The records of the Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin consist of material donated by several individuals who were leaders during the late 1960's and early 1970's. Although the records are, as a result, concentrated in that time period, it is nonetheless an important collection for researchers. These records complement numerous collections on the youth movement of the 1960's held by the State Historical Society and also the records of the same period on the Young Republicans contained within the John Gower Papers. Included are constitutions; executive committee minutes; correspondence of members of the executive board; position statements and other records pertaining to state conventions; fragmentary financial records; files on various local and district YDCW units and on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin; newsletters, manuals, and miscellaneous publications; membership directories; and material pertaining to special projects and activities.
The collection has been organized into twelve series: organizational records; correspondence, form mailings, and memoranda; executive committee files; state convention files; projects and activities; membership records; press and publications; miscellany; unit files; and files on the Young Democratic Clubs of America, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and other organizations.
ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS include constitutions from 1967 to 1973, platforms and position statements adopted by state conventions from 1967 to 1972, and manuals and guides arranged alphabetically by subject. The manuals generally concern recruitment and organization.
CORRESPONDENCE, FORM MAILINGS, AND MEMORANDA consists of general correspondence from other state young democratic organizations, mailings from the YDCW state office to its members, and memoranda exchanged between the state office and various officers and members.
The EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FILES have been arranged into three subheadings: officers' files, meetings, and financial records. Officers' files are the most extensive with subarrangement done by official titles. These files include correspondence to and from the officer concerning work with the YDCW, although those pertaining to Ronald San Felipe, national committeeman, pertain to other related activities. Meeting files, which are among the most important documentation in the collection, consist of agendas and minutes of meetings of the executive board, 1966-1972. The financial records are fragmentary and consist of correspondence and reports from the state treasurer and miscellaneous source documents.
STATE CONVENTION FILES include material on the annual state conventions from 1963 through 1972 as well as some information on miscellaneous other meetings. State conventions from the years 1963 to 1966 are represented by convention booklets. The 1967 meeting is most extensively documented; it is represented by correspondence, financial records, and miscellaneous other papers. The papers from the years 1968 to 1971 include lesser amounts of correspondence. Official positions taken by the conventions are filed with the ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS.
PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES include papers on the YDCW involvement with the model legislatures program from 1967-1971; efforts to lower the voting age to 18; and general registration drives from 1968-1972. Information on campaign activities is not treated as a special project, but instead is scattered throughout the collection. However, there is some segregated material pertaining to a Bronson La Follette campaign within the DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN files.
MEMBERSHIP RECORDS AND DIRECTORIES consists of lists of officers and special categories of members. Several boxes of membership receipts for the period documented in the collection were discarded because of their bulk.
The majority of the material within the PRESS AND PUBLICITY section of the collection has been separated to the Society library. Remaining is some editorial correspondence of Ron San Felipe and a few miscellaneous titles that would be difficult to catalog. Short runs of newsletters distributed by the various district and local YDCW clubs have also been retained as part of this collection; they are filed in the UNIT FILES.
MISCELLANY consists of general forms, questionnaires, and other papers.
The UNITS FILES are divided into groupings for district and local units, each being filed alphabetically by name, with subgroupings for correspondence and general papers and for newsletters.
YOUNG DEMOCRATIC CLUBS OF AMERICA files consist of constitutions, manuals, correspondence, and administrative and informational material. Files on the DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN contain organization and administrative papers, correspondence, press releases, and campaign material.
The OTHER ORGANIZATIONS section consists of material pertaining to the Wisconsin Youth Council and other groups with which the Young Democrats were involved.
