Contact: Kara O’Keeffe
608-261-9596
kara.okeeffe@wisconsinhistory.org

Green Bay, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society is pleased to present the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center (UWGB-ARC) with the 2018 Governor’s Archives Award for Archival Innovation. An award presentation will be held on October 24 at 4:00 pm at the David A. Cofrin Library, Room 705, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus.

“The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center is receiving this award for expanding the audiences served at the UW-Green Bay Archives and Area Research Center, specifically, broadening the use and study of archival collections across the undergraduate curriculum,” said Matt Blessing, State Archivist for the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Along with the formal award presentation, the program will include brief remarks by UW-Green Bay Provost Greg Davis and faculty members, Alison Staudinger and Caroline Boswell.

The UWGB-ARC demonstrated how it has effectively expanded experiential learning across the undergraduate curriculum, moving beyond established partnerships with humanities disciplines to reach new and diverse audiences.  Demonstrating campus leadership, the archivist at the UWGB-ARC has effectively built flexible instructional programs involving disciplines within the social sciences, first-year seminars, public policy, nutrition, education, and human development.

Expanding archival learning opportunities across the university curriculum required careful planning, engagement, and significant collaborations by the UW-Green Bay Archives. For example, in a freshmen level course entitled Everybody Dies!, students were introduced to coroner’s reports, condolence letters, and diaries of the terminally ill.  For a course on prison voices, the archivist identified prisoner case files, warden records, and prison inspection reports.  Collections of cartoons were used by political science students to curate a gallery exhibit. These innovative research experiences required extensive use of the Wisconsin Area Research Center Network transfer system, including the transfer of state government records from Madison to the UWGB-ARC.

UW-Green Bay archivist, Deb Anderson, noted “It is an honor to receive the “2018 Governor’s Award for Archival Innovation. We value the opportunities we have to connect university students to the stories of the past through archival records. It is truly gratifying to witness students and faculty embracing historical materials in original and pioneering ways.”

The Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board (WHRAB) and the Wisconsin Historical Society award the Governor’s Archives Award to individuals, programs or organizations that have made significant contributions to preserving or increasing the availability of original historical documents in any format.

For more information visit wisconsinhistory.org.

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