History

A rich research database for school and public libraries. It contains informative abstracts and searchable full text for 2,448 popular nonfiction books. The database includes high interest titles on careers, health, ethnicity, disabilities, technology, biographies, music, science, history, civics and more.

This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1880-1910 and find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present. Chronicling America is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

Digital library of local history. Contains text and images, as well as links to other local history
resources. (managed by APL and the Outagamie County Historical Society)

HeritageQuest Online™ combines digital, searchable images of U.S.federal census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content. This online database is an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical and historical researchers, with coverage dating back to the late 1700s. Researchers can use HeritageQuest Online to find their ancestors, trace their paths across America, and learn what life was like in the areas where they settled.

HeritageQuest Online includes all of the images, and extensive
indexing, from the 1790 - 1930 U.S. federal censuses. It offers more
than 20,000 book titles, including nearly 8,000 family histories and
over 12,000 local histories. Additionally, there are more than 250
primary-source documents such as tax lists, city directories, probate records, and more.

Many other distinctive and invaluable sources of information can be found within HeritageQuest Online.
These include Periodical Source Index (PERSI), a widely recognized
resource guide, updated annually, that covers more than 6,300 genealogy and history periodicals written in English and French (Canada) since 1800. There are other valuable collections such as the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application Files, which identifies more than 80,000 American military, naval, and marine officers and enlisted men. The forthcoming Freedman’s Bank Records is a database that documents more than 70,000 bank depositors and their dependants and heirs. The Freedman’s Bank Records
is considered one of the most important resources for African-American
genealogical research. All of these resources are fully searchable
through HeritageQuest Online’s easy-to-use Web interface.

Take a look at Wisconsin DPI's YouTube channel for a video on using HeritageQuest to find Census Records.

Designed for high school and college teachers and students of U.S. history survey courses, this site serves as a gateway to web resources and offers unique teaching materials, first-person primary documents, and guides to analyzing historical evidence.

We emphasize materials that focus on the lives of ordinary Americans and actively involve students in analyzing and interpreting evidence. We welcome your participation in expanding and improving the site.

For a guide to over 2600 sites on the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, visit ECHO Science and Technology Virtual Center.

The InfoSoup Memory Project is an online effort to provide access to the wealth of historical resources available in OWLSnet member libraries. The InfoSoup Memory Project is still in its early stages and will continue to grow.

Designed specifically for public libraries, this multidisciplinary database provides full text for nearly 1,750 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975.
Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes nearly 500 full text reference books, full text from 86,017 biographies, 105,786 full text primary source documents, and an Image Collection of 341,655 photos, maps and flags. This database is updated daily via EBSCOhost.

Tens of millions of searchable newspaper pages, dating as far back as the 1700s. A gateway to searching and reading historical newspapers online.  Dates of coverage for Appleton newspapers includes 1853 – 1863, 1920-1932, 1937-1940, and 1958-1976.

Name index to four plat books for Outagamie County: Platbook of Outagamie County, WI (1889), Platbook of Outagamie, WI (ca. 1910) Standard Atlas of Outagamie County (1917) and Atlas of Outagamie County (1942). The originals are shelved in the Wisconsin Collection at the Appleton Public Library. This index is a work in progress.

(Formerly known as "Wisconsin Heritage Online")
An expanding digital collection featuring documentary sources and material culture from Wisconsin libraries, archives, and museums. The collections in this exhibition project are contributed by cultural heritage organizations throughout Wisconsin.

An easy-to-use search screen for secondary students to find information in the following BadgerLink funded database found within EBSCO: Health Source - Consumer Edition, MAS Ultra - School Edition, Middle Search Plus, Newspaper Source Plus, History Reference Center, Book Collection Nonfiction: High School Edition, and Science Reference Center.

Selected local history resources, including four historical Outagamie County plat maps, five city directories from the late 1800s, two historic building surveys and two compilations of early pioneer biographies. There are also two historical overviews, one from Appleton's 75th Anniversary celebration in 1932, and one marking the 100 year period of 1857 - 1957. Click here for a partial index of the plat maps.