The materials in this collection date predominantly from the 2005-2008 period of
Jeskewitz's time in office and offer a rare insider view of the legislative process
and legislative committee functioning. The materials include bill drafts, incoming
constituent correspondence, issue research, committee meeting agendas and minutes, and
outgoing committee correspondence, as well as legislative reference, memos, fiscal
estimates, and informational research. The materials document Jeskewitz's extensive
involvement in legislative committees as well as her approach to legislative work
which prioritized conservative feminist work including: increasing access to college
education, funding public schools, reforming foster care, addressing the sexual
abuse of children and human trafficking, improving Wisconsin's welfare system,
helping to create a public healthcare program, and performing government program
oversight. The papers also contain a small amount of materials related to
administrative legislative requirements such as expenditure documentation, legislative
contacts, and annotated election results. This aspect of the collection, however, is
fragmentary and incomplete. Additionally, the papers contain scant documentation
of Jeskewitz's personal life aside from how her work demonstrates her own views,
values, and practices. The only personal material in the collection consists of an
email from her son, Chad.
The collection is divided into three series: SUBJECT FILES, GENERAL LEGISLATIVE, and
PERSONAL. The SUBJECT FILES series contains the majority of the materials and is
arranged alphabetically by legislative topic as well as three committee and task
force sub-series. Topics addressed by these groups also recur throughout the
series as different areas of the legislature investigated and addressed the same
subjects. Portions of the sub-series arrangement reflect Jeskewitz's creation of
binders to organize accumulated material for committees and task forces. Other
material appears only topically in the general subjects sub-series, reflecting
Jeskewitz's legislative work outside of committees. All materials in this series not
originally maintained in divided and labeled binders by Jeskewitz have been arranged
alphabetically within their committee or within the general subject area. This
hybrid topical and committee-based series arrangement reflects the dual operational
and issue-based functioning of both Jeskewitz as a legislator and the legislature
itself.
The GENERAL LEGISLATIVE series reflects the administrative structure that necessarily
accompanies the issue-oriented operation of the legislature. The series contains
material related to the legislative structure itself without a focus on a particular
issue under active review, reform, or legislation. Included are a small amount of
materials such as expenditure records, committee guidelines, annotated election
results, Republican legislative accomplishments, and a state agency staff list.
The PERSONAL series contains one item of family correspondence.
