I’d love to research the history of my historical home, but as a wheelchair user, every floor of their building is completely inaccessible to me. The records are free to search for able-bodied people, but they’re charging disabled people a whopping $35/hr for a volunteer to search on their behalf. Minimum wage in WI is $7.25. They’re charging almost a 5x multiple on that because their building is inaccessible. They’re literally profiting off of their inaccessibility, at the expense of the disabled, many of whom are on very small, fixed incomes. It’s completely unethical. On principle, I’m not paying their fees to access info that’s free for those who aren’t disabled, so I just don’t get to learn about the history of my Racine neighborhood and the beautiful home I’ve bought.

**Edit to respond to the museum’s response: Nothing on your site advertises the free 15min search you spoke of in your response, nor has that been offered in my communications with museum archivists and management. Your own site states, “Quick Searches are 15-minute searches for a reduced fee about one person or topic and include three photocopies mailed or emailed.”