The Wisconsin State Historical Society is preserving Badger State election history

MADISON, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – The Wisconsin Historical Society in Dane County preserves decades of history from big moments that happened in the Badger State. Over a century of election history has been preserved at the Historical Society in Dane County. Mackenzie Davis had the chance to look back at moments in time that made Wisconsin so historic when it comes to politics.

From historic candidate visits to license plates and even coffee cups, the Wisconsin Historical Society has been collecting election memorabilia that, they believe, dates back to Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Presidential Campaign.

Abbie Norderhaug is a State Archivist and the Director of Acquisitions at the Wisconsin Historical Society. She hopes that people can get a sense of what was and is going on in any election cycle through the memorabilia they've collected, "If you just look at that particular piece, you get a real sense of what was going on. I hope that when people look back at the material that we've collected from this election cycle, they can see themselves represented in the history. They can see that we have captured some things that speak to issues that apply to them or their parents or their family in 2024 as well as issues that they are still seeing in their lives that are happening in 20 or 30 years."

The most recent additions to the WHS Archives are from the Republican and Democratic National Conventions held in Milwaukee and Chicago this Summer. "So, we have a logo t-shirt from the convention. And then we have... this is a souvenir convention booklet."

Kathryn McGarr is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UW Madison. She says the 2024 race to the White House has already proved to be historic, "I think the fact that this was a day-by-day campaign where there's not one October surprise. There is just surprise after surprise where none of us can predict what is going to happen."

With all eyes on the battleground of Wisconsin, historians (are) even preserving Wisconsin's most iconic accessory and an old Wisconsin cocktail collected from a year that will go down in history books.

"...and a cheesehead that was worn by one of the delegates at the RNC. And then of course it wouldn't be a Wisconsin delegation without an 'old-fashioned' nod."