The records of the Walworth County Barracks #3241 are divided into three series, Barracks #3241, Auxiliary, and Photographs.
Barracks #3241 (1963-1991) contains fairly complete records relating to the operation and interests of the organization. Included are meeting minutes that span the lifetime of the barracks and provide insight into their activities. Early meeting minutes show active membership recruitment and efforts to secure pro-veteran legislation while minutes from the later years show a dramatic drop in membership due to deaths and difficulty holding meetings due to the age of members. Correspondence and meeting minutes document the decision to disband the barracks in 1991 due to those problems. Also included in this series are financial records that show the rise and decline of the organization. Bank statements, cancelled checks, and reports show large amounts of money being acquired through membership dues in the 1960s and '70s, with that amount declining significantly in the '80s. The barracks spent money on national organizational dues, flowers and memorials for deceased members, and patriotic materials such as flags for the meeting hall. The theme of rise and fall in membership is also supported by applications, dues records, membership lists, and death notices of members. Correspondence deals largely with the term of Barracks #3241 member Claire Congdon as Commander of the Department of Wisconsin from 1985 to 1986. Letters relate to scheduling meetings and conventions, visiting barracks around the state, as well as helping and visiting members in hospitals. Also from Congdon's term as Department Commander are meeting minutes and other materials relating to the Veterans of World War I's participation in several state veterans organizations such as Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, the State Council of Commanders, and the Veterans Council. These materials provide a look into the concerns of other veterans organizations and the declining role and significance of World War I veterans in the 1980s.
Auxiliary (1965-1991) consists of the records documenting the role of the women's group that formed to support Barracks #3241. Membership consisted almost entirely of the wives and widows of World War I veterans, and the meeting minutes, financial records, and membership lists in many ways mirror those of the barracks. Meeting minutes show the group's patriotic activities declining as the members aged and became less mobile. Financial records, such as bank statements and cancelled checks, are fairly complete and reveal declining funds raised through dues and corresponding fewer expenditures. A log book holds records of sympathy cards sent out to the families of deceased members
Photographs (1991) contains one photograph of five members of Barracks #3241 at the final meeting of the group in 1991. The men, all above the age of ninety, are standing together after voting to disband their barracks.
