The records of the Wisconsin State Musicians' Association cover the activities of the organization from 1932 to 1946, and also include an assemblage of conference programs, correspondence, and miscellaneous articles from AF of M non-Wisconsin chapters. The collection has been arranged into eight series: Secretaries' Records, Financial Records, Correspondence of Local Unions, Wisconsin State Conference Records, Non-Wisconsin Conference Records, Wisconsin Bandmasters Association, Oconomowoc Legion Band Crisis, and Miscellany. The records are illustrative of the affairs and concerns of union musicians in the 1930s and 1940s. The formative years of the WSMA are not documented in this collection.
The Secretaries' Records deal quite comprehensively with issues on the state and national levels. The correspondence in this section is between AF of M officials, and other state leaders both in and out of Wisconsin. Bulletins and the Buzzer newsletter cover pending legislation, union “unfair lists,” and other trade concerns. The Financial Records are lacking in detail and are quite brief although they do contain the union wage-scale schedule.
The Correspondence of Local Unions deals with the local concerns of thirty-two Wisconsin area chapters. It is arranged in alphabetical order by town name.
The Conference Records are divided into a Wisconsin and a Non-Wisconsin series. The Wisconsin section documents the programs and activities at regular meetings of the Association and its affiliated locals. The non Wisconsin segment includes correspondence and miscellaneous articles as well as conference programs.
The Wisconsin Bandmasters Association series contains a small sampling of the Association's correspondence with the WSMA, a copy of its constitution, and some convention programs. The Oconomowoc Legion Band Crisis file documents the united effort of the WSMA locals to protest the appearance of an “unfair” band at the State American Legion Conference held at Ashland in 1938. The Miscellany section contains several letters, an address by Chauncey Weaver and some of his writings.
