Title: Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin Records
Inclusive Dates: 1963-1973

Creator:

• Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin

Call Number: Mss 369

Quantity: 4.8 c.f. (12 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Records, mainly 1968-1972, of the official youth organization of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin which for most of its history was known as the Young Democratic Clubs of Wisconsin. Included are constitutions; executive committee minutes; correspondence of members of the executive board; position statements and other records pertaining to state conventions; fragmentary financial records; files on various local and district YDCW units and on other groups such as the Wisconsin Youth Council; newsletters, manuals and miscellaneous publications; membership directories; and material pertaining to special projects and activities. Files pertaining to campaign activities are scattered, although there are some segregated materials of note pertaining to Bronson La Follette.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00369

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Information on the origins of the Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin is unclear and contradictory. Although not documented within the records of the organization held by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, it is known that there were small, local organizations of young Democrats operating in the state during the 1930's and 1940's. In these years the clubs helped the senior party with election activities and served as a training ground for those individuals interested in politics. Although the YDCW still functions in that way, it has since grown into a state-wide organization that is recognized as a political organization in its own right.

Correspondence contained within the records of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin at the Society indicates that movement in that direction began with the reorganization of the state Democratic Party in the late 1940's and 1950's. The first constitution adopted by the Democratic Organizing Committee recognized the Young Democratic Clubs of Wisconsin as its official youth organization but left the role and purpose of the group unspecified. In many areas of the state the DOC membership was youthful and the organization was new and young people found a role for themselves within the DOC; no special youth arm was necessary. It seems likely that Young Democratic activity at this period was concentrated on college and university campuses in Milwaukee and Dane counties. Certainly individuals from these two counties led in the attempt to put the Young Democrats on a more organized statewide footing. In 1951 several young Democrats met at Wausau in conjunction with the DOC convention. The organization initiated at that meeting was formalized at a convention of Young Democrats at Stevens Point on February 24, 1952, and a provisional constitution was adopted. On May 18 the constitution was adopted by a meeting at Wisconsin Dells.

Despite the establishment of a state-wide framework for young Democrats there continued to be unhappiness about the group on the part of the DOC, although the nature of this dissatisfaction is not specified in the records. It is clear that the senior party saw the youth organization as an important aspect of its attempt to organize and recruit key population groups. Internal squabbling and disagreement on the function and purpose of the group again became prominent during the 1960's when young people became particularly active in the political arena.

In 1973 the organization officially changed its name to the Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin.

The records of the Young Democratic Caucus of Wisconsin consist of material donated by several individuals who were leaders during the late 1960's and early 1970's. Although the records are, as a result, concentrated in that time period, it is nonetheless an important collection for researchers. These records complement numerous collections on the youth movement of the 1960's held by the State Historical Society and also the records of the same period on the Young Republicans contained within the John Gower Papers. Included are constitutions; executive committee minutes; correspondence of members of the executive board; position statements and other records pertaining to state conventions; fragmentary financial records; files on various local and district YDCW units and on the Democratic Party of Wisconsin; newsletters, manuals, and miscellaneous publications; membership directories; and material pertaining to special projects and activities.

The collection has been organized into twelve series: organizational records; correspondence, form mailings, and memoranda; executive committee files; state convention files; projects and activities; membership records; press and publications; miscellany; unit files; and files on the Young Democratic Clubs of America, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and other organizations.

ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS include constitutions from 1967 to 1973, platforms and position statements adopted by state conventions from 1967 to 1972, and manuals and guides arranged alphabetically by subject. The manuals generally concern recruitment and organization.

CORRESPONDENCE, FORM MAILINGS, AND MEMORANDA consists of general correspondence from other state young democratic organizations, mailings from the YDCW state office to its members, and memoranda exchanged between the state office and various officers and members.

The EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FILES have been arranged into three subheadings: officers' files, meetings, and financial records. Officers' files are the most extensive with subarrangement done by official titles. These files include correspondence to and from the officer concerning work with the YDCW, although those pertaining to Ronald San Felipe, national committeeman, pertain to other related activities. Meeting files, which are among the most important documentation in the collection, consist of agendas and minutes of meetings of the executive board, 1966-1972. The financial records are fragmentary and consist of correspondence and reports from the state treasurer and miscellaneous source documents.

STATE CONVENTION FILES include material on the annual state conventions from 1963 through 1972 as well as some information on miscellaneous other meetings. State conventions from the years 1963 to 1966 are represented by convention booklets. The 1967 meeting is most extensively documented; it is represented by correspondence, financial records, and miscellaneous other papers. The papers from the years 1968 to 1971 include lesser amounts of correspondence. Official positions taken by the conventions are filed with the ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS.

PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES include papers on the YDCW involvement with the model legislatures program from 1967-1971; efforts to lower the voting age to 18; and general registration drives from 1968-1972. Information on campaign activities is not treated as a special project, but instead is scattered throughout the collection. However, there is some segregated material pertaining to a Bronson La Follette campaign within the DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN files.

MEMBERSHIP RECORDS AND DIRECTORIES consists of lists of officers and special categories of members. Several boxes of membership receipts for the period documented in the collection were discarded because of their bulk.

The majority of the material within the PRESS AND PUBLICITY section of the collection has been separated to the Society library. Remaining is some editorial correspondence of Ron San Felipe and a few miscellaneous titles that would be difficult to catalog. Short runs of newsletters distributed by the various district and local YDCW clubs have also been retained as part of this collection; they are filed in the UNIT FILES.

MISCELLANY consists of general forms, questionnaires, and other papers.

The UNITS FILES are divided into groupings for district and local units, each being filed alphabetically by name, with subgroupings for correspondence and general papers and for newsletters.

YOUNG DEMOCRATIC CLUBS OF AMERICA files consist of constitutions, manuals, correspondence, and administrative and informational material. Files on the DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN contain organization and administrative papers, correspondence, press releases, and campaign material.

The OTHER ORGANIZATIONS section consists of material pertaining to the Wisconsin Youth Council and other groups with which the Young Democrats were involved.

Acquisition Information

Presented by George Wilbur, Madison, Wisconsin, 1974; Ronald San Felipe, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1977; and Gordon Hendrickson, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1982. Accession Number: M74-28; M77-163; M82-142

Processing Information

Processed by Matthew Alexander, Linda Erich, and Joanne Hohler, 1983; and by Carolyn J. Mattern, 1985.

	Series: Organizational Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Constitutions, 1967-1973
Box   1 Folder   2	Platforms, 1967-1972
Box   1 Folder   3-4	Manuals, guides, undated
	Series: Correspondence, Form Mailings, Memoranda	⇧
Box   1 Folder   5-9	1965-1971, December
Box   2 Folder   1	1971, December, 1972
	Series: Executive Committee Files	⇧
	Officers' files
	Presidents
Box   2 Folder   2	Clifford, Keith R., 1969
Box   2 Folder   3-4	Smolinski, Ronald, 1969-1971
	Barbash, Mark
Box   2 Folder   5-10	1971-1972
Box   3 Folder   1	1972, continued
Box   3 Folder   2	President's Memo, 1971-1972
	Executive vice-presidents
Box   3 Folder   3	Barbash, Mark, 1969-1970
Box   3 Folder   4	Kennedy, Don, 1970-1971
	Non-college vice-presidents
Box   3 Folder   5	1968-1971
Box   3 Folder   6	Non-College Report, 1971
Box   3 Folder   7	College vice-presidents, 1970-1971
	National committeemen
	San Felipe, Ron
	Correspondence
Box   3 Folder   8-14	1968-1969, May
Box   4 Folder   1-6	1969, June-1972
Box   4 Folder   7	18th Ward of Milwaukee, 1968-1970
Box   4 Folder   8	Milwaukee School Board, 1969-1970
Box   4 Folder   9	Maier for Mayor campaign, 1967-1968
Box   4 Folder   10	Koltz, Michael, 1970-1971
Box   4 Folder   11	National committeewoman, 1970-1971
	Treasurers
Box   4 Folder   12-13	Hendrickson, Gordon, 1966-1968
Box   4 Folder   14	Chander, Steven, 1970-1971
	Administrative representatives
Box   5 Folder   1	Smolinski, Ronald, 1969
Box   5 Folder   2	Gilchrist, McKay, 1971-1971
Box   5 Folder   3	Recording secretaries, 1970-1971
Box   5 Folder   4	Corresponding secretaries, 1970-1971
Box   5 Folder   5-6	Organizational director, Southeast (San Felipe), 1967-1968
	Meeting files
Box   5 Folder   7	Agendas, 1966-1972
Box   5 Folder   8-10	Minutes, 1966-1972
Box   5 Folder   11	Minutes, Miscellaneous, undated
Box   5 Folder   12	Reports, 1963-1971
	Financial records
Box   5 Folder   13	Treasurers' reports, budgets, audits, 1966-1972
Box   5 Folder   14	Presidents' account, 1966-1971
Box   5 Folder   15	Special reports, circa 1966
Box   5 Folder   16	Income and expense records, 1966-1967
Box   6 Folder   1-3	Pay orders (Invoices), 1966-1971
Box   6 Folder   4	Correspondence and memoranda, 1966-1972
	Series: State Convention Files	⇧
	Annual conventions
Box   6 Folder   5-11	1963-1971
Box   7 Folder   1	1972
Box   7 Folder   2	Other conferences and conventions, 1966-1971
	Series: Projects and Activities	⇧
Box   7 Folder   3-7	Model Legislature, 1967-1971
	18-Year Old Vote
Box   7 Folder   8-9	Correspondence, 1969-1972
Box   7 Folder   10	Bills and resolutions and clippings, 1971-1972
Box   7 Folder   11-12	Voter registration, 1967-1972
Box   7 Folder   13	Other, undated
	Series: Membership Records And Directories	⇧
Box   8 Folder   1-3	Officers, 1966-1971
Box   8 Folder   4-5	Members and honorary members, 1967-1970
Box   8 Folder   6	Miscellaneous membership records
	Series: Press and Publications	⇧
Box   8 Folder   7	Young Democratic Report, Editorial correspondence, San Felipe, 1967-1968
Box   8 Folder   8	Miscellaneous newsletters from state office, 1969-1972
Box   8 Folder   9	Press releases, 1967-1972
Box   8 Folder   10	Clippings, 1967-1972
Box   8 Folder   11	Series: Miscellany, undated	⇧
	Series: Unit Files	⇧
	Districts, 1967-1972
	Correspondence
Box   8 Folder   12	Capital, Fox Valley, Lake, Lake Superior
Box   9 Folder   1	Milwaukee metropolitan area
Box   9 Folder   2	Mississippi Valley, St. Croix Valley
Box   9 Folder   3	South Lake
Box   9 Folder   4	Wisconsin Valley
Box   9 Folder   5	Newsletters
	Locals, 1965-1971
	Correspondence
Box   9 Folder   6-14	Alverno - University of Wisconsin-Madison
Box   10 Folder   1-5	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Wisconsin State University-Whitewater
	Newsletters
Box   10 Folder   6-13	Adams - UW-Milwaukee
Box   11 Folder   1-5	Van Buren - Wood County
	Series: Young Democratic Clubs of America	⇧
Box   11 Folder   6	Correspondence and mailings, 1968-1970
Box   11 Folder   7	National conventions, 1969
Box   11 Folder   8	Other states, undated
	Series: Democratic Party of Wisconsin	⇧
Box   11 Folder   9-10	Administrative and organizational material, 1967-1972
Box   11 Folder   10	Jefferson-Jackson day dinner, 1968
Box   11 Folder   11	Press releases, campaign material, 1965-1970
Box   12 Folder   1	Obey campaign material, 1969-1970
Box   12 Folder   2	Youth for Humphrey, 1967-1968
Box   12 Folder   3-4	Youth for La Follette (Bronson), 1967-1968
	Series: Other Organizations	⇧
Box   12 Folder   5-6	Wisconsin Youth Council, 1969-1972
Box   12 Folder   7	Miscellaneous organizations, undated