The three oldest scrapbooks (circa 1920s and 1930s) contain newspaper articles on the early
history and politics of municipal recreation and adult education in Milwaukee, the
playground movement of the mid-1930s, Dorothy Caroline Enderis, and the twentieth-fifth
anniversary of the social centers in 1937. Like the other scrapbooks, these also contain
information on activities such as drama and music (e.g., the Young People's Theatre,
Children's Theatre, the Fall Drama Festival), arts and crafts (e.g., woodworking, hatmaking,
holiday decorations), athletics and games (e.g., table tennis, softball, horsehoes) offered
at the social centers and on the city playgrounds.
Scrapbooks from 1940 to 1988 contain few articles on the history or politics of municipal
recreation and adult education and consist almost entirely of articles about events and
activities. This suggests that by 1940, the concept of municipal recreation and adult
education was firmly established in Milwaukee and that its existence was taken for
granted.
The Gold Medal Award scrapbook showcases the facilities, programs, and activities of the
Milwaukee Public School System. It was submitted for the National Gold Medal Awards
Program.
The Milwaukee Players scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, posters, photos, tickets, and
programs relating to this group. They document activities and events such as the Summer
Drama Institute, the Fall Drama Festival, the Shakespeare Festival, the Young People's
Theatre, and the Children's Theatre. The Milwaukee Players was a drama group formed under
the auspices of the Department. It existed from 1931 to 1996.
New Day was the official newspaper of the Milwaukee Model
Cities Program, which was created in the late 1960s to develop and stimulate minority
businesses.
The Wilderness Encounter scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and other materials
relating to Wilderness Encounter, a pilot program organized under the Outdoor Education
Department that used the outdoors as a means of bringing together young people of divergent
backgrounds.
