Title: Milwaukee Public Schools Teachers’ Annuity and Retirement Fund Records
Inclusive Dates: 1909-1975

Creator:

• Milwaukee Public School Teachers Annuity and Retirement Fund Association

Call Number: City of Milwaukee Archival Collection 57

Quantity:

• 1.4 cubic ft. (4 boxes)
• 1 volume

Repository:

Milwaukee Public Library, Frank P. Zeidler Room

Archival Location:

Milwaukee Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Milwaukee Public School Teachers’ Annuity and Retirement Fund. Contains meeting minutes, proceedings, and reports.

Note:

To request materials from this collection, create/login to your Special Collections Account.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.mwpl-cmac0057

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Milwaukee established the first retirement plan for public teachers after the Chapter 510 Laws of 1909 created the Milwaukee Teachers' Annuity and Retirement Fund. Participation in the fund was initially voluntary but later became mandatory. Chapter 322 Laws of 1911 created a statewide retirement plan for all teachers who taught in the other public school systems, including normal schools and the state university system. Under it, teachers in the Milwaukee Public School System could contribute to a fund, which provided a monthly benefit at retirement, at age 65, or after incapacitation due to disability. A Board of ten Trustees, including the President of the School Board, four teachers and four members of the School Board administered the Fund.

A series of changes to the statewide plan and its governing boards took place over the years. Chapter 511 Laws of 1951 clarified the governing and investment structure and renamed the plan the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS) and created one governing board to oversee the plan. The 1951 laws also abolished the three separate public school, normal school, and university retirement boards originally created in 1921 and abolished the State Annuity and Investment Board created in 1929. In their place, the legislature established the State Teachers' Retirement Board, which covered all teachers, and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB). The public pension system then consisted of the Wisconsin Retirement Fund (WRF), the State Teachers' Retirement System (STRS), the Milwaukee Teachers' Retirement System (MTRS), and the two systems for Milwaukee City and Milwaukee County employees.

The state legislature created the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) in 1967. ETF operated under the direction of a seven-member ETF Board that was responsible for managing STRS and WRF. Chapter 280 Laws of 1975 initiated the final step toward a merger. To ensure a financially sound retirement system, the legislature declared that STRS, MTRS, and WRF merge into one system called the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS). With the unionization of teachers in the System, the Annuity and Retirement Fund was abolished thereafter.

This collection includes a variety of annual meeting minutes, meeting transcripts, and committee reports in various handwritten, typed, cumulative, or individually bound formats. They start with the minutes of the inaugural meeting on 18 September 1909 thru 1975. There is also the Individual Credits Assessments volume, which is an alphabetical listing of teachers and a monthly list of their credits of assessment from September 1914 to January 1917.

Collection is arranged alphabetically. Contents include four types of bindings – hardbound sewn notebooks, 2-hole binders, spiral notebooks, and 2-hole paper-covered reports. In some cases there are multiple copies of the same year’s information. After 1940, there are many instances of inserted typewritten reports taped or fastened to a page. Reports are generally in chronological order but within notebooks there are instances of items being out of order.

Milwaukee Public Schools Teachers’ Annuity and Retirement Fund Records, 1909-1975, Collection 57. City of Milwaukee Archival Collections, Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Archival Collections

• Annuity and Pension Board Records. City of Milwaukee Archival Collection 28.

• Board of School Directors Records. City of Milwaukee Archival Collection 69.

• City Service Commission Records. City of Milwaukee Archival Collection 56.

Publications and Other Items

Minutes

Secretary's Report

Wisconsin Retirement System [electronic resource]

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials. The collection is open to all in accordance with state law. The public may view City of Milwaukee Archival Collections by appointment at the Central Library. To request an in-person appointment, create/login to your Special Collections Account. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives and Special Collections Department at mplarchives@milwaukee.gov.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

Milwaukee Public Library receives official materials from city departments via the Milwaukee City Records Center, pursuant to state statutes and city ordinances governing the permanent retention of city records.

Processing Information

Processed by Janet K. Geronime, 1996. Revised by Gayle M. Ecklund, 2001. Described by Jeffrey K. Carlin-Bartel, Volunteer Archivist, 2013. Final processing by Casey Lapworth, Archives Librarian, 2017. In 2018, Bob Jaeger added the Minutes and Proceedings and renumbered the collection CMAC 57.

Volume   1	Individual Credits Assessments, 1914-1917
Box   1	Minutes, Proceedings, and Reports, 1909-1948
Box   2	Minutes, Proceedings, and Reports, 1948-1961
Box   3	Minutes, Proceedings, and Reports, 1956-1972
Box   4 Folder   1	Report of Actuary, 1944
Box   4 Folder   2	Report of Audit, 1943
Box   4 Folder   3-4	Secretary’s Report, 1963-1975