The Dane County Historical Society manages the Otto Schroeder Archives and Records Center, located in the lower level of the Lussier Family Heritage Center (LFHC).

Aerial view of the Lussier Family Heritage Center. The Records Center is on the lower level.

The LFHC is in Dane County’s Lunney Lake Farm Park at 3101 Lake Farm Road. The Park is part of the Capital Springs Recreation Area that stretches along the southern border of the City of Madison.

In 2002, the DCHS searched for a new home, and DCHS started a fundraising effort. To DCHS’s benefit,  Amy Gillibrand donated generously in her grandfather’s name. Her gift made it possible for us to move into our current home.

The public can make appointments for the Otto Schroeder Archives and Records Center by contacting the Dane County Historical Society via our contact form, email, or phone (608 224 3605). As a tip, emails usually get a faster response.

Otto Schroeder

Otto Schroeder was born in the small farm town of Elben, Germany September 26, 1899. At sixteen, he served in the military during World War I, assembling Folher tri-planes for the Red Baron’s squadron. Schroeder served as a non-combatant because two older brothers lived in the United States. After the war, he received a degree in mechanical engineering and began employment in a steel manufacturing plant in Kassel, Germany.

In 1926, Otto married and moved with his wife to San Francisco, where he worked for the Soule Steel Company. The Schroeders moved to Napa, California, in 1941, where Otto worked in the Basalt Rock Company’s Napa Shipyard. While there, Schroeder invented a manufacturing process that revolutionized steel pipe production worldwide. After World War II, Schroeder worked as an international consultant, supervising the establishment of pipe manufacturing plants around the globe. Schroeder died at 92.