There are four organizational categories in these records: Articles and Speeches, General Correspondence, Board Meeting Correspondence, and Special Board Meeting Minutes.
The Articles and Speeches (1940-1966), presented by Harry Brockel, deal with such topics as the port of Milwaukee trade mission to Europe, the significance of the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the impact of the Milwaukee public port development on community development.
The majority of these records consists of General Correspondence (1960-1972) addressed to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, mostly from Port Director Harry Brockel, dealing with many different issues concerning the port of Milwaukee. The correspondence is arranged chronologically. It concerns matters such as amending leases of corporations, requests for notices of annual meetings and conventions, proposals for capital improvements to the port, tentative budgets, competitive bids for construction projects within the port, and revisions in petroleum transportation and marketing.
The Board Meeting Correspondence (1934-1936, 1961-1972) discusses matters pertaining to the actual running of the harbor. The majority of the correspondence concerns estimates from businesses for various types of work at the port. Some areas include concrete work, electric and power installation, painting of warehouses, installation of heating and ventilation for cargo terminals. There are also requests by various businesses for extensions on contracts that have already been granted, renewal requests for leases on municipal harbor property, a crane replacement program, and requests for extensions of railroad facilities from various businesses which lease space in the municipal port.
The Special Board Meeting Minutes (1960-1973) list who was present, proposed withdrawals of bids for construction projects, terminations of fund retainers, awarding of contracts, grain elevator development, vending concession approvals, uniform allowances, public transit service to outer harbor area, adoption of municipal port tariffs, and announcements for new employees.
