Title: Young Christian Workers. Milwaukee Federation: Records
Inclusive Dates: 1940-1964

Creator:

• Young Christian Workers. Milwaukee Federation (Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 99

Quantity: 3.0 c.f. (5 archives boxes and 1 flat box)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

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

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of the Milwaukee Federation and individual chapters of the Catholic action youth group, Young Christian Workers. Included are agendas, correspondence, financial records, minutes, newsletters, and reports. The records document YCW programs and projects such as the Basic Social Action Program, workshops on dating, retreats, International Days and Weeks, special inquiries on migrant workers and racial discrimination, study days and weekends, and training courses. Scrapbooks document Milwaukee's participation in the September 1957 International YCW Pilgrimage to Rome and YCW Teachers' Group. Also present are a few records of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (1940-43), the Cardijn Center, the Christian Family Movement, and the College Young Christian Students.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00099

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

The Young Christian Workers (after 1965 called Young Christian Movement) was a Roman Catholic action group founded in Belgium in 1912 by Father (later Monseignor) Joseph Cardijn. The organization was officially recognized by the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium in 1925 and later spread internationally. YCW reached the United States shortly before World War II, and by 1947, when the International YCW organization held its Third World Congress in Montreal, U.S. delegates were able to fully establish the American YCW. By the early 1950s, the American YCW was large enough to require two national headquarters, one in Chicago and one on the West Coast. Individual men's and women's sections were founded in several major American cities to provide leadership training for young workers and to inspire them to do missionary work. Members of YCW also were encouraged to “intervene” in work sites and elsewhere to spread Catholicism among laborers, to build a community of young Catholic workers in each parish, and to foster cooperation between parishes. In 1953 there were sections in thirty-eight cities.

The Milwaukee Federation of the YCW was organized in 1948 by Father John R. Beix. By 1963, there were 13 Milwaukee and area sections, based on individual parish groups. In Milwaukee, each section was comprised of both young men and women, who held weekly meetings with the chaplain of the group to discuss liturgy and other topics. Federation meetings were held each month.

The YCW defined its methods as “organization, study, action” by the laity in the organized apostolate of the religious hierarchy. Thus, “specialized organization” was based on the “cell,” a group of members of the same age, sex, and occupation. The Milwaukee YCW federation conducted periodic study days, nights, and weeks, some of which were held near the feast day of St. Therese, the YCW patron saint; and days of recollection, retreats, seminars, and “inquiries” to pursue topics in greater detail. “Specialized action,” for which the study was preparation, included personal contacts, community service, open meetings, and other projects. During the period covered by the records, Father Eugene Bleidorn was the Federation's chaplain and advisor. The chaplain of the St. Veronica section was Father James Groppi. Each spring there was a state YCW convention; in January delegates attended a national convention, and in August, a national study week. In Milwaukee, the YCW was closely affiliated with the Cardijn Center, which acted as headquarters for YCW, Young Christian Students, and the Christian Family Movement; and the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU).

The YCW apparently disbanded about 1965 or 1966.

The records have been arranged into four series: General Records, YCW Programs and Study Projects, Section Records, and Other Organizations. Together they mainly illustrate the local activities of the YCW during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

GENERAL RECORDS include general correspondence, a small amount of correspondence concerning arrangements for St. Therese's Day activities, chaplain's correspondence and lists of chaplains for individual sections, and financial records. The latter mainly date from the late 1950s and early 1960s and consist of cancelled checks and bank statements, a few form letter donation requests, miscellany, financial statements, statements of income and expenses, and federation and section treasurer's monthly dues and financial reports. There are minutes, agenda, and reports of meetings from Milwaukee participation in the YCW National Council and national study weeks, 1962-1963 state conventions; federation monthly meetings, 1956-1963; and section presidents' meetings. Also present are issues, 1962-1963, of Unity, a monthly newsletter published by the Milwaukee YCW; and two issues of Impact, published separately by the St. Veronica's section of the Milwaukee Federation. Other organizational matters are illustrated through an organizational chart and statistics; lists of officers; a long-range plan; statements of YCW policy, 1958; and reports to the Archbishop, 1957, 1962. YCW was closely tied to the Cardijn Center, and held meetings in the Cardijn Building; thus, the collection also includes articles of organization and by laws, 1948; minutes of board meetings, 1956-1959; and a few committee records of the Cardijn Center.

YCW PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS cover the variety of Milwaukee YCW activities. Much of the material is near-print, with a few reports, letters, and handwritten notes. Files include information on the “Basic Social Action Program,” workshops on dating, men's and girl's retreats, International Days and Weeks, “special inquiries” on migrant workers and racial discrimination, study days and weekends, and training courses. There is also a short history of the American YCW movement. There are three scrapbooks in the collection, one of a general nature. Another of the scrapbooks includes news clippings (some in Italian) and photographs documenting Milwaukee YCW participation in the September 1957 International Pilgrimage to Rome, when 30,000 Young Christian Workers from 87 countries gathered for two weeks of meetings and an audience with the Pope. This meeting was labeled a response to the August 1957 Communist Youth Festival in Moscow. A third scrapbook concerns the YCW Teachers' Group, with typewritten minutes of meetings, 1950-1952, pamphlets and other materials.

YCW SECTION RECORDS contain a folder of general membership lists; and reports of monthly meetings, 1962-1963, of each of the following sections: Good Shepherd, Menomonee Falls; Holy Spirit, Milwaukee; Immaculate Conception, Milwaukee; Mother of Perpetual Help, Milwaukee; Our Lady of Lourdes, Milwaukee; St. Aloysius, West Allis; St. Leo, Milwaukee; St. Mary, Fond du Lac; St. Mary, Menomonee Falls; St. Matthew, Oak Creek; St. Matthias, Milwaukee; St. Therese; and St. Veronica, Milwaukee.

Among the records of OTHER ORGANIZATIONS are correspondence, 1940-1943, concerning the establishment of the Milwaukee chapter of the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists; programs from the first and second national ACTU conventions, 1940-1941; reports of the National Director, 1941; a constitution; an ACTU catechism; the constitution of the Chicago chapter; and by-laws, constitution, and charter, 1941, of the Milwaukee chapter. There are small files concerning the Christian Family Movement, Milwaukee; College Young Christian Students; and miscellaneous labor and union pamphlets.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Young Christian Movement, via John Donat, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1965-1966. Accession Number: M65-433, M66-008

Processing Information

Processed by Joseph Mbele, 1981; Steven Ourada, 1984; and Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, 1986.

	Series: General Records
	Cardijn Center Records
Box   1 Folder   1	Articles of Organization and By-Laws, 1948
Box   1 Folder   2	Board Meetings - Minutes and Reports, 1956-1959
Box   1 Folder   3	Committee on Social Action, 1957
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   4	General, 1957-1964
Box   1 Folder   5	Chaplain's Correspondence and Lists, 1956-1963
Box   1 Folder   6	St. Therese's Day Correspondence, 1955-1963
	Financial Records
Box   1 Folder   7	Cancelled Checks and Bank Statements, 1958-1960
Box   1 Folder   8	Donation Requests, 1963
Box   1 Folder   9	Miscellaneous Records and Invoices, 1955-1960
Box   1 Folder   10	Financial Statements, 1955-1956
Box   1 Folder   10	Statements of Income and Expenses, 1957-1960
Box   1 Folder   11	Federation Treasurer's Handbook and Dues Reports, 1960
Box   1 Folder   12	Federation and Section Treasurer's Monthly Reports, 1959
Box   2 Folder   1	Section Treasurer's Monthly Reports, 1960
	Minutes, Agenda, and Reports of Meetings
Box   2 Folder   2-3	National Council Meetings and National Study Weeks, January, August 1962; January, August 1963
Box   2 Folder   4	State Conventions, 1958-1962
Box   2 Folder   5-8	Federation Monthly Meetings, 1956-1963
Box   3 Folder   1	Section Presidents' Meetings, 1963
Box   3 Folder   2	“YCW Meeting Procedure”
Box   3 Folder   3	Unity Newsletter, Vol. I, Nos. 1-12 - Vol. II, Nos. 1-10, 1962-1963
Box   3 Folder   4	Newspaper Clippings, 1955-1957
Box   3 Folder   5	Organizational Chart and Statistics, 1955-1956
Box   3 Folder   5	Lists of Officers, 1958, 1962, undated
Box   3 Folder   6	YCW Plans for Growth, 1958-1959
Box   3 Folder   7	YCW Policy, 1958
Box   3 Folder   8	Reports to the Archbishop, 1957, 1962
	Series: YCW Programs and Study Projects	⇧
	Basic Social Action Program
Box   3 Folder   9	General Materials, 1956
Box   3 Folder   10	Lists of Members Contacted, 1956
Box   3 Folder   11-l2	Dating Workshops, 1959-1963
Box   3 Folder   13	Girl's Retreat, November 1962
Box   3 Folder   14	International Day Festival, Chicago, 1956
Box   3 Folder   15	International Week, 1961-1963
Box   3 Folder   16	Lay Apostolate Records and Pamphlets, 1958
Box   3 Folder   17	Men's Retreats, 1960-1962
Box   3 Folder   18	Migrant Workers, 1960-1963
Box   3 Folder   19	“Our Parish Prays and Sings,” 1960
Box   3 Folder   20	Political Inquiries, 1960-1961
	Scrapbooks
Box   4 Folder   1	General Scrapbook
Box   6	Scrapbook of YCW Teachers' Group's Minutes and “Inquiries,” 1950-1952, recorded by Helen Novak
Box   6	Scrapbook of YCW International Pilgrimage to Rome, 1957
Box   4 Folder   2	“Social Inquiries” - Racial, 1960-1961
Box   4 Folder   3	“Sound Off” and “Song Book”
Box   4 Folder   4	Study Weekends and Days - Reports, Papers, Notes, Plans, 1952-1963
Box   4 Folder   5	St. Therese's Study Days - Papers and Activities, 1962-1963
Box   4 Folder   6	“Summer Inquiries”
Box   4 Folder   7	“The Technique of the Catholic Action Cell,” 1946
Box   4 Folder   8	“This Is the Young Christian Workers,” May 4, 1954
Box   4 Folder   9-10	Training Courses and Study Weekends, 1956, 1958, 1962-1963
Box   4 Folder   11	Wisconsin Catholic Action Convention, 1963
	Series: Section Records	⇧
Box   4 Folder   12	Membership Lists
	Monthly Section Reports
Box   4 Folder   13	Good Shepherd, Menomonee Falls, October 1962-December 1963
Box   4 Folder   14	Holy Spirit, Milwaukee, January 1962-October 1963
Box   5 Folder   1	Immaculate Conception, Milwaukee, January 1962-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   2	Mother of Perpetual Help, Milwaukee, August 1962-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   3	Our Lady of Lourdes, Milwaukee, August 1962-March 1963
Box   5 Folder   4	St. Aloysius, West Allis, February 1962-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   5	St. Leo's, Milwaukee, October 1962-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   6	St. Mary's, Fond du Lac, September 1962-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   7	St. Mary's, Menomonee Falls, February-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   8	St. Matthew's, Oak Creek, August-December 1963
Box   5 Folder   9	St. Matthias, Milwaukee, January 1962-August 1963
Box   5 Folder   10	St. Therese, undated
Box   5 Folder   11	St. Veronica's, Milwaukee, June 1962-October 1963
Box   5 Folder   12	Impact, Newsletter of St. Veronica's Section, Vol. 1, No. 1, July 1963, undated
	Series: Other Organizations	⇧
	Association of Catholic Trade Unionists
Box   5 Folder   13	Correspondence, 1940-1943
Box   5 Folder   14	First National Convention, Program, 1940
Box   5 Folder   14	National Council Meeting, Reports of the National Director, 1941
Box   5 Folder   15	Miscellaneous Materials
Box   5 Folder   16	Chapter No. 15, Milwaukee - By-Laws, Constitution, and Charter, 1941
Box   5 Folder   17	Christian Family Movement - Pamphlets and Brochures, 1962
Box   5 Folder   18	College Young Christian Students
Box   5 Folder   19	Labor and Union Pamphlets
Box   5 Folder   20	Miscellany