The State Medical Society of Wisconsin Records, 1904-1993, consist of ten series: MEETINGS, COMMITTEES AND STUDIES, PUBLICITY, ADMINISTRATIVE FILES, LEGISLATIVE FILES, INVESTIGATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS FILES, SUBJECT FILES, SICKNESS INSURANCE, MEDICAL LIABILITY and DECEASED PHYSICIANS FILES. The bulk of the collection documents the period from 1930 to 1975. There is less than .5 cubic foot of material that dates before 1925. The collection mainly documents the activities of the Society, not medical research or the achievements of individual physicians. The collection is especially good at documenting the work of Society members on legislative issues; the changes in concerns, attitudes and practices of Wisconsin physicians over the years; the development of the prepaid sickness insurance industry in Wisconsin; and studies sponsored by the Society on a wide range of issues, such as the health needs of school children and physicians' attitudes about malpractice. Almost all of the material in the collection documents the activities of Society members rather than the staff. Therefore, there is not much information on the administration of the Society or services offered to members, such as insurance and continuing education.

The MEETINGS series is arranged chronologically by year. It contains information on Council, House of Delegates, Executive Committee of the Council, and annual meetings. However, the documentation is incomplete. The series contains minutes, transcripts of proceedings, meeting programs, press releases, delegate packets, correspondence and memoranda. This series documents how the Society was governed, how policy decisions were made, and the debates between members over legislative or public policy issues. The series also contains material from several medical society secretaries conferences from 1927 to 1938.

The series contains material on six special sessions of the House of Delegates. Three of the sessions (1946, 1958 and 1973) dealt with Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS) insurance plan. The folders on the 1963 special session contain a verbatim transcript of the proceedings in which the participants discuss the results of an extensive study of the Society's organization and administration. The transcript not only documents the internal workings of the Society, but it also underscores changes the medical profession was undergoing at the time. The survey provoked controversy among staff members, and a small amount of material documenting this controversy is located in the Administrative Files series. The material on the 1971 session documents physicians' concerns about two legislative measures: a bill allowing hospitals and health maintenance organizations to employ physicians; and a certificate of need bill, which required the state Department of Health and Social Services to approve any construction or expansion of services by hospitals and clinics. The material on the 1975 session contains information on the medical malpractice insurance crisis in Wisconsin.

Additional information on Council meetings, 1923-1978, and House of Delegates meetings, 1903-1968 can be found in the Wisconsin Medical Journal. Published summaries of Society meetings from 1880 to 1902 are located in the University of Wisconsin's Health Sciences Library.

The COMMITTEES AND STUDIES series documents the most active component of the Medical Society. The series is arranged in two subseries: State Medical Society and State of Wisconsin. The committees and studies in the State Medical Society subseries were all funded and organized by the Society, but several people who were involved were not members of the Society. The material in the State of Wisconsin subseries documents committees organized by state government in which Society members and staff were actively involved. Within each subseries, the material is arranged alphabetically by key word, with a folder on a major 1974 committee restructuring at the beginning of the series. Sometimes the name of a committee changed without any change in structure and function. In these cases, the earlier name of the committee is listed in parentheses after the later name.

The series consists of meeting minutes, reports, correspondence, memoranda and resolutions. This material contains information on the research and discussion physicians participated in before recommending actions and position stances to the Council and House of Delegates. There is also information on many programs and issues that were never acted on by these two bodies. The series is especially good at documenting how physicians reacted to major developments in the medical field, such as the introduction of health maintenance organizations, and how their attitudes changed towards certain diseases, such as mental illness. It also documents advances in treatment for specific illnesses, such as diabetes, and how those advances were implemented by physicians. Topics that are especially well documented by this series include mental health, alcoholism and drug addiction, health care for the elderly, occupational health, and the distribution of health care. Material on the women's auxiliary, a social and service group for physicians' wives, is located in this series. Material on committees and studies that dealt mainly with sickness insurance or medical liability are located elsewhere in the collection.

Of special note in this series is material on two studies of health care, one in Wisconsin jails and the other on the Menominee Indian Reservation. The material on the Menominee Indians contains several photographs of residents and homes. These photographs are housed in the Visual Materials subseries of the archives.

There are two problems with access to the records in this series. First, the names, duties and structure of the committees constantly changed, so it may be difficult for a researcher to follow the work on a particular issue. Secondly, there are many gaps in the records. Some committees and studies are not documented at all, and the documentation for many others appears incomplete.

The PUBLICITY series documents the public relations activities of the Society, aimed at both members and the general public. The material is arranged into the following categories: bulletins and correspondence to members, press releases, March of Medicine radio show, photographs, and film. Each category is arranged chronologically. The bulletins and correspondence to members were originally pasted into scrapbooks, and are now available only on microfilm. This category contains copies of items that were sent to Council and House of Delegate members and the larger membership. Items include legislative updates, programs, listings of membership services, commemorative booklets on major members or events, and letters regarding budget and policy changes. This is the best place in the collection to examine the full range of activities and concerns of the Society from 1926 to 1944. Because of the way items were pasted into the scrapbooks, some of the material is slightly out of order.

The press releases from 1926 to 1942 are on microfilm, and those from 1951 to 1976 are in paper format. There are no press releases from 1943 to 1950 in the collection. The microfilmed press releases are mostly from the Society's Health Committee. These releases were sent weekly to most Wisconsin newspapers, and deal with a wide variety of public health and nutrition issues. They provide information on the kinds of advice physicians gave to patients during the period, and they also give insight into physicians' attitudes towards patients. The releases in paper format are much more varied. Their topics include Society activities, accomplishments of individual members, positions on legislation, and public health advice.

The weekly half hour March of Medicine radio show was produced by the Society for thirty years, but the collection contains only two years' recordings (1949-1951). Each episode usually focused on one health problem. At the end of the discussion, there were sometimes comments about the Society's recent activities and suggestions for actions listeners could take to influence legislators on particular issues. There are undated recordings of several other episodes of the show in the W.W. Bauer Papers held by the Historical Society (Series U.S. Mss 7AF).

The photographs in this series mainly document Society events, such as award dinners and annual meetings. There are also a number of photographs of the Museum of Medical Progress in Prairie du Chien. The film in the series is a 1956 interview of two Society officers, Dr. E.L. Bernhardt and Dr. L.O. Simestad, in which they discuss the goals and activities of the Society.

The ADMINISTRATIVE FILES are arranged alphabetically by subject. Although this series dates from 1911 to 1985, the vast majority of the material dates from 1945 to 1965. It is the only place in the collection that contains substantial information on staff activities and decision making. It also helps to document the growth in the size and range of activities of the Society. The most complete part of this series is the material on conferences and continuing education programs. This material not only documents the topics of the conferences, but also why and how topics were chosen and how participants reacted to the information provided.

The LEGISLATIVE FILES are divided into four subseries: general, federal, state, and lobbying administration. The general subseries is arranged chronologically, and the other subseries are arranged alphabetically by subject. The general subseries consists mainly of Society bulletins and memoranda giving brief synopses, position statements, and recommended actions on a wide variety of bills. The federal and state subseries contain testimony, resolutions, correspondence, press releases, newspaper clippings, and analyses of legislative action on particular topics. Individual folders in these two subseries may contain material on a large number of bills over the years. Also, there may be wide chronological gaps within any individual folder because many issues lay dormant for a number of years or because Society members were not concerned with all legislation on the topic. The lobbying administration subseries mainly documents the activities of the Wisconsin Physicians Political Action Committee.

The Society's Commission on Public Policy seems to have produced much of the material in this series. The series documents changes in the ways physicians tried to influence legislators over the years. It also shows the evolution of physicians' opinions on many issues, such as medical care for the poor and Social Security benefits. There is also some information on the Society's court challenges to several laws, and on major problems concerning Wisconsin Physicians Service which were brought before the legislature. Unfortunately, this series does not contain very much material dated after 1975, when the Society became much more active in legislative affairs.

Other topics that are especially well documented in this series include chiropractors and other non-physician medical practitioners, medical assistance, sickness insurance, hospitals, and the anti-vivisection movement.

The INVESTIGATIONS AND ORGANIZATIONS FILES are arranged alphabetically by name of organization or individual. Charles Crownhart, secretary of the Medical Society from 1942 to 1970, collected much of the material in this series and regularly used it for reference. After 1970 various staff members sporadically added material to the files. Most of the folders contain correspondence between the Society and other organizations discussing joint projects and concerns. They also contain newspaper clippings, brochures and reports on the organizations' goals and activities. Unfortunately, most of these files are small, and it appears that many items were permanently removed by staff members in the course of their work. A few files, especially those on specific products or individuals, document actual investigations by the Society. These investigations usually involved Charles Crownhart corresponding with several clients and other medical organizations to determine the validity of the claims of suspicious medical products or services. The series contains very little information on follow-up actions of Medical Society staff or members after an investigation was completed.

Organizations that are well documented in this series include other medical associations, especially those dealing with medical specialties; foundations and research institutes concerned with advancing knowledge on particular diseases; insurance companies; and Wisconsin sanitoriums and asylums. These files document cooperation among various sectors of the health industry, especially in Wisconsin, on a wide variety of issues. The files on organizations that provided administrative services, such as advertising and directories, to people in the medical field, often contain detailed information on the members, budget, and programs of the Medical Society.

The SUBJECT FILES series is arranged alphabetically. This series was probably assembled for reference by the Society secretary, and actively used by the entire staff. Unfortunately, many attachments and documents that are referred to in memoranda in this series were never returned to the files by the staff. The files contain newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports, court cases, legal opinions, press releases, and booklets on a wide range of topics of concern to physicians. Most of the documents in the series were produced by outside organizations, but many are annotated by Society members. Also, the series contains a fair number of reports and memoranda written by Society staff and members. The topics documented include new medical procedures and drugs; particular diseases and illnesses; medical ethics issues, such as patient confidentiality and euthanasia; administration of medical practice; non-physician medical practitioners; and public health and safety issues, such as civil defense and water quality. The best documented topic is poor relief, which has three and a half boxes of material. The poor relief material dates from the 1930s, when Wisconsin officials began discussing a complete reorganization of the publicly funded health care system for the poor.

This series documents the Society's initiatives on numerous issues and its involvement with governmental, non-profit and private organizations. There is also a fair amount of documentation of legal cases in which the Society was involved, especially from the earlier years. However, there is not much documentation here on the Society's positions on particular subjects. For that information, researchers should consult the meetings and legislative files series.

The SICKNESS INSURANCE series documents the topic most extensively researched, discussed and acted upon by Medical Society members. The series is arranged in four subseries: reference files; studies and committees; Wisconsin Physicians Service; and Medicare and Medicaid. The studies and committees subseries is arranged chronologically by date of initial activity. The other subseries are arranged alphabetically by subject or name.

The reference files date from 1928 to 1976, but the majority of the material dates from 1935 to 1945, when the Society was intensely researching the issue of prepaid sickness insurance. The items in these files were generated by individuals and organizations other than the Medical Society. They include studies, reports, insurance plans, and position statements on insurance from organizations and individuals worldwide, although most material is from the United States. This subseries provides insight into the debates surrounding prepaid sickness insurance during its infancy.

The studies and committees subseries documents the Society's work on studying and implementing early prepaid sickness insurance plans in Wisconsin. It includes correspondence, meeting minutes, testimony and reports. The earliest material documents an intense two year effort by Society staff and members to collect information on health care in Wisconsin, potential interest in insurance, and the costs of insurance. The material on fact-finding meetings of the Special Committee to Study Distribution of Sickness Care in Wisconsin contains data on disease, income, schools, family structure and other social welfare conditions in many Wisconsin cities and towns in 1937 and 1938. The later material in the subseries documents the Society's attempts to implement various insurance programs throughout the state. The county experiments material in the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Sickness Insurance documents the initial efforts and provides information on the unexpected questions and problems that faced early insurance programs. The rest of the subseries documents the initial development and administration of several insurance programs sponsored by the Society, especially the Wisconsin Plan. Some of the meeting minutes also contain substantial information on Wisconsin Physicians Service. This material documents well the early concerns of Wisconsin physicians about prepaid sickness insurance and the steps the Society took to alleviate those concerns.

The Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS) subseries documents the administration of WPS before it separated from the Medical Society in 1976. It includes correspondence, financial records, sample contracts, meeting minutes, benefit listings, and memoranda on problem claims. The folders on Blue Cross and Surgical Care, Inc. provide information on the competition and conflict that occurred within the insurance industry when it began expanding exponentially. The series also documents how the WPS leaders decided on changes in the types and amounts of benefits the company offered.

The Medicare and Medicaid subseries contains reports, court documents, meeting minutes and newspaper clippings that document the Society's involvement with these two programs. Of special interest is the material on the Dependents Medical Care Program, an early Medicare program that the Society helped to administer in Wisconsin.

The MEDICAL LIABILITY series documents both the internal efforts of the Society and efforts performed in conjunction with state government to deal with medical malpractice issues. The bulk of the material dates from the mid-1970s malpractice insurance crisis in Wisconsin, but there is also substantial material from the 1980s. The series provides information on the escalation of malpractice claims during this period and the reaction of physicians and the insurance industry to this phenomenon. The publicity material is especially good at providing details about the nature of physicians' problems and concerns with the situation. The series also provides substantial information on the Society's involvement with the Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan (WHCLIP), a state sponsored malpractice insurance program.

The DECEASED PHYSICIANS FILES provide biographical information on many Society members. The files include applications, Selective Service registration forms, commemorative booklets, obituaries, newspaper clippings and speeches. They are arranged in three groups, and within each group alphabetically by last name. Most of the material in the first group is on physicians who died in the 1940s and 1950s, the second on physicians who died in the 1960s, and the third group on physicians who died in the 1970s. However, there is overlap between groups. Also, the first group contains a smattering of material on physicians who died between 1904 and 1939. The third group only contains files on members who played a major role in the Society.