Summary Information
Milwaukee Citizens for Equal Opportunity Records
1960-1966
- Milwaukee Citizens for Equal Opportunity
Milwaukee Micro 16; Micro 670
1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Records of a Milwaukee organization originally formed in 1960 to support the civil rights movement in the South, but which ultimately turned its attention to the problems of local housing discrimination and school segregation. Included are correspondence, minutes, newsletters, and miscellaneous papers. Also present are materials on involvements with groups such as the Citizens Committee for Fair Housing Practices, with which the MCEO ultimately merged; the Milwaukee Urban League; the Wisconsin Citizens for Fair Housing Practices; the Milwaukee Area Joint Committee for Equal Opportunity in Housing; and the Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-micr0670 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Milwaukee Citizens for Equal Opportunity (MCEO) was organized in November, 1960. Initially its interest was focused on civil rights problems in the South. In 1961 it obtained 5,500 signatures on a petition to President Kennedy urging his strongest support to school integration in all states, and raised money for the Save Our Schools committee in New Orleans and for evicted tenant farmers in Fayette County, Tennessee.
The MCEO soon turned its attention to local problems of housing discrimination and school integration in Milwaukee. It cooperated with and later merged with the Citizens Committee for Fair Housing Practices. In 1962 and 1963 it circulated “Good Neighbor Pledges,” and published names of signers in the Milwaukee Journal. It initiated a free housing referral service in 1964, but difficulties in locating adequate housing available on a nondiscriminatory basis further convinced the MCEO of the necessity of corrective legislation. In 1963 and 1965 it was active in organizing support for fair housing bills under consideration by the state legislature. It was also active in its efforts to encourage reforms in the Milwaukee school system and criticized de facto segregation, supporting the 1964 and 1965 school boycotts.
Scope and Content Note
The records on this microfilm include correspondence, minutes of meetings, newsletters, ephemera, and miscellaneous organizational materials pertaining to the activities of the MCEO. Among the correspondence are several letters exchanged with James Farmer of CORE, Mayor Henry Maier of Milwaukee, and several Wisconsin congressmen. Also present are some materials relating to other local civil rights organizations, including the Citizens Committee for Fair Housing Practices, the Milwaukee Area Joint Committee for Equal Opportunity in Housing, Milwaukee Urban League, Wisconsin Citizens for Fair Housing, Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations, and other groups. A few materials representing civil rights activities of out-of-state groups are also present, evidently used by MCEO for reference purposes. Most, but not all, of these relate to Illinois. Of particular interest are an action guide on “How to Prevent Panic Selling,” distributed by the New York City Commission on Human Rights (mimeographed, October 1963), and a detailed presentation of the campaign of the Greater Minneapolis Interfaith Fair Housing Program (mimeographed, circa 1960; title page missing), some of whose techniques appear to have been adapted by MCEO for use in Milwaukee. These two items appear at the very end of the film. All other materials have been placed in a single chronological sequence, followed by a number of undated items, and by the two mimeographed pamphlets just described.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Originals loaned for microfilming by Helen Barnhill, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1966. Accession Number: M66-51
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