The Milwaukee Civic Alliance was organized in 1924 as an alliance of Milwaukee-area
civic clubs with three stated goals: 1) to study matters of community interest or
concern and to encourage the study of said matters; 2) to encourage action on the
part of component member organizations to address matters of community interest or
concern; and 3) to advance the interests of component organizations. The original
Alliance was composed of four local clubs and counted roughly 350 members; by the
early 1960s, over 30 clubs joined the Alliance and its membership numbered around
3,000. The Alliance’s activities centered around civic affairs and good citizenship
rather than political or business interests.
Member clubs in the Civic Alliance included chapters of Altrusa, the City Club,
Civitan, Kiwanis, Lions Club, Milwaukee Junior Chamber of Commerce, the Optimist
Club, Rotary and the Sertoma Club. Each member club in the Alliance was represented
by its president, secretary, vice president and two delegates. At the beginning of
each year, the member clubs reported what civic projects should be the focus of the
Alliance for that year. In addition to monthly meetings, two joint meetings were
held each year for the overall membership of all of the clubs.
Notable projects that the Milwaukee Civic Alliance promoted including the “Health and
Welfare Survey” of the city (which grew out of a 1947 program on “Youth Guidance for
the Prevention of Delinquency”); securing daylight saving time for Milwaukee;
organization of the City Charter League; leadership in local celebrations such as
Milwaukee’s 80th anniversary; the steering committee which resulted in the
Metropolitan Milwaukee War Memorial Corporation; promotion of the Greater Milwaukee
Committee; and the relocation and building of a Juvenile Court.
The Milwaukee Civic Alliance changed its name to the Metropolitan Civic Alliance
around 1960. In 1969 the Alliance filed papers to be officially incorporated as a
nonprofit corporation under the Wisconsin Nonstock Corporation Law. The Metropolitan
Milwaukee Civic Alliance dissolved in 2013.
