ABOUT US
Our History, Our Knowledge, Our FutureHear, Here
The project has evolved into a community venture. Those who listen using their mobile phones can stay on the line and record their own stories. If the stories fit the objectives, they are re-recorded and added to the program.


Today we have over 70 stories currently operating in downtown La Crosse, as we strive to collect more each day.
Mission
Education, Growth, ChangeCitizens of La Crosse hear about the big history of the city. We know about our founder, Nathan Myrick, and lumber barons like the Hixons. We hear about the 88.3% White population.
We do not hear about the 11.7% made up of Black, Hmong, Ho Chunk and other ethnic groups. Groups like the LGBTQ+, the foreign nationals, and the homeless have often been overlooked in our history.
How can these stories be documented and told in our community? How do the stories from historically-underrepresented peoples reflect on the community at large? How might the community change and evolve knowing that La Crosse, like all cities in our complicated and nuanced world, has its prejudices, struggles, and injustices?
Hear, Here sees itself as a vehicle for all stories in the community-both those that praise and challenge traditional views. It is an opportunity for people to have public conversations about how we might create a more ideal and just city.
We at Hear, Here hope that citizens of La Crosse will see the stories as an opportunity for education, growth, and change.
View our full list of Objectives.
Our People
Passion, Education, Knowledge
Founder & Visionary
ARIEL BEAUJOT




LAURA GODDEN

SUE HESSEL

CALLI NEIMI

HANNAH SIECH

LAURA GODDEN
Laura Godden has been instrumental in putting the project together. From naming it Hear, Here to helping students with research, to maintaining the collection in Murphy Library Archives.
SUE HESSEL
Sue Hessel along with Teri Holford-Talpe spent the summer of 2014 going through the Oral History Program stories about downtown and locating fascinating tales about strike breaking, the red light district, and underground storage spaces from the downtown’s long distant past.
CALLI NEIMI
Calli Neimi is the woman behind the phone lines of Hear, Here. She works with an Interactive Voice Response system to bring you stories past and present.
HANNAH SIECH
Hannah Siech is our masterful webmaster, putting up new stories, media, and links as they come in.External Reviews
Revision, Growth, RenewalShawn Micallef
Víctor M. Macías-González
Susan McLeod
Christopher Stuart Taylor