This week’s #FlashbackFriday with the Whitewater Historical Society features a member of one of the area’s prominent families of the past: Miss Ella Hamilton.

Born on the family’s homestead just west of Whitewater in 1857, Ella attended Whitewater schools and graduated from the Normal School as part of the class of 1878. She briefly taught at Whitewater High School before teaching for several years at missionary schools in both Tennessee and Georgia. Returning to Whitewater in about 1898, she became a librarian and attended UW-Madison’s Library School. Appointed as the city’s head librarian in 1900, she notably was the first librarian in the then-brand new White Library. Her brother, Herbert Hamilton, was a prominent attorney and judge for which the Hamilton House on Main Street is named after. Ella resided at the Hamilton House with her brother’s family until her death in March 1934 at the age of 77.

Join us next week for more from the Whitewater Historical Society collections!

(1917STU, Whitewater Historical Society)​

Flashback Friday photos are posted to the Facebook account for the Whitewater Historical Society. These images and captions will be posted to the Whitewater Banner the following Saturday morning for members of our audience who do not use social media.

The Whitewater Historical Society collects, preserves, and interprets the history of Whitewater and the surrounding area. Be sure to join us next week for more from the Society’s collections. Please “like” us on Facebook and check out our website at www.whitewaterhistoricalsociety.org!​