The downtown Madison Public Library has the Wisconsin State Journal (1852 to date), The Capital Times (1917 to date), New York Times (1936 to date) and a few business newspapers on microfilm. The microfilm reader/printers are on the Second Floor in the Fiction Room along with the last 20 years of microfilm. If you need previous years, fill out a form and ask the librarian to send it down to the closed Lower Stacks area to have older years of microfilm brought upstairs. Cost to print a page is 10 cents by feeding dimes into the machines.

The Madison Public Library has also been clipping the local newspapers for many years and filing them by subject in the Local Materials file cabinets (across from city directories). Due to a shortage of space in the subject file cabinets some folders have been transferred to Lower Stacks. If folders on a specific subject start with a number higher than #1 ask to have the previous folders brought up from storage in Lower Stacks. In addition to general subjects, there are three special categories: Biographies (articles on people arranged alphabetically by last name, also check the files at the beginning of the letter, not everyone gets a separate file!), Architecture - Madison (articles on buildings arranged alphabetically by street name) and Madison/Dane Co. Companies (articles on businesses arranged alphabetically by name, also check card file on top of file cabinets for other info on businesses).

Newspapers at WHS

Newspapers may also be found at the Wisconsin Historical Society library. Go to the second floor and ask for the Microforms room. Straight ahead of the door you will see the card catalog for newspapers. These are arranged by state and city within Wisconsin. Pull the drawer for Madison, WI. Madison has several newspapers, but some are better for obituaries than others. Our primary sources are the Madison Democrat, Madisonian, Capital Times or the WI State Journal.

Newspapers are filmed for a range of dates, followed by a Positive reel number, and a Negative reel number. You need to note the Positive reel number for each person's date. The gray tall filing units contain newspapers from around the state. Each aisle of filing units has a range of numbers to help you locate them, and each drawer has a smaller group range.

City Directory

Sometimes you want to know where a business was located, what years it operated, when it incorporated, what it's telephone number was, and who its president was. All of these questions can be answered about businesses, as well as general information on individuals, in the city directories.

The downtown Madison Public Library has all the Madison City Directories that have been published from 1868 to date in one location in the Local Materials Collection on the first floor. (They were not published every year until after 1950.) Directories through 1967 are also available in the 7th floor stacks at the WI Historical Society library, rear room, turn right. Additional WHS directories are on microfilm. Use the MadCat computer catalog, search under Madison City Directory and print out a copy of the list which will give call numbers for the individual dates. They can only be used on site.

Books and Magazine Articles on Madison/Wisconsin Subjects

The Madison Public Library has several card file drawers at the Reference Desk. Ask to see them: Madison Study - index to the contents of books about Madison and Wisconsin Magazines Index - index to the articles in magazines about Madison and Wisconsin. 2 drawers for articles prior to 1986 and 1 drawer for 1986 to date (see also Box 60 of the Custer Local History Research Files).

You can also check the 9th-11th floor stacks for books specializing on any state in the country at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Many of these have sections by county.

The Frank Custer Local History Research Files

The Wisconsin Historical Society's fourth floor Archives Division has the Frank Custer Local History Research Files. These "files" consist of 52 boxes of 3x5 cards, plus 1 box each of 4x6 and 5x8 cards, onto which Frank Custer pasted local newspaper clippings or typed information about people, places or events in Madison and surrounding communities.

Ask for: Call Number M2001-157, Shelf Location MAD 4/23/M5-7
Boxes 9-56 are Madison subjects A-Z (see also boxes 62 & 63)
Boxes 57-59 are Madison street names A-Z with info on houses on the street and origin of street names
Box 60 is an index to articles in Madison magazines
Box 61 is non-Madison subjects (people, places & events) A-Z
Box 62 is 4x6 Madison subject cards A-Z
Box 63 is 5x8 Madison subject cards A-Z

Locating a date of death

- The city cemetery office, 1 Speedway Road, 266-4720. Forest Hill Cemetery's office is open between 7:30 and 3:30 weekdays. About 70% of their records have been computerized. The remaining records require using the computer to look up the permit number and then pulling the paper form if it survives. A volunteer is working to enter the remaining permits in the computer as time allows.

- The County Register of Deeds' office, Room 110, City-County Bldg., 210 M.L. King Jr. Blvd. Office hours are 7:45 to 4:15 weekdays. You'll need to register the first time at the Birth-Marriage-Death desk and ask for their orientation.

- Microfiche of statewide records. Some of these are available in the WI State Historical Society library's Microforms room. Pre-1907 records contain information for about 25% of all incidents before this time as that's when our registration law took effect. Not until 1959 is information indexed again at this location.

- Social Security Death Index. The easiest source, besides owning your own cd, is the LDS library on Regent Street. It is also available online.

- City library Link Catalog for dates after 1959. The Madison Public Library has indexed the obituaries found in the Wisconsin State Journal since January 1960. To search for a name use their LinkCat computer catalog and choose Local Magazines and Newspapers, then Wisconsin Newspapers, then Wisconsin State Journal, then choose Subject Headings and type in the person's last name, first name. You can also look for specific events or business names. This search is also possible from the UW computer system.

- Cemetery inventory. These have been compiled by members of the WI State Genealogical Society and are in the WI Historical Society microforms room. Pages from the WSGS newsletter have been copied into a 3-ring binder on top of the census record cabinets from the 1800's.

- Statewide death records are available from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, Department of Health and Family Services, One West Wilson Street. Genealogical searches have been deemed a lower priority service, so you cannot get same-day service. A 6-week wait is usually imposed. It is possible to register for a 2- or 3-hour research period of time, but the waiting list is 3-4 months long.