• Working on your family tree?
• In need of a copy of your sacramental records?
• Writing the history of your parish?
• Doing research on the Diocese of Green Bay?

The Archives collect, preserve, survey, appraise, arrange, describe, store, and provide access (when feasible) to records and papers about the Diocese and the Catholic Community of Northeastern Wisconsin. These records date from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.

While the Archives mainly serve the Diocese’s administration, staff, and parishes, Archives also assist scholars and family genealogists in line with church, state, and federal laws and accepted archival practices.

What Records Are in the Archives?

• sacramental records of all parish churches in the Diocese (all pre-1920 microfiched sacramental records are open to the general public)
• handwritten, typed, and printed documents
• photographs, negatives, and slides, including photographs of Bishops, priests, diocesan staff, parish staffs, parishes, and various Catholic personnel and institutions
• motion picture film, audio and video tape on the Diocese of Green Bay
• architectural plans and blueprints
• oral history tapes and transcripts
• publications
• scrapbooks
• electronic records
• information on former Bishops of the Diocese of Green Bay
• records of Diocesan departments, agencies, institutions (including Sacred Heart Seminary and St. Joseph’s Home), programs, and committees
• parish administrative, financial, legal, and historical files
• the diocesan newspaper (bound and on microfilm)
• basic local history and genealogy reference sources and indexes
• library with books on scripture; theology; Church, diocesan and secular history; hagiography; papal documents; liturgy; ecumenism and related fields of study.

What Records Are Not Open to the Public

• Tribunal and adoption records
• sacramental records since 1920
• access to some other records may be restricted for a certain number of years under civil or church law or because of the wishes of donor.

General Policies

• After receiving written requests by fax, e-mail or the U.S. Mail, Archives will conduct genealogy research for a fee. Telephone requests are not accepted. Archives will notify the inquirer the amount of the fee in a written acknowledgment of the request.
• Individuals may do their own research, also for a fee, by appointment during certain hours.
• Genealogical inquiries usually take ten to twelve weeks.
• Requests are answered in the order received, although priority is given to urgent requests for baptismal records needed for weddings. (No fee is charged persons seeking their own sacramental records.)
• Requests from Diocesan agencies, parishes, or other dioceses usually receive priority handling.
• The staff reserves the right to limit research time and the number of records for any request.

Hours

• 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday (October through April)
• 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Fridays (May through September)
• To genealogy researchers from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays. Exceptions may be made by special arrangement.

Fees

• Independent research in the Archives -- $10 (half day or less). $15 (all day)
• Genealogy Research conducted by the Archives staff -- $20 (one hour or five family records, whichever comes first).

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