The Monroe County Local History Room and Monroe County Historical Society have jointly received a Mini-Grant for $700 from the Wisconsin Historical Society. This year’s affiliate Mini-Grant Program focused on collection management and care. The Local History Room will use the award money to pay for archival boxes in which to house the forty-plus military uniforms in its collection. The military uniform collection spans the Spanish American War of 1898 to the Gulf War. The aging uniforms need special, acid-free archival boxes to better ensure long-term preservation.

Because the Mini-Grant is a matching grant, county veteran groups were invited to partner with the Local History Room in preserving the military uniforms. To date, four veteran groups have donated $400 total: Sparta VFW Post #2112, Wilton American Legion Post ##508, Tomah VFW Post #1382, and Cashton VFW Post #8584.

$300 is still needed to match the Mini-Grant. Anyone interested in preserving Monroe County veteran history is invited to contribute to the project by contacting Jarrod Roll, LHR Director, at 372-8680.

The Mini-Grant Program is made possible due to the generosity of a donor to the Wisconsin Historical Society who has an interest in supporting local historical societies, schools, and cooperative efforts between these groups.