I did as you suggested, Ashley, and received the following response from Dr. George L. Vogt, Director, Wisconsin Historical Society: "Here's a quick review. The ARC in Ashland will remain open, and we are likely to base additional staff there to provide Society services to the northern states. There are no plans to close any other ARCs. The budget cuts that we are having to deal with are the result of the legislature and governor removing over $3 million from our budget for the biennium (permanently, for the most part). That's $1.6 M a year, and the JFC and Republican caucus just added another $250,000 to the tab. That comes from our $10M state appropriation, so you can see that we are being squeezed very hard, just like the other state agencies." I thought I would pass this along to the list. Linda ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ashley Tiwara" <grubisic@netwurx.net> To: <WIMILWAU-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2002 11:41 PM Subject: [WiMilwau] axe taken to Historical Society > >>To the list: > > I find it hypocritical and truely absurd that the supposed director > of the State Historical Society would be getting a doubling of his > salary to over $200,000 at a time when research by that society is > being truncated. Recent publications say Wisconsin has more effigy > mounds than anywhere in the world. We're supposed to be proud of > this. Is the governor, with the director's agreement, next going to > propose hiring someone from Illinois on a contract in order to > outsource the research? And entirely abandon the archaeology > department at the Historical Society? > Also, the northern tier counties are always being > shortchanged in the budget, yet this is economically the poorest > region in the state, with desperate people relying on tourism for > major dollars while doing without an interstate highway to support > such visitors. The branch of the Historical Society outside Ashland, > in the Northern Great Lakes Visitor's Center, I saw as a sign of hope > that the state would assist the north, and assist regional historians > and genalogists. People like us. The staff is outstanding in its > response via e-mail to assorted inquiries, including naturalization > papers, old printed records, general research on the north, and even > photos. > It will be axed if the blasted budget goes thru as proposed. > In case you feel also these absurdities cannot continue, > would you be willing to e-mail one or another of the following three > people? I wrote a very heavy handed letter to Vogt, calling him a > scoundrel and carpetbagger for participating in this destruction of > the Historical Society while accepting a salary increase, and so have > quoted below my more moderate letter to the associate director. If > you don't wish to compose something original, you have my permission > to cut and paste the letter to Thomasgard and readdress it to any of > them or all three. Some sort of hearings are being held on the 13th > so it is necessary to act quickly if you too object to this farce. > Address comments to: > Patricia Boge, President, Board of Curators, Wisconsin Historical Society > p.boge@lacrosse.lib.wi.us > > Dr. George L. Vogt, Director, Wisconsin Historical Society > glvogt@whs.wisc.edu > > Robert Thomasgard, Jr., Associate Director, Wisconsin Historical Society > rbthomasgard@whs.wisc.edu > > Thanks for your help, > Ashley > > > >>Robert Thomasgard, Jr., > >>Associate Director, Wisconsin Historical Society > > > > > >>What is going on in Madison? Why is there any possibliity that the > >>Historical Society would be threateded by the recent fatuous budget > >>proposals? I'm very troubled by what I've read about the > >>proposed buget for the Historical Society especially and for other > >>state agencies. The Historical Society is one of Wisconsin's > >>treasures and is an agency known to researchers all over the world. > >> My family originates in northern Wisconsin. Will the axe > >>fall on the Area Research Center at the Northern Great Lakes > >>Visitor's Center? This would be a catastrophe for the people of > >>the Lake Superior area. This also would be a tragedy for the many > >>people in southern WI and in other states who have been helped by > >>the staff there thru e-mail to have access to numerous otherwise > >>not available public and private papers, naturalization records, > >>and photos. > >> Please act quickly and responsibly to prevent the despoiling > >>of Wisconsin's resources and protect the Wisconsin Historical > >>Society, especially its most vulnerable, northern office. > >> > >>Regards, > >>Ashley Tiwara > >>-- > summarized from the Capitol Times, March 12, 2002, > Historical Society overhaul? > > Proposal to close the Area Research Center at the Northern Great > Lakes Visitor Center in Ashland. > Revise and reduce burial sites and underwater archaeology > programs, retain staff for regional assistance program. Replace the > public history division with a business development and marketing > section, and put the official state historian in charge of it. > The staff's anger about proposed changes has been exacerbated > by a proposal that Vogt receive a large salary increase one and a > half to twice the current $114,450. > >> > > > > > >-- > > > > > -- > > > ==== WIMILWAU Mailing List ==== > For subscribe/unsubscribe and other general list information, please see > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~sewis/wimilwau.htm > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >