The collection contains a large number of correspondence files (1913-1972) from the chair
documenting his/her activities, department functions, curriculum and course developments,
student testing, practice teaching, and budget requirements. Correspondence with the dean of
the School of Education and letters of department faculty members are also found in the
correspondence files. Also included is a series of Alice Streng correspondence (1934-1969),
much of it concerning the education of deaf children and the training of teachers of the
deaf. A large number of the letters appear to be from friends and/or former students seeking
advice or sharing experiences. Of particular interest are letters received during the World
War II years from people stationed or teaching overseas, or working in hospitals on the home
front. Also documented are Streng's activities as chairperson of the department.
The faculty minutes (1959-1988) note curriculum developments, faculty activities and
department events, such as workshops and institutes, committee reports, and general
announcements.
The collection also contains records of the Laboratory School for Special Learning
Disabilities and its predecessor the School for Research on Language Disorders. Included are
reports, parents' guides, handbooks, brochures, policy statements, curriculum and executive
committee meeting minutes, and final documents regarding the move to the Campus School.
Other records include miscellaneous committee files; workshop brochures, correspondence,
and reports; studies; guidelines for student teachers in schools for the deaf; and a
scrapbook (1929-1950) of the Winnie Memorial Fund, a scholarship fund established in memory
of Alonzo J. Winnie who established a department for training teachers of the deaf at the
Milwaukee Normal School in 1913.
