“Bunny Berigan of Fox Lake”

Digital Collection Goes Live

By Julie Flemming

The “Bunny Berigan of Fox Lake” Digital Collection has gone live for all to enjoy. It is a collection of original materials that have been digitalized by the UWDCC (University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center) and were selected by the Fox Lake Public Library. The work was made possible by a LSTA (Library Services and Technology Act) grant and awarded to the Fox Lake Public Library by the Department of Public Instruction. This collection is now one of the collections that are part of the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections….a wonderful resource of Wisconsin History and events. Melissa McLimans, Digital Services Librarian at the UW Digital Collections Center contacted the Library when the project was done. She said “the material on the site is great and the pictures are just wonderful. I cannot wait to begin the publicity on this awesome collection …. “Bunny Berigan of Fox Lake. You and your people did an excellent job. Congratulations.”

The idea of doing this grant was first proposed by Rhonda Puntney who works for the Mid-Wisconsin Federated Library System of which the Fox Lake Public Library is a member. She had taken a vacation in New Orleans and while there had a conversation with some musicians who asked her where she was from. When she said “Wisconsin” they immediately said “Hey, Bunny Berigan was from Wisconsin.” Rhonda replied that she knew that and went on to say “actually, I am a member of the Bunny Berigan Jazz Jubilee committee that puts on the three day event in Fox Lake, WI, every year.” Rhonda kept thinking about that conversation after she got home and contacted the Fox Lake Public Library to ask them how many things they had about Bunny that could be included in a LSTA grant.

Upon making a personal visit to the Library and seeing the scope of the materials she decided that there was at least 1,000 pages of written material about Bunny and probably 200 pictures. The grant was written to digitalize the 1,000 pages and 200 pictures during the year of 2010, with the total local cost to the community of Fox Lake being $3,149.00 and federal money of $2,188.00. As it turned out, the actual local cost to Fox Lake was a lot less due to a number of factors.

Once the Library was notified that it had the grant the material to be digitalized needed to be selected. Some materials had already been cataloged in the Harriet O’Connell Historical Room, but many of the materials were still in boxes. The boxed materials had been donated by Ken Hansen’s family at the time of his death. Ken was the husband of Bunny’s daughter, Joyce, and had been a long time fan of Bunny Berigan. He had saved many, many materials and the task for the grant was to look at each piece of paper and each picture to determine what should be included in the collection.

After the work of choosing the materials was finished they were loaded up and taken in person by representatives of the Fox Lake Public Library to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI, for the development of the digital site. That work has now been completed and the site is available for all the public to enjoy and copy. Everything on the site can be printed using a home computer and printer. It is completely user friendly. One can see the directions for accessing the site that are included with this story.

This project will make significant historical material about Bunny Berigan available to local historians, Berigan fans, and jazz fans around the world. Bunny Berigan is a well known trumpet player who grew up in Fox Lake, WI, and went on to have a career in New York and playing with such bands as Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers and Paul Whiteman in the 1930’s and 1940’s. He is credited with being in a band the first time “swing” was played by a dance orchestra and his musical talent is still lauded to this day by those who appreciate his ability.