Title: Cardijn Bookstore Records
Inclusive Dates: 1944-1987

Creator:

• Cardijn Bookstore (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 114; PH 3763; PH 3763 (3)

Quantity: 2.5 c.f. (7 archives boxes and 1 flat box) and 183 photographs and certificates

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:

Fragmentary records of a bookstore originally founded in 1949 as a semi-autonomous cooperative of the Cardijn Center, the headquarters of Catholic lay apostolic work in Milwaukee. After the dissolution of the Cardijn Center in 1961, the bookstore continued to operate independently. Florence Weinfurter, an early participant, became manager of the bookstore in 1958 and bought it in 1964. The records relate both to the bookstore and to the social action center it was formed to serve. Included are by-laws, articles of association, and other organizational and legal records; miscellaneous correspondence of Father John Beix, founder of the Center, and other administrators; financial records; files on various social action lectures, programs, and forums sponsored by the Center; newsletters published by the Center and the Milwaukee Young Christian Workers Federation, which was located at the Center; and advertisements and publicity. Miscellaneous material concerns Father Beix and Cardinal Joseph Cardijn, founder of the Young Christian Workers movement. Also present are some personal papers of Weinfurter, a transcript of an interview with Weinfurter, and informational files on The Catholic Worker movement and its founder, Dorothy Day, whom Weinfurter knew.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00114

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The Cardijn Bookstore originated in 1949 as a semi-autonomous cooperative of the Cardijn Center, the headquarters of lay apostolic work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The center was founded by Father John Beix, a teacher at St. Francis Minor Seminary, and named in honor of Cardinal Joseph Cardijn, who started the Jocist movement, better known as the Young Christian Workers (YCW), an international group of Catholic lay workers.

The Cardijn Center also housed the Milwaukee chapter of the YCW, as well as the bookstore. Originally located at 787 N. Water Street, the center and its affiliates moved to 1304 W. Wisconsin Ave. in 1958. Eventually, the center's work came to include the YCW; the Young Christian Students (YCS); the Christian Family Movement (CFM); and a program of Social Studies, an educational lecture series. Father Beix served as the center's spiritual leader until his death in March, 1952.

The Cardijn Bookstore, originally named the Cardijn Center Co-op Bookstore, was created in 1949 as a cooperative under Chapter 85 of the Wisconsin Statutes. Under the bookstore's articles of association, it was capitalized at 25,000 dollars with the issuance of 5,000 shares of common stock. The primary purpose of the bookstore was to serve as an arm of the Cardijn Center, “to implement and carry on the apostolate of Catholic Action through the dissemination of literature of every kind proper and consistent with the principles of Catholic Action.”

The Cardijn Center dissolved in 1961. The bookstore continued as a cooperative until 1964; on January 1, 1965 it became incorporated as the Cardijn Bookstore, Inc. The bookstore was still in existence at the time this collection of records was organized and cataloged in 1988.

The Cardijn Bookstore records were received by the archives in two parts, designated here as Part 1: Original Collection and Part 2: 1995 Additions.

Part 1 can be described as a small, somewhat fragmented manuscript collection documenting the operations of the bookstore. Along with the separately-cataloged Cardijn Center records (call number Milwaukee Mss BR), the collection gives a good picture of the center and its many programs. For the period prior to 1961 there is, however, a degree of overlap between the two collections, and researchers should be prepared to consult both.

PART 1 is arranged into Cardijn Center Files, Bookstore Files, Financial Records, and Miscellaneous Files.

The Cardijn Center Files includes by-laws, articles of association, information on the purposes of the Center, and a small quantity of material concerning Center meetings; program files including correspondence, circulars, topic lists, and class materials for the Center's general social action forums and for its Social Studies programs; reports and miscellaneous correspondence of Father Beix and other Center administrators; newsletters, brochures, clippings, and publicity material; and the YCW Come Unity newsletter and miscellaneous information of the Milwaukee Young Christian Workers Federation. Of special note is the 1957 correspondence that invited Senator John F. Kennedy to speak at one of the Center's forums.

The Bookstore Files include articles of association, by-laws, stock certificates, lists of directors, and legal materials; annual meeting reports; book lists, catalogs, and advertising materials; and miscellaneous correspondence.

The Financial Records include documentation on both the Center and bookstore. Included are monthly figures of Center receipts and expenditures, financial reports, records of Center pledges and donations, and some fund-raising material.

The Miscellaneous Files include correspondence, obituaries, and clippings concerning a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the death of Father Beix, information on Cardinal Cardijn, and photographs. The photographs include portraits of Father Beix, and views of the Center, the bookstore, the bookmobile, and employees and volunteers. Also included are two papal certificates presented to Father Beix, and an architectural front elevation and crude rendering of a bookstore storefront renovation. Xerox copies of the photographs are filed with the papers, and the original prints are located in the Visual Materials Archive in Madison.

PART 2, the 1995 Additions, consists of a procedures manual, correspondence, and financial records of the bookstore (1949-1985); and personal papers of Florence Weinfurter. These records are arranged similarly to those in Part 1, into Cardijn Center Files, Bookstore Files, Financial Records, and Personal Papers of Florence Weinfurter. This last category includes correspondence, especially with Weinfurter's friend, Nina Polcyn Moore; a transcript of an interview with Weinfurter; and clippings and informational files on The Catholic Worker movement and Dorothy Day, whom Weinfurter knew.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Florence A. Weinfurter, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, 1985; and Eugene Bleidorn, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1995. Accession Number: M85-568; M95-139

Processing Information

Processed by J. A. Sinnott (FGH Student), 1988; and Myrna Williamson, 1999.

Milwaukee Mss 114	Series: Part 1: Original Collection, 1944-1984
	Subseries: Cardijn Center Files
Box   1 Folder   1	By-laws and meeting material, 1948-1959
Box   1 Folder   2	General social action programs and forums, 1949-1960
Box   1 Folder   3	Social Studies programs, 1949-1960
Box   1 Folder   4	Scrapbook, 1950-1958
Box   1 Folder   5	Kennedy invitation, 1957
Box   1 Folder   6	Correspondence and reports, 1951-1960
Box   1 Folder   7	Newsletter and publicity, 1952-1960
	Young Christian Workers
Box   1 Folder   8	Miscellany, circa 1960-1966
Box   1 Folder   9	Come Unity newsletter, 1956-1962
Box   1 Folder   10	Miscellaneous files, 1944-1957, undated
	Subseries: Bookstore Files	⇧
Box   1 Folder   12	Articles of association and legal material, 1950-1979
Box   1 Folder   13	Meeting files, 1958-1961, 1979-1983
Box   2 Folder   1	Correspondence, 1948-1981
Box   2 Folder   2	Catalogs and booklists, 1951-1984
Box   2 Folder   3	Advertising, 1959-1978
	Subseries: Financial Records	⇧
Box   2 Folder   4	Receipt and expenditure reports, 1949-1960
Box   2 Folder   5	Center pledge and donation records, 1952-1959
	Subseries: Miscellaneous Files	⇧
Box   2 Folder   6	Father Beix, 1952-1972
Box   2 Folder   7	Cardinal Cardijn, circa 1959-1971
	Photographs
Box   2 Folder   8	Xerox copies
PH 3763	Original prints
PH 3763 (3)	Certificates of Apostolic Benedictions for John R. Beix and the Cardijn Catholic Action Center (oversize)
Milwaukee Mss 114	Series: Part 2: 1995 Additions, 1949-1987	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1	Subseries: Cardijn Center Files
	Subseries: Bookstore Files	⇧
Box   3 Folder   2	Procedure manual
Box   3 Folder   3	Correspondence, 1960-1985
Box   3 Folder   4	Other
	Subseries: Financial Records (Bookstore)	⇧
Box   3 Folder   5	Annual figures, 1949-1959
Box   3 Folder   6	Payroll ledger, 1965-1983
Box   4 Folder   1-5	Journal and ledgers, 1984-1985
Box   7 Folder   1	Purchase journal, 1982
Box   7 Folder   2	Ledger, profit and loss account, journal, circa 1965-1984
Box   7 Folder   3	Cash book, 1976-1982
	Subseries: Personal Papers of Florence Weinfurter	⇧
	Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement
Box   4 Folder   6	Dorothy Day Celebration, Marquette University, 1977
Box   4 Folder   7	Articles, clippings, book reviews
Box   4 Folder   8	Other
Box   5 Folder   1	The Catholic Worker Archives, Marquette University
Box   5 Folder   2	Young Christian Workers, 1987
Box   5 Folder   3-4	General
	Personal correspondence
Box   5 Folder   5-6	Nina Polcyn Moore, 1973-1986
Box   5 Folder   7-8	Other, 1940-1990, undated
Box   5 Folder   9	Conference for the Elimination of Restrictive Covenants, Chicago, 1946
Box   5 Folder   10	St. Catherine Library
Box   5 Folder   11	Karl Rahner symposium, 1979
Box   5 Folder   12	Milwaukee Conference on Religion and Race, 1963
Box   5 Folder   13	Judge Carroll and others [Tucson Sanctuary trail], 1986
Box   6 Folder   1	Articles and clippings about Weinfurter
Box   6 Folder   2	Catholism/Judaism
Box   6 Folder   3-4	Miscellany
Box   6 Folder   5	Transcript of oral history interview of Weinfurter, 1986
	Photographs
Box   6 Folder   6	Xerox copies
PH 3763	Original prints