Title: Center for Community Technology Records
Inclusive Dates: 1977-1985

Creator:

• Center for Community Technology (Madison, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 832; PH Mss 832

Quantity: 4.6 c.f. (11 archives boxes and 1 flat box), 37 photographs, 21 negatives, 3 transparencies, and 2 pieces of ephemera

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records of the Center for Community Technology (CCT), a local, non-profit organization formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1977 to provide information about energy conservation, alternative energy technology, and environmental issues. Included are articles of incorporation, minutes, correspondence, notes, reports, public relations materials, financial records, photographs, planning documents, and files of Terry Testolin, a VISTA volunteer involved in many CCT activities. Project files contain applications, correspondence, reports, and notes, and they document activities such as passive solar greenhouse installations, retrofit weatherizations, workshops and conferences, annual Alternative Energy Festivals, and the Neighborhood Energy Project. Also well documented is involvement with the Madison Energy Conservation Committee in the enactment of a city rental weatherization code and with groups such as Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition, Students for Community Technology, and Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00832

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The Center for Community Technology (CCT) was a non-profit, membership organization that was formed in December 1977 in Madison, Wisconsin to promote renewable energy. Originally comprised only of volunteers, CCT gained a permanent office in 1979 in space donated by the Madison Campus Ministry. Involved in this early organization were Randy Korda, a Ph.D. chemist from the University of Wisconsin and former staff person for the Institute for Environmental Studies, and Bonnie Albright, a solar energy coordinator for the Wisconsin Division of State Planning and Energy.

In 1978 CCT took over sponsorship of the Alternative Energy Festival, an event which had been organized in 1977 by the Wisconsin Union. The festival continued as an annual CCT activity through 1981.

During CCT's most active years (1978-1983) it was a project-oriented organization with a membership that eventually numbered over 400, and it was generally regarded as the leader on residential energy conservation issues in Madison. Through funding and grants from sources such as the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), the Campaign for Human Development (CHD), and VISTA, CCT was able to assist in the development of a long-range community energy plan for Madison, give hands-on workshops, coordinate a speakers bureau, sponsor lectures by notables such as Barry Commoner, lobby for state and local legislation, carry out research on energy conservation and renewable resources, maintain a reference library, and publish an informational newsletter. Some of CCT's research consisted of work on solar greenhouses and retrofit weatherization, and two independent energy companies (Sunspace Design and Construction and Creative Energy Products) were spun off from CCT.

CCT's most ambitious and complex project, which was initiated in 1981, was the Neighborhood Energy Project (NEP), the purpose of which was to demonstrate the feasibility of reducing neighborhood dependence on traditional fuel sources. Other projects included a co-generation test and an Energy Information Center that was funded, in part, by the Madison Energy Conservation Committee.

Beginning with the loss of its VISTA program, which meant the loss of three influential and active staff members, CCT began to experience severe financial difficulties in 1982. Loss of CDBG and CHD funding followed in 1983. These losses were attributed to a shift in national politics, poor management, and a decline in public interest in energy conservation. On August 8, 1985, the board voted to terminate the organization by the end of the year, and the final articles of dissolution were executed in February 1987.

The records are arranged as ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, PROJECT RECORDS, TERRY TESTOLIN'S FILES, and PHOTOGRAPHS AND EPHEMERA.

The records document CCT's activities from its inception in 1977 through its demise in 1985, with the bulk of the documentation documenting the period through 1983.

The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS are comprised of Governance, Office, and Financial records. Although the records begin in September, 1977, the motivation which led to CCT's organization is undocumented here. Documentation about the end of CCT's existence is also absent. The Governance Records primarily consist of handwritten, typed, and mimeographed minutes. These records relate to meetings of the board of directors, although some minutes (although they are not so labelled) may relate to monthly membership meetings. Filed with the minutes are agendas, handwritten notes, as well as memoranda, correspondence, reports, financial statements, and other attachments that were distributed to the board for reference purposes. (Some additional communications to the board may be found in the General Correspondence.) Only two of CCT's annual meetings are represented in this series. Also filed with the governance records are the articles of incorporation and by-laws (including several draft versions), articles of dissolution, and planning documents relating to CCT's overall goals and purposes.

The alphabetically-arranged Office Files include general correspondence, clippings, promotional literature and mass mailings, information about staff activities, and a phone log. Chronologically-arranged general correspondence (mainly 1980-1984) includes incoming and outgoing letters (with the incoming being much more complete) and memoranda, as well as form letters to the membership. The correspondence is probably incomplete, although it does suggest CCT's networking among energy activists, as well as the general scope of its activities.

The phone log is an interesting document to which numerous individuals contributed. The contents vary from minute-like notes on meetings to information about people who called or stopped at the CCT office, as well as listings of the telephone calls made. The early entries (which are written consistently by an unidentified individual thought to be Randy Korda) are very useful, diary-like notations on CCT's beginnings, even documenting an informational tour of eastern states in 1978 in which CCT activists met with representatives of similar groups. Information on staff meetings, however, is less useful, generally consisting of handwritten notes rather than true minutes.

Financial records comprised a large portion of the original collection; the majority of these, however, consisted of routine checks and bills which have been weeded. The remaining, summary records are incomplete, although there are some financial statements, reports to the Department of Regulation and Licensing, federal tax reports, and audits.

The PROJECT FILES are made up of generically-filed materials that document general project activities and separately-filed records about major projects such as the Neighborhood Energy Project, the annual Alternative Energy Festivals, and lobbying for the Rental Weatherization Code. These are among the most useful files in the collection. Not only do they document CCT's most significant research and community work, but they also provide a useful source for examining the manner in which federal, state, and local grant funding promoted public policy in one community and the fatal impact that the Reagan Administration had on one organization funded in that way.

The grant files, which are filed alphabetically by funding source, variously contain applications, correspondence, reports, and notes. Proposals submitted to Madison's Community Block Development Grant program are most numerous.

Information on the Neighborhood Energy Project, CCT's most ambitious project, is disappointing. About its innovative, neighborhood-based, planning strategy there are only handwritten, difficult-to-read staff notes. Other NEP records include draft reports of the first year of the project and public relations materials. (NEP grant applications are filed with the previously-described grant records, while additional correspondence and internal staff memoranda about the NEP can be found scattered in the General Correspondence.)

Also with the project records are files on the annual Alternative Energy Festivals, 1977 to 1981. Included here are correspondence, budgets, public relations materials, and information about vendors who exhibited products or services. The 1977 files contain correspondence of Jon Sesso who, as both a Wisconsin Union employee and CCT member, was a leader in the planning for the first festival. Filed under the category of lobbying are materials about CCT's activities regarding state legislation and regulations. Related to this, but separately filed, are several folders on networking in behalf of the Madison Rental Weatherization Code. For these efforts there are public relations materials prepared by CCT, the Madison Tenant Union, and other organizations; draft ordinances; and minutes of the Madison Energy Conservation Committee (on which CCT member Nancy Korda served) and its Energy Code Implementation Subcommittee. Several folders relate to other organizations with which CCT worked: especially Students for Community Technology, the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation, and S/ERA.

The third series consists of the files of Terry Testolin, a VISTA volunteer who was active in CCT and the NEP during 1980 and 1981. Although documentation of his work is also scattered throughout the collection, Testolin also kept a separate, personal file. Included are notes, ideas, and references material for workshops, conferences, and other activities and interests, both with CCT and with several other organizations. Of special interest is his documentation about the Citizens/Labor Energy Coalition and its work on lifeline utility rates and taxation of oil profits, papers on his work on a CCT fundraiser co-sponsored with the Musicians United for Safe Energy, and information on his local organizing in response to cutbacks in the VISTA program.

PHOTOGRAPHS AND EPHEMERA document Alternative Festivals in Madison, Wisconsin, installation of window coverings, installation of solar panels, and individuals involved with the organization.

Human Scale, the newsletter of CCT, is available on microfilm in the Historical Society Library.

Use Restrictions

No information on copyright available in files.

Acquisition Information

Presented by CCT, Madison, Wisconsin, via Lora Schlaefer, 1985-1988. Accession Number: M85-535, M87-118

Processing Information

Processed by Elizabeth Hogensen (archives intern), 1993.

	Series: Administrative Records
Mss 832	Governance
Box   1 Folder   1	Articles of incorporation and by-laws, 1978
Box   1 Folder   2	Articles of dissolution, 1985
Box   1 Folder   3	Statements of purpose, Objectives, 1978-1983
Box   1 Folder   4	Strategic planning documents, 1979
	Minutes
Box   1 Folder   5	Annual meetings, 1981, 1982
Box   1 Folder   6	Meeting “journal,” 1979-1982
Box   1 Folder   7-12	Meeting minutes, notes, and attachments, 1977-1985
	Office files
Box   1 Folder   13	Board elections, 1978-1983
Box   1 Folder   14	Board lists, undated
Box   1 Folder   15	Brochures and miscellaneous mailings, undated
Box   1 Folder   16	Bulletin board “offerings,” undated
Box   1 Folder   17	Miscellaneous clippings, 1981-1982, undated
Box   2 Folder   1	Committees, 1982-1983, undated
Box   2 Folder   2-6	Correspondence, 1978-1985, undated
Box   2 Folder   7	Job applicants, 1980
Box   2 Folder   8	Membership survey, 1983
Box   2 Folder   9-10	Phone log, 1978-1980
Box   2 Folder   11	Phone numbers, undated
	Staff
Box   2 Folder   12-13	Meeting notes, 1981-1982
Box   3 Folder   1	Policies, undated
Box   3 Folder   2	Training, 1979-1980
Box   3 Folder   3	Work study, 1980-1981
Box   3 Folder   4	Volunteers, undated
	Financial records
Box   3 Folder   5	Affirmative Action exemption request, 1982-1983
Box   3 Folder   6	Annual reports to Department of Regulation & Licensing, 1982-1985
Box   3 Folder   7	Audit correspondence, 1982-1984
Box   3 Folder   8-9	Audit data, 1981-1984
Box   3 Folder   10-11	Bank statements, 1983-1985
Box   3 Folder   12	Financial records (General), 1982-1983
Box   3 Folder   13	Financial statements, 1982-1985
	Fundraising campaigns
Box   3 Folder   14	“Cash for the 80s”
Box   3 Folder   15	“Let Them Eat Cake,” 1983
Box   3 Folder   16	Letters, 1979-1983
Box   3 Folder   17	Raffles, 1983
Box   3 Folder   18	Valentine dance, 1982
Box   3 Folder   19	Health insurance, 1980-1983
Box   3 Folder   20	Inventory, 1982-1983
Box   12	Journal of income and disbursements, 1979-1982
Box   3 Folder   21	Liability insurance, 1979-1984
Box   3 Folder   22	Loan records, 1980-1982
Box   3 Folder   23	Project accounts, 1979-1981
Box   4 Folder   1	Project accounts, Balance sheets, 1982
Box   4 Folder   2	Unemployment compensation records, 1982-1983
Box   4 Folder   3-4	Tax-exempt reports and information, 1979-1985
Box   4 Folder   5	Workers Compensation, 1983-1984
	Series: Projects	⇧
	Alternative Energy Festivals
	1977
Box   6 Folder   11	General
Box   6 Folder   12	Jon Sesso correspondence
Box   6 Folder   13	Exhibitors' contracts
	1978
Box   6 Folder   14	General
Box   6 Folder   15	Exhibitors' contracts
	1979
Box   6 Folder   16	General
Box   7 Folder   1	Correspondence
Box   7 Folder   2	Evaluations
Box   7 Folder   3	Exhibitors' contracts
Box   7 Folder   4	Presenters
	1980
Box   7 Folder   5	Budgets and grants
Box   7 Folder   6	General
Box   7 Folder   7	Correspondence
Box   7 Folder   8	Steering Committee
Box   7 Folder   9	Vendors
	1981
Box   7 Folder   10	General
Box   7 Folder   11	Budget
Box   7 Folder   12	Correspondence
Box   7 Folder   13	Exhibitors' applications
Box   7 Folder   14	Exhibitors subcommittee
Box   7 Folder   15	Steering Committee
Box   7 Folder   16	Workshops
	Conferences
Box   4 Folder   6	Fall conference, 1983
Box   4 Folder   7	“Taking charge” notes, 1980
Box   4 Folder   8	Take Charge symposium, 1981
Box   4 Folder   9	“Our power” conference, 1981
	Grants
Box   4 Folder   10	General information
Box   4 Folder   11	Aging, Dane County Commission on, Solar Greenhouse, 1979
Box   4 Folder   12	ARCA Foundation, 1980
Box   4 Folder   13	CETA, 1980
Box   4 Folder   14	Campaign for Human Development, 1981-1982
Box   4 Folder   15	Community Action Commission, Window coverings, 1978
Box   4 Folder   16-18	DOA Cogeneration feasibility study, 1980-1983, undated
Box   4 Folder   19	DOD, Neighborhood Energy pilot project, 1982
Box   4 Folder   20	DOE, Neighborhood Energy Project applications, 1981
Box   4 Folder   21	DOE, Solar greenhouse using commercial waste, 1979
Box   5 Folder   1	DSE, Superinsulation retrofit, 1981
Box   5 Folder   2	Economic Assistance, Wisconsin Division of, Weatherization project, 1982
Box   5 Folder   3	HEW Alternative Energy Fair, 1978
Box   5 Folder   4	HUD Neighborhood Energy Project feasibility project, 1981
Box   5 Folder   5-6	MG&E, 1981-1983
	Madison
Box   5 Folder   7	Applications, 1979-1982, undated
Box   5 Folder   8-9	Atwood solar greenhouse, 1979
Box   5 Folder   10-11	CDBG correspondence, notes, and reports, 1979-1982
Box   5 Folder   12-13	Madison Energy Conservation Committee, Information Center, 1981-1982
Box   6 Folder   1	Madison Sustaining Fund, 1983
	National Center for Appropriate Technology
Box   6 Folder   2	General, 1978
Box   6 Folder   3	Valley Studio demonstration project, 1978
Box   6 Folder   4	Pacific Alliance grant, 1980-1982
Box   6 Folder   5	State Planning and Energy Office applications, 1977-1979
Box   6 Folder   6	UW-Extension window coverings grant, 1978
Box   6 Folder   7	VAHA (Vilas) demonstration project, 1982
Box   6 Folder   8	Wisconsin Community Fund, 1983
Box   6 Folder   9	Wisconsin Humanities Commission, 2nd Alternative Festival, 1978
Box   6 Folder   10	WPL window covering demonstration
Box   8 Folder   4	Lending practices project (not CCT), 1981
	Lobbying
Box   7 Folder   17	General, 1980-1981
Box   7 Folder   18	Madison Energy Plan, 1980
	Public Service Commission
Box   8 Folder   1	General hearings, 1980
Box   8 Folder   2	Wisconsin Residential Conservation Service, hearings, 1980
Box   8 Folder   3	Utility financing bill, 1981
Box   8 Folder   5	Madison Community Co-ops, 1982
Box   8 Folder   6	National Consumer Cooperative Bank, 1981
	Neighborhood Energy Project
Box   8 Folder   7	Budgets, 1981
Box   8 Folder   8	CUB Community Conservation Campaign, 1982
Box   8 Folder   9	Feasibility study, 1981
Box   8 Folder   10	Feasibility report, 1982
Box   8 Folder   11	Mailing lists, 1981
Box   8 Folder   12	Minutes, 1981
Box   8 Folder   13	Neighborhood groups, 1981
Box   8 Folder   14	Oversight Committee, 1981
Box   8 Folder   15	Planning, 1981-1982
Box   8 Folder   16	Public relations
Box   8 Folder   17	Reports and drafts, 1982
Box   9 Folder   1	Small groups, 1981
Box   9 Folder   2	Subcommittee meeting notes, 1981
Box   9 Folder   3	Survey planning and results, 1981
Box   9 Folder   4	Staff notes, undated
Box   9 Folder   5	VISTA cuts, 1981
Box   9 Folder   6	Volunteer lists, 1981
Box   9 Folder   7	Workshops, 1981
	Networking with other organizations
Box   10 Folder   9	Community Fair Share, 1982-1983
Box   10 Folder   10	Kickapoo Valley Alternative Energy project, 1979
Box   10 Folder   11	S/ERA, 1981
	Students for Community Technology
Box   10 Folder   12	General, 1980-1981
Box   10 Folder   13	Membership, 1980
Box   10 Folder   14	Wisconsin Coalition for Energy Alternatives, undated
Box   10 Folder   15	Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp, 1981
	Rental Weatherization Code
Box   9 Folder   8	Hearings, 1981
Box   9 Folder   9	Implementation subcommittee, 1982
Box   9 Folder   10	Notes, undated
Box   9 Folder   11-12	Madison Energy Conservation Committee agenda and minutes, 1977-1984
Box   9 Folder   13	Soldiers Grove solar tour, 1984
Box   9 Folder   14-15	Speakers bureau, 1982
Box   9 Folder   16	Sun Day, 1978
Box   9 Folder   17	“Tryout TV,” 1982
Box   10 Folder   1	Window coverings, undated
Box   10 Folder   8	White paper study for Wisconsin Community Conservation Fund, 1982
	Workshops
Box   10 Folder   2	Priorities, notes, 1980
Box   10 Folder   3	, 1978 Solar greenhouses
Box   10 Folder   3a	, 1978 Window box solar heater
Box   10 Folder   4	, 1978 Green Bay
Box   10 Folder   5	, 1979 Passive solar workshop
Box   10 Folder   6	1981
Box   10 Folder   7	, 1983 Urban gardens
	Series: Terry Testolin Files	⇧
Box   10 Folder   16	Brochure mockup, undated
Box   10 Folder   17	Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition oil profit campaign, 1981
Box   10 Folder   18	“Cash for the 80s” canvass, 1981
Box   10 Folder   19	Class lecture, undated
Box   10 Folder   20	Conservation, 1980
Box   10 Folder   21	“Energy and Power in Our Community” conference, 1981
Box   10 Folder   22	Environmental Safe Energy Conference, 1980
Box   10 Folder   23	Greenhouse workshop materials, 1981
Box   10 Folder   24	Lifeline rate structure,
Box   10 Folder   25	Madison Energy Radio Forum, 1981
Box   10 Folder   26	Midwest Academy workshop, 1981
Box   10 Folder   27	MUSE fundraiser, 1980
Box   10 Folder   28	NEP, 1981
Box   11 Folder   1	Newsletter ideas, 1980-1981
Box   11 Folder   2	Passive solar retrofit workshop, 1981
Box   11 Folder   3	Posters, undated
Box   11 Folder   4	Rental weatherization workshop, 1980
Box   11 Folder   5	Solar conference and energy training notes, 1980
Box   11 Folder   6	VISTA, 1980
Box   11 Folder   7	Weatherization code, 1981-1982
Box   11 Folder   8	Weatherization meeting notes, 1980-1981
Box   11 Folder   9	Workshop series, 1981
PH Mss 832	Series: Photographs and Ephemera	⇧