Mission Statement
For centuries Americans have been informed by print. All people in America's multicultural and multi-class society have used or been influenced by print, sometimes for common purposes, sometimes for different purposes. In recent years scholars from a variety of academic disciplines who are interested in studying this phenomenon have begun to refer to it as "print culture history."
The history of print culture in the United States since 1876 has not received the attention it deserves. The scholarly work produced is fragmented by discipline and geography. Madison's combination of academic strengths and library resources (e.g. the Cairns and Little Magazines collections at Special Collections, Memorial Library; the extensive periodical and newspaper collections at the State Historical Society Library present a unique opportunity to forge the new scholarship the field needs.
The Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America in Madison, Wisconsin, attempts to fill this gap. Its objective is to help determine the historical sociology of print in modern America in all its culturally diverse manifestations. As a joint program of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, established in 1992, it is designed to:
- encourage the interdisciplinary study of print culture history on campus and serve as an interdisciplinary focus for research on print culture by scholars of modern America throughout the country from such diverse fields as literature, journalism, publishing, education, reading and library history, economics, sociology, the history of science, and political science and gender and ethnic studies;
- facilitate research into the valuable print culture research collections owned by both library systems which focus on newspapers, periodicals, advertising, printed ephemeral materials, and books (including school and college texts, children's literature, trade and scholarly monographs, and mass market paperbacks)
- stimulate research in the print culture collections of groups whose gender, race, occupation, ethnicity and sexual preference (among other factors) have historically placed them on the periphery of power but who used print sources as one of the few means of expression available to them;
- function as a clearinghouse for information on print culture research and scholars concerned with the history of modern America;
- work with the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress and with various state centers for the book on joint programs, exhibits, colloquia, symposia, and publications;
- raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, and lecture series to assist the study of modern American collection reflecting the history of print culture;
- aid in the development of an international perspective on print culture in modern America, including the reception of American publishing abroad, and foreign publishing in the United States, both in English and other languages.
- the Center sponsors a monthly colloquium series, an annual lecture, and a biennial conference on themes related to print culture history since 1876.