National History Day 2009 Theme: The Individual in History

Welcome to the National History Day resource page brought to you by the La Crosse Public Library and UW-La Crosse Murphy Library. We developed this guide to introduce students and teachers to local topics for use in the 2009 National History Day competition. This list is not exhaustive but gives the reader an idea of local topics and basic resources for a subject.

Generally, materials held in the special collections or archives area of either library do NOT check-out; the items must be used at those libraries.

This year’s theme is The Individual in History. For a complete description of the theme, visit:http://nhd.org/images/uploads/library/IndividualinHistory397019_ThemePage09_R2.pdf.

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River has undergone dramatic changes that have significantly impacted the wildlife population, from the Corps of U. S. Army Engineers and various channel depth projects (six-foot, nine-foot) and the lock and dam system, to private and public efforts to fill and dredge parts of the bottomland. The Izaak Walton League strongly opposed the proposed lock and dam system, saying it would ruin the natural beauty and economic resources (fishing, hunting, trapping, logging, etc.) of the Winneshiek Bottoms area of the Mississippi. The League agreed on a compromise with Congress to preserve the most valuable part of the river by location of the lock and dams. Today efforts continue to build islands, wing dams and control drawing down the water level in targeted pools to help slow sediment and encourage plant growth for resident and migratory waterfowl.

Secondary Resources

• Mississippi River navigation (locks & dams) and effect on industry, commerce and/or the environment
  • Gateways to Commerce: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 9-Foot Channel Project on the Upper Mississippi Steamboats

    Find it at: La Crosse Public Library 386.3 OB6G 1992, and the Reference and Archives areas also have a copy which stay in the main library.

• The Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River at Trempealeau, WI / Jeffrey Kollath
• Exploring the History of the Mississippi River from the Wisconsin Historical Society
• Memoirs of La Crosse County-Waterways, Highways, and Railroads (1907)

Primary Resources

• Art Work of St. Croix and Mississippi Valley from Stillwater, Minn., to La Crosse, Wis. (1899)
• Art Work of Valley of the Mississippi from La Crosse, Wisconsin to Keokuk, Iowa (1899)
• Bridge over the Mississippi River at La Crosse : Letter from the Secretary of War Transmitting a Report Locating a Bridge Across the Mississippi River at La Crosse, Wisconsin (1872)
• To Congress from the Upper Mississippi River Improvement Association (1904)
• First person Wisconsin [sound recording] : Mississippi River memories (2006)
  A compilation of first person accounts of their experiences on and with the Mississippi River; a part of the UWL Oral History Program where the original tapes and transcripts are held.

  Find it at: UW-L Murphy Library has one copy in Special Collections F587.L14 F512 and Find it at: La Crosse Public Library Archives 977.5 F5196M 2006

• Flood Plain Information on Mississippi River and Tributaries in Vicinity of La Crosse, Wisconsin (1970)
• Great Lakes Maritime History Project
• Habits and the Habitats of Fishes in the Upper Mississippi River (1985)
• Joseph N. Nicollet Maps. September 28-November 14, 1839 - from Fort Snelling (Minneapolis-St. Paul, in southeastern Minnesota) to the mouth of the Des Moines River (near present Keokuk, southeastern Iowa) (1839)
• Joseph N. Nicollet Maps. September 28-November 14, 1839 from Fort Snelling (Minneapolis-St. Paul, in southeastern Minnesota) to the mouth of the Des Moines River (near present Keokuk, southeastern Iowa); map charting the lower reaches of the La Crosse River east of the town of La Crosse. (1839)
• Limnological Observations in the Upper Mississippi (1921)
• Newspaper articles related to La Crosse floods (1880-2001)
• A Satellite-Based Assessment of the 2001 La Crosse Flood (2004)
• Souvenir Views of the Upper Mississippi (1904)
• Survey of La Crosse Harbor, Wisconsin (1897)

Also Check out other sources at: La Crosse History Unbound

While local sources are noted for each topic, remember to use some other online sources and catalogs such as:

Library of Congress’ American Memory

Wisconsin Historical Society:

• Turning Points
• Archives’ catalog for material belonging to the Wisconsin Historical Society and its affiliated Area Research Centers
• Portal to Various WHS online resources