Summary Information
Eastside Housing Action Committee Records
1972-1999
- Eastside Housing Action Committee (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Milwaukee Mss 11
1.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Records of a Milwaukee tenant union organizing committee focusing on the problems of an ethnically mixed, deteriorating neighborhood plagued with a high rate of absentee landlordism. Included are organizational records, funding and sponsorship records, records of activities, correspondence, and information files, documenting efforts to organize tenant unions, initiate legal actions on behalf of tenants, lobby for legislative reforms on rent control and utility deposits, and support local cooperative businesses.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00011 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Inspired by the student activism of the 1960's, six eastside Milwaukee tenants met in an Episcopal church in spring, 1972, to form the Eastside Housing Action Committee (ESHAC). The organization focuses on the problems of an ethnically mixed, deteriorating neighborhood with a high rate of absentee landlordism.
In the first two years, ESHAC staged ten drives for organizing tenants of the eastside's largest landlord and created seven tenant unions. The Committee also held bargaining sessions with six landlords and their tenants to resolve issues such as rent increases and housing maintenance. These efforts met with mixed results because it was difficult to sustain tenant commitment to the organization's long range strategies although solutions to concrete problems were readily acknowledged.
ESHAC acquired VISTA aid when it joined the Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development (MAUD) in February 1973. In July of that year, ESHAC opened its Locust Street office and the scope of its activities broadened from tenant to wider community concerns. This new involvement in more general problems of the eastside neighborhood found expression in organized opposition to city plans to widen Locust Street--a move which would have destroyed numerous housing units and local businesses. Along with success in this effort came a willingness to include local residents on the staff and in the decision-making process. This new input promoted social and cultural interaction among Blacks, Latinos, elderly whites, and youth; rehabilitation of neighborhood housing; and support for community-owned businesses as its main goals. From these broad objectives the organization focuses upon four activities: 1) a community newsletter, 2) improved social services, 3) community economic development, and 4) the creation of the Eastside Housing Center.
The ESHAC newsletter began publication in early 1973 and by 1975 it had a circulation of 2,000 per month and addressed local problems such as blockbusting, tavern issues, housing speculation, youth unemployment, and day care. The Committee's community service activities focuses upon tenant problems for which it established a small claims referral for rental deposit questions and organized “locals” in tenant complexes. Tenants' rights workshops were included in these efforts. ESHAC commitment to neighborhood social services also involves the creation of an integrated community day care center. In addition, the organization played an integral role in the founding of the Gordon Park Food Cooperative in September 1976 to replace a food store that had closed after 42 years of operation. ESHAC also reorganized a floundering printing shop into another cooperative called the Community Press. Finally, in April 1975, ESHAC developed the Eastside Housing Center to promote research and education centered on housing problems which includes absentee landlordism and housing abandonment.
Scope and Content Note
The records have been arranged in five major series: Organizational Records, Funding and Sponsorship, Activities, Correspondence with Related Organizations, and an Informational File.
Within the ORGANIZATIONAL RECORDS there is little evidentiary material as to ESHAC structure other than a small sample of monthly minutes and incorporation papers. A history of the organization is included, but it emphasizes general strategy rather than concrete organizational information.
The FUNDING AND SPONSORSHIP RECORDS, covering seven years of the organization's existence, not only indicate the diverse sources of its support, but the proposals, in particular, contain abundant information on policy, strategy and yearly project evaluations. Included in these materials are correspondence, job descriptions, evaluations, project narratives and proposals, and a sample of the federal registers. Of particular interest, are the allocation or budgetary papers which, although not entirely complete, contain financial information otherwise unavailable in the collection.
The largest series documents the ACTIVITIES: legal, legislative, and miscellaneous, that provide the organization's focus. Included in the legal records are correspondence, legal briefs, petitions, grievance forms, and newspaper clippings related to specific actions against negligent landlords. Also of note is a large body of material covering the lawsuit against Dan Giwosky of Fox Bay Realty. Of particular interest is a sample copy of a landlord-tenant lease. The legislative activities focus upon broad reform in the area of zoning laws, building inspection codes, utility deposit rules, a rent control ordinance, and a rent tax credit. Included in these records are legal briefs, copies of proposed ordinances, and transcripts of hearings. The remainder of ESHAC's activities revolved around educational workshops, a research task force on deteriorating neighborhood conditions, and efforts to solve local community problems such as highway expansion.
The CORRESPONDENCE WITH RELATED ORGANIZATIONS series includes correspondence with people and organizations such as the city alderman, Edward Griffin, the Community Development Coalition, and the Milwaukee Central City Consumer Council. This correspondence reveals the extent of community cooperation with ESHAC and its goals.
The INFORMATIONAL FILE includes publications, film catalogues, property inventories and handbooks used in ESHAC educational workshops and research activities.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by the Eastside Housing Action Committee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, via Carol Brill, Director, 1980. Accession Number: M80-338
Processed by Sara Shutkin and Joanne Hohler, July, 1982.
Contents List
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Series: Organizational Records
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Box
1
Folder
1
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History and Policy, 1972-1978
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Minutes (General, Housing Committees), 1974, June-September; 1976, January-March
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Series: Funding and Sponsorship
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Tax Exemption Records, 1974, November
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ACTION-VISTA
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Box
1
Folder
4
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Project proposals, 1973, January-1977, August
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Correspondence, Job Descriptions, 1973, January-1977, August
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development (MAUD), 1973, May-1978, September
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Benefits, 1973, September; 1974, February
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Box
1
Folder
8-9
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United Community Services, circa 1975-circa 1977
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Community Development Agency- Correspondence, Proposals, 1975, January- 1976, December
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Series: Activities
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Legal
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Box
1
Folder
11-12
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Giwosky Suit, 1972, November-1977, June
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Fraudulent Document Libel Allegation, 1976, February-1977, June
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Small Claims Actions, 1973, February-1974, October;
1975, June
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Security Deposit Claims Information, undated
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Box
1
Folder
16
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Leases-Landlord/Tenant (Samples)
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Legislative
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Rent Withholding Ordinance, circa 1973-circa 1974
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Box
2
Folder
2
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Rezoning Petition, 1972, June-circa 1973, May
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Box
2
Folder
3
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Rent Control Ordinance, circa 1973, April
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Rent Tax Credit, 1973, August
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Alderman's Task Force on Zoning, circa 1973-circa 1974
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Box
2
Folder
6
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Family Zoning Ordinance (Clippings), 1974, January
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Building Inspection Codes, 1974, February-1976, May
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Public Service Commission Deposit Rule, 1974, July-1975, August
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Assembly Bill 998, circa 1975, October
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Miscellaneous
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Box
2
Folder
10
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Educational Workshop (Teaching Aids), undated
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Box
2
Folder
11
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Locust Street Expansion Opposition, 1974, June; 1976, February-June
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Box
2
Folder
12
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Locust Street Lighting Petitions, circa 1975, November
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Box
2
Folder
13
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Property Research Task Force, undated
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Box
2
Folder
14
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Tavern Reopening Opposition, 1976, May
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Series: Correspondence With Related Organizations
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Box
2
Folder
15
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City Alderman, Edward Griffin, 1974, July-1976, January
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Box
3
Folder
1
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Community Development Coalition, 1974, October-November
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Box
3
Folder
2
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Eastside Community Alternatives, 1972, November; 1973, July; 1975, October
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Box
3
Folder
3
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Eastside Focus, undated
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Box
3
Folder
4
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Eastside Radio Program (WUWM), 1976, October
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Box
3
Folder
5
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Gordon Park Women's Association, 1977, July
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Box
3
Folder
6
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Housecoping Project (UW-Extension), 1975, June
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Box
3
Folder
7
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Hunger Task Force, 1974, November
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Box
3
Folder
8-9
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Milwaukee Central City Consumer Council, 1973, May-1975, October
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Box
3
Folder
10
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Milwaukee East Organizations Congress, 1975, April
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Box
3
Folder
11
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VISTA Volunteers,, 1973, August-October
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Box
3
Folder
12
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Wisconsin Information Service (Information and Referral Project), 1973, October
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Box
3
Folder
13
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Youth Service Bureau, 1973, June, August; 1975, November
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Series: Informational Files
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Box
3
Folder
14
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Landlord/tenants, Evictions and Relocations, undated
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Box
3
Folder
15
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Legislative Reform-Proposals and Drafts, 1972, November-1973, August
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Box
3
Folder
16
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Educational Films, undated
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Box
3
Folder
17
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Property Inventories, 1973, December; 1976, February
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Box
3
Folder
18
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Public Schools (Handbook on Parent-Teacher Relations), 1973, September
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Box
3
Folder
19
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Work Incentive Programs, circa 1972-circa 1973
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Box
3
Folder
20
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Publications Samples, 1973, February-June
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