The SERA Records are arranged as ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, LEGISLATIVE FILES, LITERATURE FILES, and PROJECT FILES. They span the period from the organization's beginnings to its demise, but actually contain little on either its origins or the reasons for its dissolution. Rather, the records dating to 1978-1979 primarily consist of intermingled documentation about Michael Ducey's activities for the Alternative Power Alliance. Correspondence on APA stationery may be found throughout the collection, and the precise connection between SERA and APA is not clear. The Wisconsin Solar News, which is available in the Historical Society Library, provides an important supplement to SERA's archival records. Unfortunately, the period when SERA began publishing the newsletter is missing from the Library file.
The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS are comprised of Governance, Financial Records, and Office Files. The Governance Records consist of by-laws, articles of incorporation, and board minutes containing typed and handwritten accounts of meetings and organizational plans. Included with the governance records are SERA policy and position papers stating their goals and objectives, board of directors correspondence and mailings, and correspondence between Michael Ducey and William Hurrle. The documentation on the relationship with MASEC, the federal government's midwestern solar center, includes correspondence, memoranda, and a contract.
The alphabetical Office Files include letters requesting information about solar technology, member recruitment letters, and brief, primarily hand-written notes on the 1981 membership meeting. Telephone inquiries comprise the largest component of the Office Files. These files are reports of incoming calls mostly answered by Michael Ducey and office assistant Susan Leonard. Routine requests for information and the Wisconsin Solar News and incomplete forms have been weeded. Of some interest in the correspondence file are letters between Claire Fulenwider of the Wisconsin Center for Public Policy and Michael Ducey regarding his rejection for a policy analyst position with the WCPP. Correspondence with regional state solar offices and their activities are included here. Documented most extensively is the Northeast Regional Office/Brown County Energy Conservation Center in Green Bay.
Lobbying, which is reputed to represent one of SERA's most important activities, although one which was banned by its original by-laws, is documented by disappointingly small files. They document activities of the Legislative Subcommittee's work regarding bills promoting solar energy in Wisconsin. Most important is the Solar Access Bill on which subcommittee members directed a concentrated effort in 1981. Included here are the subcommittee's minutes and agendas from their most active years (1980-1982) and fragmentary correspondence with legislators.
The Literature Files are divided into two groups, Wisconsin and non-Wisconsin organizations, and then alphabetically arranged. The organizations included in the files are all related to environmental concerns. The non-Wisconsin records are comprised of brochures, newsletters, and occasional form letters apparently collected by SERA as part of its function as a community resource center on alternative energy. Few of these files are substantial, although some, such as those concerning the Bailly Alliance, the Black Hills Alliance, and the Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition, are interesting nevertheless, and they provide an indication of the network within which SERA operated.
The Wisconsin portion of the Literature Files documents more active involvement and interest on the part of SERA and, through Ducey, the Alternative Power Alliance and its involvement in anti-nuclear issues. Most extensively represented are the activities of the Badger Safe Energy Alliance, the Citizens Environmental Council, the League Against Nuclear Dangers, Northern Thunder, and the Rainbow Alliance.
The Project Files are arranged alphabetically by title. Most files are incomplete and disappointing. The Capital Center project, which contains hand-written notes, heat loss studies, and projected monthly costs for solar heating, is one of the most substantially documented files. Another concerns the Madison Energy Conservation Committee of which Michael Ducey was a member. Some meeting minutes are included as well as information on work with the Madison Tenant Union (MTU) and the Center for Community Technology (CCT), which also worked on the Madison rental property energy code. The Solarize Madison files concern an APA project. Contained here are advertising, energy efficiency studies, and sketchy hand-written notes. Information on the solar energy program of the Tennessee Valley Authority is included in this portion of the records as part of a commentary about TVA in the Solar News.
