*Updated*

After months of hard work by library staff and the assistance of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center, the Menasha Local History Collection is available! Here you will find books highlighting the early history of the city, a selection of yearbooks from Menasha High School and a wonderful selection of photographs which show people and places from Menasha's past.

The Library owns three pamphlet collections dedicated to local history: 1) Menasha, 2) the Fox River Valley, and, 3) Wisconsin. The contents of these files include newspaper clippings, maps, city of Menasha, photographs, brochures and the like. A card index in the Reference Department provides a quick cross-reference of names of people and businesses, special events and services, etc., to the appropriate files. Ask the Reference Desk for help in using this index. Materials from these files may be photocopied at 10 cents/page.

Also, patrons can access a Menasha Newspaper Index online. This newspaper index covers the years, 2003-2006, from the Post-Crescent and the News-Record. Copies of the articles are not available online, but are available at the Library.

Historical Photos of the Neenah-Menasha area are also housed in the Local History section of Reference. Over 700 photographs are available for checkout. This collection is currently being digitized for web browsing, photoduplicating and -editing. Patrons will hopefully be able to download images to a CD, email them, or, print them off at Reference for a fee.

Near the Reference Desk patrons will find older telephone books and city directories for Neenah/Menasha and Winnebago counties. We also house yearbooks for St. Mary Central High School and Menasha High School.

Lastly, the Library has several drawers of maps. Topographical, demographic, aerial and standard maps can be viewed on tables in the Reference area. Please ask staff for assistance.

Researching your family tree? As part of the Winnefox Library System the Library has an online subscription to Heritage Quest. HQ is the largest genealogical data provider in the United States and is designed specifically for patrons in public libraries who are either just beginning their family research or who after years of work are still uncovering their past. With over 20,000 books currently available, the entire U.S. Federal Census, PERSI^TM, Freedman's Bank Records, Revolutionary War Pension Records, and other expanding collections, HQ Online gives any library the opportunity to tap into one of the largest collections of genealogy material in the country.

If you have any questions about using the Local History files, please call 967-3690, or email the Reference Department and we will try and answer your request as soon as possible.