Milwaukee Cooperative Milk Producers Records, 1907-1975

Scope and Content Note

This part is arranged into four series, ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, SUBJECT FILES, PUBLICATIONS, and VISUAL MATERIALS, organized alphabetically. There is some overlap in the content of files in all four series due to the interrelated nature of the organization, its interests and its events.

The records contained in the ADMINISTRATIVE FILES date from approximately 1964 to 2003, and include activity reports, bulletins, by-laws, constitutions, correspondence, financial reports, meeting minutes, membership files, newsletters, and record books. The constitutions and by-laws - in both Polish and English - included in the collection are mostly undated, spanning approximately from the creation of PAC Wisconsin up to 2000, after which the chronological files diminish drastically. The correspondence included in the administrative files relates primarily to the activities of three PAC Wisconsin leaders: Eugene Kaluzny, Edward Wojtkowski, and Mark Lazar. A substantial amount of this correspondence is related to some legal questions arising from questions of leadership and some general internal discord. The community events files detail the activities of PAC Wisconsin in the Milwaukee area, including concerts, lecture series, and banquets. Documentation of these events includes flyers, brochures, pamphlets, and letters relating to the planning and execution of the events. Many of these events were sponsored in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and other Polish community organizations in the area, and larger publications related to these events can found in the PUBLICATIONS series.

The SUBJECT FILES contains mostly research and correspondence relating to PAC Wisconsin's interests, providing the foundation for many of their commemorative events and activities. Most of these files and their names were already established by PAC Wisconsin, so loose records were incorporated into existing files when pertinent. Other files were created according to subject categories and organizational interests outlined in the Organizational History. The SUBJECT FILES are composed almost entirely of newspaper clippings, as well as reproductions of articles and book chapters, and transcriptions of speeches from momentous occasions in Polish and English. Some examples of subject files representing matters of considerable interest for PAC Wisconsin include: Polish-Jewish relations, Polish-American cultural issues and ethnicity, Polish history, Janusz Korczak, the Katyn Massacre, the Rev. Waclaw Kruszka, the Polish Relief Fund, Solidarity, the Martial Law Period, Eastern European issues under Communism, and Polish Churches in Wisconsin.

The PUBLICATIONS include all materials produced by PAC Wisconsin partners and related member organizations, as well as general published material on topics related to the interests of PAC Wisconsin. These include pamphlets, brochures, flyers, sheet music, and several books. Most of these publications are relating to banquets and other commemorative events organized and/or sponsored by PAC Wisconsin or its partners. Most of the pamphlets are dated, however most of the books and most of the sheet music are without dates. The sheet music provides an interesting overview of traditional Polish chorals, mazurkas, folk music and other scores used in PAC Wisconsin events.

The VISUAL MATERIALS series includes photographs of people, places and events documented elsewhere in the collection. There are also many negatives in the collection, some of which mirror the prints in the collection, but several of which have no print. The highlights of the VISUAL MATERIALS series include photographs of several member organizations, many photos of Polish dancers in costume, theater troupes, musical events and authors in the cultural events folder and several photographs of businesses in the 1930s with their owners in the Polish businesses in Wisconsin folder.


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