Local History Collection

Our collection includes city directories from Wauwatosa and Milwaukee.

Wauwatosa City Directories:

Wright City Directories: 1926-1983 (various years)
Polk City Directories: 1984-1994 (missing 1990)

Milwaukee City Directories:

Wright City Directories: 1927-1982 (various years)
Polk City Directories: 1983-present
Bresser’s: 1988-2006

Our collection consists of paper and microfilm copies of local newspapers, with primary emphasis on Wauwatosa’s local newspaper.

Available in print:

• Wauwatosa News Times:January 1966-December 1994
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: last six months

Available on microfilm:

• Wauwatosa News: March 18, 1899 through April 1, 1948.
• Wauwatosa Times: August 29, 1940 through October 24, 1947.
• Wauwatosa News-Times: April 8, 1948 through March 30, 2007.
• Wauwatosa Now: April 5, 2007 through August 24, 2017.
• West Now: August 30, 2017 through December 26, 2018.
• Milwaukee Journal: January 1979 through April 1995.
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: April 1995 through December 2008.

Available online:

• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Historical and Current: Research Milwaukee history through the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Historical and Current Collection with coverage from 1884 through today. Find full-text articles and content only published online. Available remotely 24/7 on any device.
• Wauwatosa News: March 1900 through December 1922 thanks to the Library of Congress and their Chronicling America project.
• Wauwatosa NOW: Search full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and more from archived issues of Wauwatosa Now (August 2009-August 2017). This resource is available remotely 24/7 on any device.
• West NOW: Search full-text articles of West Now, including Wauwatosa news, issues, events, people and more from current and archived issues of West Now (August 2017 – Present).  This resource is available remotely 24/7 on any device.

Interested in additional historical newspaper content? Be sure to see our newspaper-related databases.

The Wauwatosa Obituary Index is a database containing historical obituaries from the following local newspapers: Wauwatosa News, Wauwatosa Times, Wauwatosa News-Times, Wauwatosa Now and West Now papers.

The information compiled includes the newspaper print date, name, death date, place of death, age, cause of death, cemetery where interred, and additional notes with other information about the deceased. The file covers the years 1917 to 1971 at present.

View the Wauwatosa Obituary Index as an Excel spreadsheet.

The local history pamphlet file contains newspaper clippings, reports, pamphlets, booklets, flyers, and handouts on a variety of Wauwatosa subjects.

See the Pamphlet File Index for a more detailed list of included subjects.

Our collection includes copies of Wauwatosa school yearbooks. Please note that our collection is not complete. To view our yearbook collection, please inquire at the Adult Information Desk. Yearbooks are for library use only.

• Wauwatosa Middle School’s (formerly Hawthorne School) yearbook, the Oriole, is available from 1928-1930.
• Print copies of Wauwatosa High School yearbooks are available from 1924-1961 (missing 1929).
• Wauwatosa East High School’s yearbook, the Cardinal Pennant, is available from 1962-2019. Missing 1978-1983, 1988, and 2021.
• Wauwatosa West High School’s yearbook, the Olympian, is available from 1962-present. Missing 1969-1970, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1981, 1983-1985, 1990, and 2020.