Skip to main content

La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Schools, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Schools

 Record Group
Identifier: La Crosse Series 027

Scope and Contents

Common Council resolutions and reports began to be organized by a numbering system in Dec. 1932. Before that time the resolutions were kept folded up in chronological order, roughly by subject or Council committee (such as Parks, Judiciary, Fire, Police, etc.). This set of pre-1932 resolutions represents those labeled as Schools, and date from 1866-1932. While most of the documents are resolutions created by the Committee on Schools, a number of resolutions have communications from the Board of Education attached.

The original order of these reports was not maintained. In arranging this series, the resolutions were grouped alphabetically together by the building or site name; therein, chronologically.

Resolutions dealing with schools in general (usually multiple schools) were filed chronologically in a General series, along with some historical information on the schools in La Crosse, including some information on buildings rented by the Board of Education for use in school purposes. North Side and South Side schools were separated into their appropriate series. All of the old school buildings from the North and South sides are well represented, except for the branch schools which often were one to four room wooden buildings. Resolutions about the branch schools were usually filed with the main building, unless the branch later became a “regular” school building (such as the case with Logan Branch School that became the site of Roosevelt Elementary School). Resolutions dealing with more than one school were photocopied and filed under each school name.

The final series, Special Topics, includes resolutions about Industrial Education, the Normal School (later called State Teachers College, and finally University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), School for the Deaf, Teacher’s Salaries, and Vocational School (later Coleman School, Western Wisconsin Technical Institute, and now called Western Wisconsin Technical College). The Vocational School program began in the high schools and the first vocational school not associated with the public school system was located at the former First Ward School site at Vine & 6th streets.

Dates

  • 1866-1932

Creator

Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

Historical Note

A file of materials labeled "History" created by the processing archivist will help researchers navigate to the correct school that they may be interested in. Please refer to the related materials section for a suggested list of sources for a more complete history of public schools in La Crosse.

Extent

2 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Resolutions and reports from the Committee on Schools to the Common Council, 1866-1932. The materials are arranged in four series: General Resolutions, North Side Schools, South Side Schools, and Special Topics.

Resolutions dealing with schools in general (usually multiple schools) were filed chronologically in a General series, along with some historical information on the schools in La Crosse, including buildings that were rented for school purposes. North Side and South Side schools were separated into their appropriate series, North Side Schools and South Side Schools. All of the old school buildings from the North and South sides are well represented, except for the branch schools which often were one to four room wooden buildings.

The final series, Special Topics, includes resolutions about Industrial Education, the Normal School (later called State Teachers College, and finally University of Wisconsin-La Crosse), School for the Deaf, Teacher’s Salaries, and Vocational School (originally associated with the high schools; later independent from the city public school system and called Coleman Institute, then known as Western Wisconsin Technical Institute, and finally named Western Wisconsin Technical College).

Acquisitions Information

(Accession no. 1996.004) Resolutions were located in the City Clerk’s basement area of City Hall; came to the Archives as part of the Mayor’s Special Committee on Historic Records, Dec. 1996

Related Materials

The La Crosse area clipping file at the La Crosse Public Library Archives has newspaper clippings related to the Board of Education and La Crosse city schools; also a number of annual reports from the Superintendent of Schools to the Board can be found in the public library archives’ annual report file. The 1906 and 1908 annual reports included a nice table of each school site, its date of purchase, legal description, and additions.

To gain a complete picture of the history of any city department, check all of the related Common Council and other city record series that might be applicable (such as Finance for instance). Records of the La Crosse School District are available at the Area Research Center (Special Collections Dept., Murphy Library) at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. These include minutes of the Board of Education.

Physical Description

5 archives boxes

OCLC Number

46313428

Processing Information

Processed by Anita Taylor Doering with assistance from Jaime Dechant and Carrie Ann Seib, October 1998

Title
Guide to the La Crosse, Wisconsin, Committee on Schools, Resolutions and Reports Relating to Schools, 1866-1932
Status
Completed
Author
Anita Taylor Doering, Jamie Dechant, Carrie Ann Seib
Date
1998 October
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the La Crosse Public Library Archives Repository

Contact:
800 Main St.
La Crosse Wisconsin 54601
(608) 789-7136