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- We're touring the State Archive Preservation Facility in Madison
to learn about historical conservation.
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I started my archive adventure
by chatting with Christian Overland,
the Wisconsin Historical Society Director and CEO.
- Overland: Well, the State Archive Preservation Facility
is actually where
all Wisconsin's historic treasure is housed.
I think of it, actually,
as the nerve center of everything that we do.
We have everything from film to 3D objects.
We have archives.
We have library materials here, too.
- Are there just items from Wisconsin that are stored here
or from other places as well?
- What's fascinating about the Wisconsin Historical Society,
we're the only state historical society in the union
that's charged to collect North American history,
as well as Wisconsin history.
So, we can tell the story of Wisconsin
in the context of the United States.
- That's amazing.
Approximately-- and I know this may be hard to give an exact number--
but approximately how many items are you all storing
in this space currently?
- In this space, you're thinking about archival materials,
libraries, and 3D artifacts, and film.
We're in the couple of hundreds of millions.
- Wow. - It's a huge collection.
It's an extraordinary space.
- An extraordinary space filled with extraordinary relics
from the past.
Estella Chung, Chief Curator, showed me just a few
of the awe-inspiring artifacts stored here.
- Estella Chung: With our first stop, we're really looking at something
that evokes the sky and the air.
And this ultralight is from Operation Migration
and it helped establish the Whooping Crane
more firmly in North America.
- Oh, wow.
- And if you can imagine a pilot wearing a bird costume.
So, we're really happy to have it in the collection.
- From Wisconsin's natural history,
Estella brought me back on land
to check out Tesla's Dynamo,
a shawl Abraham Lincoln wore
while traveling to his inauguration,
and a rich collection of historical periodicals.
- Estella Chung: Here is a anti-slavery publication
called "The Emancipator."
And if you look at this date here, it dates to 1836.
So many interesting things in here.
- Then, we dove into the world of entertainment.
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- And from "Happy Days," there was one episode
where Fonz was accidentally enlisted.
So, we have the Fonzarelli jacket from the US Army.
Also have in the collection,
celebrities that are from the state.
And Chris Farley is from Wisconsin.
And we have this really fun prop from the film
"Beverly Hills Ninja."
Pardon me as I open this up [laughing] so you can see it.
But really, really fun.
- Angela: Learn something new. - You always learn something new
when you research in our archives.
- Thank you so much for your time today.
- Oh, it was a pleasure just to share
some of the highlights that we have in the collection.
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