This collection contains materials from the City Clerk of Milwaukee. It includes
items on licenses, particularly for liquor, sewerage records, and opinions from the
City Attorney to the City Clerk. The bulk of these opinions deal with questions
regarding tavern and liquor licenses. There are some opinions regarding other types
of licenses such as those of dance halls, pool tables, transient merchants, second
hand dealers, cigarettes, and soft drinks.
There is also a chronological list of Common Council committee meetings giving names
of absent members, a Digest that compiled information from official records
regarding Milwaukee’s financial administration, as well as Municipal Court
Commitments which is a chronological list of persons committed to jail or the House
of Correction. Information provided here includes name, number of days, fine and
date paid, with occasional miscellaneous notes (i.e. escaped, transferred to county
hospital, etc.).
The Record of Bonds and Licenses lists licenses by year and then alphabetically by
surname of principal. Other information provided includes address and ward. The Ward
and Sewerage Certificates volumes record curbing and paving work in each ward,
costs, dates, lots, lineal feet of sewer to lots in each ward, and certificates.
Also included are special assessments for the following items: sprinkling, sidewalk
repairs and/or removal of snow/dirt, laying house drains and water connections, and
opening and widening streets. The Water and Sewer Records contains various volumes
such as permits, bills, and account books.
Boxes 3-4 contain petitions signed by citizens of Milwaukee for a referendum on open
housing. The petition reads "Be it resolved: that the Common Council of the City of
Milwaukee SHALL NOT enact any ordinance which in any manner restricts the right of
owners of real estate to sell, lease or rent private property." There are over 1,000
petitions, each with twenty signatures. The referendum was primarily conducted from
September thru November of 1967. The petitions are roughly in the order of which
they were received, but seem to have no discernible arrangement.
