Gerald Brooks Cruise Album Scrapbook-Monroe County

Gerald Brooks Cruise Album Scrapbook
Monroe County Local History Room & Museum
200 West Main Street
Sparta, WI 54656
Phone: (608) 269-8680
E-mail: mclhr@centurytel.net
Website: http://monroecountyhistory.org/MCHS.php
Jarrod M. Roll, Director - County Historian

Gerald "Jerry" Brooks--a longtime Sparta resident--(pictured on right, with unknown soldier, 1942) was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with the Navy from 1942 to 1945.While there, he created this cruise album scrapbook, collecting material related to his tour of duty. It includes photographs, postcards, letters, matchbook covers, patches, original drawings, and assorted keepsakes. This scrapbook highlights the experiences of a Sparta local during wartime; it draws on both items he collected and materials he created himself to tell the story of his time in Cuba during the war.

Scrapbook 2: Postcards and beer label close-up

The Monroe County Local History Room’s purpose is to tell the story of Monroe County and its people, as experienced yesterday and today. MCLHR is dedicated to documenting Monroe County life in all periods through collecting artifacts, documents, photographs, and genealogical resources. MCLHR shares its collections with the public through the Monroe County Museum and the Research Library.

Scrapbook 3: Tickets, stamps, and receipts

Images courtesy of Monroe County Local History Room & Museum, Sparta, Wisconsin

Entry compiled by: Emil Hoelter

MCHS: Exterior of Monroe County Local History Room

Welcome to the 2009 Archives Month Blog!

Beginning October 1st, the UW-Madison student chapter of the Society of American Archivists is pleased to continue the Archives Month Blog that first ran for one month during October 2008. For our returning fans, welcome back! For our new visitors, welcome to the 2nd annual Wisconsin Archives Month Blog!

This year we celebrate "Scrapbook Wisconsin," the Wisconsin Archives Month theme sponsored by the Wisconsin Historical Records Advisory Board and Wisconsin Historical Society. For each weekday in October we will showcase hidden gems and unknown treasures that exist in scrapbooks within the holdings of participating historical societies across the state. Our posts will display images of scrapbook contents, provide information about the creators and events surrounding the showcased items, and identify the repository where the items are held.
Our goals for this year's blog are to 1) support the Wisconsin Archives Month theme of "Scrapbook Wisconsin," 2) celebrate some of the rare or hidden primary resource materials that dot our state's archival landscape, 3) rely on local expertise to identify such materials, and in doing so, 4) reveal interesting, significant, noteworthy, and unique records of under-represented communities or groups important to Wisconsin's history.

We look forward to enriching your knowledge about Wisconsin archival treasures and repositories, whether you are a practicing archivist, student, researcher, local historian, or interested citizen. Thanks for visiting!

Images Courtesy of Dr. Ciaran Trace and the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Seated, left to right: Nichole Chisholm, Erin Dix, and Emily Johnson.
Standing, left to right: Duane Rodel, Emily Christopherson, Tara Genske, Sloan Komissarov, Carla Alvarez, Meredith Lowe, Emil Hoelter, Kara Blue, and Peter Shrake.