Title: Association of Wisconsin Planners Records
Inclusive Dates: 1929-1982

Creator:

• Association of Wisconsin Planners

Call Number: Mss 740; Tape 1208A; PH Mss 740

Quantity: 2.0 c.f. (2 record center cartons), 3 tape recordings, and 11 photographs

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Records, mainly 1951-1982, of an organization of professional planners in Wisconsin which merged with the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Planners in 1982. Included are constitutions and by-laws, minutes, officers' correspondence, files on regional chapters and functional committees, photographs, and files on conferences and annual meetings which examined topics such as regional growth.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00740

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The Association of Wisconsin Planners (AWP) was a private, professional organization founded in 1952 to promote closer contact among practitioners of urban and regional planning in Wisconsin and to educate the public about environmental problems that planners attempted to solve. Members of the AWP committed themselves to a statewide focus at their third general meeting in 1952 when they adopted the title Association of Wisconsin Planners in preference to alternative titles that associated the group with the Milwaukee area. The AWP worked to accomplish its goals mainly through frequent meetings of the membership and periodic general conferences organized around a particular theme. Beginning in 1967 the AWP also sponsored regional chapters to coordinate and publicize local professional activities. For the same purpose, the meetings and conferences of the state organization were held at various locations around the state.

A focus of the AWP's activities was its work to influence state legislation through the Joint Legislative Committee of the AWP and the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Planners. This committee occasionally supplied the membership with reports on legislation relating to land use and development. It also took public positions on proposed legislation and worked to convince legislators of the value of planning development strategies.

The specific projects of the AWP that received the greatest public notice were its gradual development of principles of water resource management and its publication in 1973 of a volume of conference papers on urban growth centers in Wisconsin, Growth Centers: What Are They?

During the late 1970's the association experienced increasing problems with delinquent membership fees and increased debt. In 1981 William A. Brehm, Jr., was elected president as the head of a slate that held joint membership in the AWP and the WAPA. Under his leadership, AWP proposed a merger of the two groups. After reconciliation of the differences, in 1982 the annual conference of the AWP voted to disband, with the remaining organizational treasury being donated to the planning libraries at the University of Wisconsin and the UW-Milwaukee.

A more extensive history of the AWP was published in the last issue of the organization's newsletter which is contained with the historical material in the first folder of this collection.

The records of the Association of Wisconsin Planners are typical of the documentation generated by professional organizations, consisting chiefly of constitutions, minutes, correspondence, committee files, chapter files, conference material, and financial records. Also like the collections of most professional organizations, the AWP records tend to be stronger with regard to internal matters, while its commitment to public education and outreach are incompletely covered.

As the collection was compiled from files maintained by numerous individuals, the documentation varies considerably. There is, for example, extensive material on several of the organization's annual conferences, even including copies of addresses delivered, but other meetings are virtually unrepresented. Fortunately, minutes, probably the most important type of documentation for examining any organization's history, appear complete except for the AWP's early years. Gaps in the primary historical record are further supplemented by an incomplete run of the AWP newsletter available in the Historical Society Library.

Historical material, which begins the collection, includes the last issue of the AWP Newsletter, which was a brief history of the organization prepared by William A. Brehm, Jr., and chronological notes.

The constitutions document AWP's original sense of professional and public mission, and through various draft revisions, how that purpose was articulated in the following years. Also present is a notebook of material of a related character apparently compiled about 1975, containing copies of correspondence and memoranda which pertained to the operational policies of the group.

Minutes date from 1952, when the organization was primarily focused in Milwaukee, to the final meeting of the organization in 1982. However, the files on the early years appear incomplete and minutes for 1964 are totally absent. The chronologically-arranged files include material on both the membership meetings, which featured professional presentations within a gathering that was largely social, and the executive board meetings, which were business and policy sessions. In addition to agenda and proceedings, the minute files also contain some correspondence, memoranda, notes, announcements, financial summaries, and other types of functional documentation which duplicates files elsewhere in the collection.

The correspondence was drawn from separate files of several state and regional officers. As a result of the varying practices of these officers, the coverage here also varies in completeness. Of special note is a file of uncertain provenance dated 1929-1939 which contains correspondence and membership lists pertaining to the Wisconsin Planners Club and the Wisconsin City and Regional Planning Association, In general, the correspondence concerns administrative functions.

The chapter files consist of correspondence, fragmentary minutes, and announcements of meetings and conferences of the various regional subdivisions of the AWP after 1967. Most extensively represented is the Northern Chapter. Alphabetically-arranged committee files document several specialized internal activities. Included are membership rosters, candidate slates, and information on professional awards. Most disappointing is the file on the legislative committee which documents lobbying activities of the late 1950's, 1969, and 1980-1981 only. Once again, the newsletter provides useful although not primary information about the association's legislative activities and positions on specific bills.

Conferences, a few of which were jointly sponsored with the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Institute of Planners, were designed to focus public attention on specific planning and environmental issues. Included are planning correspondence, programs, announcements, financial information, and press clippings. For a few select meetings, the collection includes copies of papers presented to the group. The proceedings of the 1973 conference, Growth Centers of Wisconsin, are available in the Historical Society Library. The collection also contains tape recordings of three AWP workshops on zoning, industrial development, and subdivision control; unfortunately, the tapes could not be identified from the conference records in the collection.

The association's financial records consist of annual and quarterly statements and summaries.

Photographs, primarily from the Association of Wisconsin Planners Conference, May 25-26, 1972, include images of Governor Patrick J. Lucey.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the AWP, 1983 and via A. J. Karetski, Madison, Wisconsin, 1965, and Hilda Carter, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1971-1975. Accession Number: M65-14, M65-86, M71-162, M72-352, M75-384, M83-234

Processing Information

Processed by Thomas Flory (Intern), with additions processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 1988.

Mss 740 Box   1 Folder   1	Historical material, 1982, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Constitution and by-laws, 1953-1980
Box   1 Folder   3	Policy notebook, compiled circa 1975
Box   1 Folder   4-11	Minutes, 1952-1959, 1964-1982
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   12	Early correspondence, 1929-1939
Box   1 Folder   13-23	1953-1963; 1965-1982
	Chapter files
Box   2 Folder   1	Northeast, 1966-1976
Box   2 Folder   2-5	Northern, 1969-1973
Box   2 Folder   6	Northwest, 1972-1974
Box   2 Folder   7	Southeast, 1967-1979
Box   2 Folder   8	Southwest, 1970-1976
Box   2 Folder   9	Miscellaneous chapter meetings, 1966-1979
	Committee files
Box   2 Folder   10	Awards Committee, 1967-1;975
Box   2 Folder   11	Education Committee, 1960-1969
Box   2 Folder   12	Legislative Committee, 1958-1969
Box   2 Folder   13	Legislative reports, 1980-1981
Box   2 Folder   14-15	Membership Committee, 1955-1982, undated
Box   2 Folder   16	Newsletter, 1965-1966, 1972-1974
Box   2 Folder   17	Nominating Committee, 1966-1972
Box   2 Folder   18	Program Committee, 1957-1967, undated
	Conferences and meetings
Box   2 Folder   19-28	1956-1974
Box   2 Folder   29	1977-1982
Tape 1208A	Recorded conference workshops, undated
No.   1	Zoning
No.   2	Industrial development
No.   3	Subdivision control
Mss 740 Box   2 Folder   30-34	Financial records, 1960-1982
Box   2 Folder   35	Miscellaneous publications and publicity
PH Mss 740	Photographs