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.”