the City of La Crosse. It can be used in the library by anyone, or at home by city residents who have library cards.)
Resources at La Crosse Public Library
Funded by the city of La Crosse and available for home use to its residents
American National Biography American National Biography offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation.
Historic Map Works Explore American history with over 100,000 high-quality, digital maps including over 1,000 atlases and 70,000 individual maps for Wisconsin.
New York Times Historical Includes all the articles from the New York Times beginning in 1851 and continuing through 2007, in PDF files that reproduce the article exactly as it appeared in the original newspaper. Requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing.
Reader's Guide Retrospective Indexes popular magazine titles from 1890-1982. The library has a limited selection of these titles in paper and on microfilm or fiche. Ask at the Reference Desk to see if we own what you're looking for. (At-home use for City of La Crosse residents w/library card/PIN.)
Learning Express Library You'll find practice tests and study tips for CLEP and AP history exams, history sections for Praxis II exams and the social studies portion of the GED. User instructions for logging in and using Learning Express Library are available.
Funded by the State of Wisconsin and available to all Wisconsin residents
History Reference Center Full-text from reference and nonfiction books, encyclopedias and history periodicals. Brief biographical articles, photos, maps and video.
Military & Government Collection Photos and primary source documents like speeches, letters and obituaries for prominent military, political and government figures.
Newspaper Archive Tens of millions of newspaper pages from all over the world, back to the 1700s.
Student Research Center Search for primary sources, photos, documents. You can also search within a particular historical topic using the Search by Topic menu.
Older newspapers and periodicals
The library has a limited selection of older magazines and newspapers that are in print or on microfilm or fiche. Ask at the Reference Desk for specific titles and for help in finding articles. Use Readers Guide Retrospective to find articles.
Wisconsin and La Crosse Topics
- For La Crosse-area topics, start with our local history specialists in the Archives Department on the 2nd floor.
- La Crosse-area newspapers from La Crosse, Onalaska, Holmen, Bangor and West Salem on microfilm/fiche. Ask for help at the Archives desk on the 2nd floor.
- La Crosse History Unbound Digitized maps, journals, photos, city directories, articles and more.
- Maps and Atlases of La Crosse County, Wisconsin and the Upper Mississippi River Images of maps from the La Crosse Public Library, Murphy Library at the University of WIsconsin-La Crosse and the Wisconsin Historical Society.
- For Wisconsin topics, try the Wisconsin File in the Reference area on the 2nd floor.
Resources outside the Library
American History Websites List of websites with primary source content, compiled by University of Wisconsin--Stout University librarians.
American Memory at the Library of Congress. American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience.
Time Magazine An archive of Time magazine articles and covers from 1923 to the present.
Wisconsin Historical Society Research Portal Links to numerous online resources relating to Wisconsin history. Includes many primary resources such as oral histories, photos, maps and documents.
Updated 1/11 by Rochelle Hartman
