Summary Information
Wisconsin. Equal Rights Division: Hearing Files
1963-1967
- Wisconsin. Equal Rights Division
Series 1747; Audio 1380A
2.0 cubic feet (5 archives boxes) and 22 tape recordings
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Files on fact-finding hearings conducted by the Division to gain information on employment and housing opportunities for minority group members, including testimony from business and industrial firms, labor organizations, and units of government on the racial characteristics of their members and personnel and their hiring, work, and membership practices. The files include correspondence, policy statements, application forms, testimony, and findings. Also included are recordings of many of the hearings covered in the files and recordings concerning civil rights groups and their suggestions for future division activity, state and federal employment rules, and a 1967 meeting with paper company representatives on Title VII and sex equity in the workplace.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-ser01747 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
The Fair Employment Practices Division was created by the Industrial Commission in 1945 to administer Wisconsin's fair employment law enacted in that year. The Fair Employment Practices Act (Sec. 111.31-111.37 Wis. Statutes) provides that it is unlawful and subject to penalty to discriminate because of age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin, and ancestry. The Act authorized the Industrial Commission to receive and investigate complaints charging discrimination or discriminatory practices and give publicity to its findings with respect thereto. The Commission and its duly authorized agents were empowered to hold hearings, subpoena witnesses, and take testimony. If the Industrial Commission found probable cause to believe that any discrimination had been committed it was authorized to immediately endeavor to eliminate the practice by conference, conciliation, and persuasion. In case of failure so to eliminate the discrimination, the Commission was to hold hearings, make written findings, and recommend such action as would effectuate the purposes of the Act. The Commission had authority to issue enforceable orders. The Commission had authority to also make, amend, and rescind such rules and regulations as were necessary to carry out the Act. Findings and orders of the Commission were subject to review under Chapter 227.
During the early 1960s, the Fair Employment Practices Division concluded that the piecemeal method of working with individual complaints was producing minimal results. Consequently, it recommended to the Commission that a program of fact-finding hearings be initiated and be made an integral part of the Division's activities. The Commission approved the recommendation, and in August of 1963 the fact-finding program got underway with the first of three hearings in Milwaukee. From August 1963 through June 1964, additional hearings were held in Kenosha, Janesville-Beloit (combined hearings), Madison, and Racine. In the course of these hearings, 87 business and industrial firms, three labor organizations, and nine units of government presented testimony to the Commission.
In the conduct of the hearings, the Commission's intent was to gather information about the racial characteristics of the organizations' members and personnel and their hiring, work, and membership practices. The firms and other organizations invited to participate in these hearings were not suspected of discriminatory practices, but rather they represented a selected sample that could, in the Division's opinion, give an accurate impression of employment opportunities for minority groups in the area. The Commission then made several recommendations to testifying organizations including the following:
- That a policy statement regarding merit employment be drafted and distributed;
- That the organizations take aggressive action to make known their willingness to hire qualified minority group members;
- That the term “An equal opportunity employer” be used in help wanted advertisements;
- That agencies hiring under civil service rules be more specific in their written report regarding the “not hired” reasoning; and
- That non-discriminatory clauses be included in all union contracts.
The Division also administered the Non-Discriminatory Contracts Law (Sec. 16.765 Wis. Statutes) enacted by the 1959 session of the Legislature. It required all contracting agencies of the state to include in all contracts executed by them a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, or national origin.
An interchange of ideas and information with other organizations interested in the same goals as the Fair Employment Practices Division was always a vital part of the Division's work. It enjoyed close cooperation with such organizations as the Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the League of Women Voters, and many others. The Division also encouraged organizations and councils specifically set up to work in the area of fair employment practices.
Another activity of the Division was gaining the understanding and support of the general public. Staff members and Commissioners presented talks to commercial, educational, and civic groups and they participated in television and radio programs. News releases on the Division's work were issued and informational literature was prepared and distributed to a wide variety of groups and individuals.
In 1965, the Division's name was changed to the Equal Opportunities Division and it was assigned administration of the newly passed fair housing law (Sec. 101.60 Wis. Statutes). The 1967 Reorganization Act re-named the Industrial Commission the Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations and transferred to it the Governor's Commission on Human Rights, with which the Division had worked closely since its inception. The Governor's Commission became the Equal Rights Division of the Department, under which was consolidated the functions of the Equal Opportunities Division. Under 1995 Wisconsin Act 27, the Division was transferred to the newly created Department of Workforce Development effective July 1, 1996.
See each Agency's History in the catalog:
Arrangement of the Materials
Chronological by hearing date; statements are alphabetical by firm name within each hearing.
Related Material
Wisconsin Equal Opportunities Division Case Files
Wisconsin Equal Opportunities Division Employer Files
Wisconsin Equal Opportunities Division General Corespondence and Subject File
Closely related in subject matter to these records are the records of the Governor's Commission on Human Rights: Records (Series 996-1002).
Administrative/Restriction Information
Processed by John Stoneberg and Karen Baumann, 1977; and by Carolyn Mattern, 1997 and 1999. Accession Number: 1971/147, 1971/148, 1973/056, 1973/057, 1973/058, 1974/055, 1975/084, 1975/086, 1976/048, 1976/050, 1976/056, 1977/057, 1978/070
Contents List
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Series 1747
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Milwaukee Retail Hearings, 1963 August 1-2
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Box
1
Folder
1-2
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General, 1963 May-1965 November
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Box
1
Folder
3-4
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Statements
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Kenosha Employment Hearings, 1963 September 12
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Box
1
Folder
5
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General, 1965 August-November
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Statements
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Janesville-Beloit Employment Hearings, 1963 October 17
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Box
1
Folder
7
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General, 1963 September-1964 January
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Box
1
Folder
8-9
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Statements
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Madison Employment Hearings, 1963 November 21
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Box
1
Folder
10
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General, 1963 November-1964 February
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Box
2
Folder
1-2
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Statements
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Milwaukee Employment Hearings, 1964 January 8-9
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Box
2
Folder
3
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General, 1963 December-1964 October
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Box
2
Folder
4-6
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Statements, A-U
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Statements, W
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Racine Employment Hearings, 1964 March 2
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Box
3
Folder
2
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General, 1964 February-1965 July
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Box
3
Folder
3-5
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Statements
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Audio 1380A
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Tape recordings
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1380A/2
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Johnson Wax, J.I. Case, Western Printing, Howard Industries, Belle City Malleable, Hamilton Beach, Walker Manufacturing; Twin Disc Clutch, Racine Hydraulic, John Deter, Massey-Ferguson, Rain Fair, 1st National Bank, Gorton Machine Company
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1380A/3
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Insinkerator, Young Radiator, Jacobson Manufacturing Company, Modine Manufacturing Company, Webster Electric
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Series 1747
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Milwaukee Employment-Housing Hearings, 1964 April 16
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Box
3
Folder
6
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General, 1964 April-May
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Statements, A-G
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Box
4
Folder
1
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Statements, J-W
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Audio 1380A
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Tape recordings
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1380A/1
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Mobil, Spic-N-Span, Howard Johnson, Walgreens; Standard Oil, 1st Wisconsin National Bank, Northwestern National Insurance Company
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1380A/12
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Jewish Vocational Service, NAACP, Milwaukee Voluntary Equal Opportunity Council, Catholic Interracial Council, Milwaukee Negro Labor Council, CORE; Milwaukee Urban League, Milwaukee Citizens for Equal Opportunity, Governor's Commission on Human Rights, Anti-Defamation League, Milwaukee Commission on Community Relations, Milwaukee Council on Churches, Beloit Commission on Human Rights
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1380A/13
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Green Bay Commission on Human Rights, Kenosha Commission on Human Rights, Racine Commission on Human Rights
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Series 1747
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Kenosha Employment Re-Hearings, 1964 August 17
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Box
4
Folder
2
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General, 1964 June-August
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Box
4
Folder
3
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Statements
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Janesville-Beloit Employment Re-Hearings, 1964 November 23
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Box
4
Folder
4
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General, 1964 November-1967 March
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Box
4
Folder
5
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Statements
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Audio 1380A
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Tape recordings
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1380A/4
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W.S.E.S., Beloit City Council, Wisconsin Power and Light, Wisconsin Telephone Company; Freeman Shoe Company, Fairbanks Morse Inc., Beloit State Bank, Beloit Corporation, Gibbs Manufacturing Company, Rock County Board of Supervisors, Gilman Manufacturing Company
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1380A/5
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Parker Pen Company, General Motors
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Series 1747
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Milwaukee Housing Hearings, 1964 December 7-11
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Box
4
Folder
6
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General, 1964 June-1965 April
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Box
4
Folder
7-8
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Statements
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1380A/14-17
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Tape recordings
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Series 1747
Box
4
Folder
9
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Final report
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Milwaukee Business Hearings, 1965 August 30-31 and 1965 September 2-3
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Box
4
Folder
10
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General, 1965 July-September
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Box
5
Folder
1-2
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Statements
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1380A/10
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Milwaukee Rules Hearings, 1965 October 11
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1380A/10 (continued)
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Madison Rules Hearings, 1965 October 14
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1380A/11
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Eau Claire Rules Hearings, 1965 October 15
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Series 1747
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Field of Construction Hearings, 1966 February 21, February 25 and March 4
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Box
5
Folder
3
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Paper records
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Audio 1380A
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Tape recordings
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1380A/7
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Milwaukee Construction Hearings, 1966 February 21
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1380A/8
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Janesville-Beloit Construction Hearings, 1966 February 25
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1380A/8 (continued)-9
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Kenosha-Racine Construction Hearings, 1966 March 4
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Series 1747
Box
5
Folder
4-5
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Fraternal and Social Organizations Hearings, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1966 August 31-September 14
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1380A/18-22
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Paper Industry Representatives Meeting on Title VII, Neenah, Wisconsin, 1967 May
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1380A/6
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Employment Hearings-2nd Hearing on Retention of Racial Statistics by Employers, 1967
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Series 1747
Box
5
Folder
6-8
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Clippings, 1963-1966
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