Joseph Semkiu, PhD Candidate, University of Southern California

“This 2025 grant supported my visit to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Library and Archives on UW-Madison’s campus. Scouring the Agnes Moorehead papers at the Center for Film and Theater Research at the University of Wisconsin Madison Libraries afforded me the opportunity to explore the actress’s press scrapbooks as well as her numerous radio scripts. In a late interview, Moorehead stated that she loved radio work for its ability to probe the dark, psychological aspects of characters. Moorehead made space for marginalized and othered protagonists, allowing for understanding femininity in the 1940s as multilayered and multiple. During my stay I also was able to see the 1941 mural in Radio Hall, which capped off my trip! After my visit, I’ve come to know Moorehead even better. As I work to complete my dissertation, the time spent in Madison will enrich my project.”

Dr. Catherine M. Jackson, University of Oxford

“It is my pleasure to thank the Friends of UW Madison Libraries for the award of a grant to support my research in the history of late-nineteenth-century chemistry. Their generosity made it possible for me to spend the month of August 2024 researching and writing in Memorial Library and in Special Collections. My time in Madison was invaluable to the development of this project and this research is already reaching audiences beyond Madison, and beyond the history of science.”

“During my stay, I was ably and generously supported by staff in UW—Madison Libraries and Archives, including the late Curator of Special Collections, Dr Robin Rider, who passed away unexpectedly during my fellowship. Going forward, it will be a mark of my respect for Robin, as well as my gratitude to the Friends, to bring to wider attention the world class holdings that she curated and collected with such care and expertise. I know that she will be greatly missed by all of us.”

Eliana Chavkin, PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota

My research focuses on World War I memorials all across the country and often highlights how in the 1920s and 1930s, a “memorial” came to mean far more than just a statue or a plaque. For Wisconsin, a memorial meant honoring those who had died fighting against Germany even as it celebrated the contributions German Americans had made to Wisconsin. With funding from the Friends of UW-Madison Libraries, I was able to explore how two such contradictory stories could exist in a single place without apparent conflict. I spent most of my time at UW in the University Archives, where the massive collected papers of Porter Butts, longtime director of the Union, are stored.

As I worked through his papers and correspondence, I learned how Porter Butts and the Memorial Union stepped past the vicious anti-German sentiments that had swept the campus during the war years to create a space that would be welcoming for everyone. Such stories are at the heart of my research about the First World War and the way it was commemorated. Thus the time I had at UW-Madison to explore Memorial Union, with the support of the Friends of the Library, was absolutely invaluable.

Dr. Briana Bivens, Rutgers University

“My book project draws on archival and oral history methods to examine the history of child and youth programs at the Highlander Research and Education Center, a movement school in Tennessee founded in 1932. For every child- and youth-focused program I was seeking in the archive, I was astonished to find agendas, participant lists, and reports that elucidate who was involved and what activities the program entailed. In 2024 and 2025, I will begin organizing oral history interviews with the program participants and facilitators I can locate. I am immensely grateful for the support of the Friends of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries, and I look forward to keeping them informed about my project developments.”

Dr. Pete Millwood, University of Melbourne, Australia

“As with all the best archival visits, some of the most useful materials I found in the WI Historical Society’s archives were not those I was immediately looking for. During my visit, I found valuable materials for a further project I am developing on the transnational origins of Taiwan’s democratisation.”

“I am sincerely grateful to the support from the Friends of UW-Madison Libraries. Not only did their generous funding make possible my long trip from Australia, but the staff and board members of the Friends gave me a very warm welcome after my arrival in Wisconsin’s December cold. It was truly a pleasure to get to know a little of the vibrant history of Wisconsin, of the University of Madison, and of the community connected to the Historical Society.”

Jonathan Victor Baldoza, PhD Candidate, Princeton University

“I’m extremely grateful to the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries for supporting my weeklong research trip in September 2023. I spent most hours consulting materials in different collections across campus, chiefly in the stacks of the Memorial Library and the reading rooms of the Special Collections and the Wisconsin Historical Society. I’m indebted to the UW-Madison Librarian for Southeast Asian/Hmong Studies for directing me to resources that were unfamiliar to me, and for advising on several matters related to library and bibliographic work. I was also assisted by faculty, colleagues, and students of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. All of this points to the enviable strength of UW-Madison as a research and teaching location for the study of Southeast Asia.”

David Johnson, PhD Candidate, Johns Hopkins University

“The material gathered during my two weeks in the Reinsch papers held in the Wisconsin Historical Society has given me the foundation I need to construct a detailed historical account of how U.S. international theory shaped U.S. foreign policy in the era of World War I. Thanks to this grant, I plan to present a draft of the chapter at the International Studies Association’s (ISA) Northeast Regional conference in Providence, Rhode Island this November.”

Dr. Chris Barrett, Louisiana State University

“Thanks to the Friends of the University of Wisconsin—Madison, I was able to spend two weeks in the Special Collections of the library, undertaking research necessary for my second book project. During my time in Special Collections, I reviewed more than 40 discrete items. Some of these I had expected to examine, and some I did not. But beyond all this, the richest resource for me in Special Collections took the form of the staff. Whatever is best and strongest in the manuscript portions to emerge from this stint in Special Collections will certainly reflect their suggestions, recommendations, and thoughtful work in connecting me with volumes, manuscripts, and in one case, a scroll, that pushed back the horizons of this project and opened up whole new areas for exploration.”

Dr. Siddharth Chandra, Professor and Director, Asian Studies Center, Michigan State University

“A significant amount of important material came to light only upon my visit to the library. While browsing the stacks in the vicinity of the call numbers for which I had identified materials of interest when planning my visit, I discovered a mother lode of data and documentation on the demography of Indonesia in the 1960s and 1970s. To collect as much material as I could, I spent almost all of my waking time the entire week in the Memorial Library. Thank you for your kind hospitality and for making the visit possible — as I hope my ongoing and future research will demonstrate, the visit was extremely productive.”

Dr. Donatello Aramini, Rome University, Italy

“In addition to the rich book heritage, once I arrived in Madison I learned of the existence of the rich and incredibly useful Fry Collection of Italian History and Culture in the Department of Special Collections. Within it I found fascist documents and books that are very difficult to find even in Italy. Some of these, moreover, were totally unknown to me and, in several cases, are very useful on crucial aspects such as the nationalist doctrine, the interpretations of Italy’s entry into the war, the declinations of the religion of the nation in the Fascist era, or the education policy of fascism.”

Dr. Amy Rutenberg, Iowa State University

“I want to say thank you for keeping these funds available through the entire COVID period. I applied for this grant way back in 2019, and I cannot overemphasize how important to me it was that they were still available – for a last minute trip, no less – 2.5 years later. The trip was amazing. Being back in the archives rejuvenated my interest in a project that I had barely started when COVID hit. So the time was a mental boost. I have already presented two conference papers (2023 annual conferences of the Society for Military History and Organization of American Historians) based on my findings from your collections and connected via phone and videoconference with some of the people mentioned in the records. Although my book is still a long way off, a first article from the research is also underway.”

Dr. Hanna Chuchvaha, University of Calgary, Canada

“My research trip to the Libraries of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from August 2 through August 13, 2023 was an absolute success. I was impressed by the collections and by the fact that they are open for research not only to the academic community of the University of Wisconsin but also to the external scholars. The libraries own many unique items and bibliographic rarities which are preserved in excellent condition. My work in the libraries was centered on the Memorial Library, Special Collections, the Kohler Art Library and I ordered some items from the Verona Shelving Facility. I also visited the Wisconsin Historical Society. I was able to find some absolutely unique sources which were both included into my initial bibliography and which were found on site.”

Dr. Benjamin Serby, Adelphi University

“Summer of 2023 I visited the Wisconsin Historical Society, spending six full days in the archives reading room. The principal reason for my visit was to conduct exploratory research for an article tracing the activities of antiwar and antinuclear organizers in the shadow of the atomic bomb from the 1960s through the 1980s. By my calculations, I examined materials spanning fifteen different collections, including more than fifty boxes in total and one digitized audio recording. Obviously, this was a tremendously productive visit. What I found in the archives will provide a tremendous boost as I formulate my thinking about both an article and a second book project.”

Dr. Nicole Sackley, University of Richmond

“I am still sorting through, and taking notes on, the over 2,000 (!) images that I captured during my 2022 visit. However, I am beginning to make some important discoveries. One of my favorite discoveries involves the US Peace Corps, whose promotion of cooperatives in Latin America has been largely left out of Peace Corps history. My research uncovered The Pine Log, a bi-monthly newsletter for Peace Corps volunteers to exchange stories and their experiences with cooperative projects around the world. The WHS has what are likely the only surviving copies of this publication.”

Dr. Wayne Arnold, University of Kitakyushu, Japan

“In September 2022, I spent two weeks working through the Kenneth Fearing, Margery Latimer, and Carl Rokosi-related materials held at the Memorial Library. Access to these unique materials has been essential to moving forward with the project intended to provide fresh perspectives on Fearing. The financial support of the Friends of UW-Madison Libraries allowed me to travel from Japan, conduct this crucial research, and enjoy the lovely fall weather of Madison.”