Title: Marquette Neighborhood Association Records
Inclusive Dates: 1968-1985

Creator:

• Marquette Neighborhood Association (Madison, Wis.)

Call Number: Mss 1068; PH 6623

Quantity: 5.1 cubic feet (11 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 oversize folder) and 1 photograph

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Records of the formation and first several years of the Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) of Madison, Wisconsin. An earlier, less formal group took on a more formal purpose in 1968, initially focused on keeping its neighborhood elementary school from closing. MNA also succeeded in residential rezoning and traffic redirection efforts for the neighborhood, first defined by Blair Street on the west, East Washington Avenue on the north, the Yahara River on the east and Lake Monona on the south. The eastern boundaries moved to First Street, from East Washington Avenue to Eastwood Drive to Division Street to Lakeland Avenue to Dunning Street. The neighborhood is also known as Wil-Mar, for Williamson-Marquette, and the Sixth Ward. MNA launched the local development corporation Common Wealth Corporation, co-sponsored first Alternate Parade of Homes, sponsors the annual Orton Park Festival, and MNA members were involved with launching the Willy Street Festival. Records consist of correspondence, newsletters, reports and neighborhood plans (produced by and commissioned by MNA, as well as several gathered from University of Wisconsin-Madison students, the City of Madison and others), newspapers clippings, posters, maps, and one photograph.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01068

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The Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) formed in March 1968 as the Marquette Neighborhood Group in response to two main events: a landlord on Jenifer Street seeking rezoning of property to build a high-rise and the school board's threatening to close Marquette Elementary School. Members saw the elementary school as vital to retaining young couples in the neighborhood. The city had lost two neighborhoods (Greenbush and West Mifflin to urban renewal efforts), and Marquette residents didn't want to be the third. They organized, formed MNA (by July 1969 it was known consistently as "Association") campaigned the Board of Education to keep the school open and began tackling other issues, one by one, from traffic to commercial revitalization to the redeveloping of the railroad switching yards to eradicating pollution. As of May 2010, MNA remained active and so did many of the same issues. Schools and traffic remained high on its agenda, for example.

MNA worked with residents, city planners, city council and others to improve the living conditions of the area, and bring problems and issues concerning the neighborhood to the attention of those in city government with influence in zoning, traffic, schools and recreation. MNA's primary goal was and continued to be to involve the residents of the Marquette neighborhood in projects and issues to improve the quality of life in the area and the city of Madison. One of the oldest of the city's neighborhoods, it is divided into roughly three sections: the northern industrial strip bordered by East Washington Avenue on the north and East Wilson Street on the south, where the railroad yards can be found; the commercial strip along Williamson Street; and the residential area south of Williamson. (These definitions are not strict: commercial and industrial are intermingled in the northern section; residential is mixed with commercial on Williamson; and changes take place continuously.)

In addition to keeping the elementary school open, MNA achieved down-zoning, was successful in getting through traffic routed off the Jenifer-Spaight-Rutledge corridor and other traffic measures; started Common Wealth Development Corporation, which in turn became a sponsor of the Willy Street Fair; was a co-sponsor of the first Alternate Parade of Homes; and sponsored the annual Orton Park Festival. MNA also worked with the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center to build the Children's Mini-Park, on a joint newsletter, and other issues.

Its early activity put MNA board members in close contact with city officials and boards, other neighborhood organizations, particularly those bordering Marquette (Atwood-Schenk and Tenney-Lapham), and several members were politically active. The collection also reflects the neighborhood's relationship with UW-Madison. While several members were faculty members, and MNA made use of UW coursework and students as a resource, the proportion of housing occupied by students is at times a concern.

Some of the more active MNA board officers and committee members during the time of this collection included: David Mollenhoff, Leigh Mollenhoff, Warren Lehman, Myrna Goikovich, Kenneth Bowling, Fred Heistand, Connie Thompson, Francis Hole, Ken Glasier, Richard Lehman, Warren Lehman, Dick Wagner, and Art Woerpel.

The records of the Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) consist of correspondence, informal meeting notes, minutes, agendas, proposals and studies, UW-Madison student papers, city reports, maps, posters, newspaper clippings and one photograph. The records reach from March 1968, when members outlined their goals for a better neighborhood, to an Alternate Parade of Homes in 1986. Minutes, agendas and financial records are scattered or scarce after the first few years. Candid photographs or other similar ephemera are not found. The records are arranged in three series: ADMINISTRATIVE, ACTIVITIES, and PHOTOGRAPHS.

The ADMINISTRATIVE series includes the founding statement, by-laws, minutes, financial records, correspondence, membership and committee records, lists of officers, and newsletters, including those jointly produced with the Wil-Mar Center. This series is arranged chronologically and by importance.

The ACTIVITIES series comprises the heart of the collection and describes those subjects to which MNA devoted itself: Commercial Revitalization; Events; Homeless; Housing; Planning; Properties; Railroad Yards; Recreation, Parks and Libraries; Schools; Street Assessment; Third Lake Ridge Historic District; Traffic and Transportation; and Zoning. Except where noted, the folders within subseries are arranged alphabetically.

Commercial Revitalization was an early concern of MNA and includes material on the launch of Common Wealth Development Corporation. The Events subseries includes promotional, planning and financial materials for Orton Park festivals and Alternate Parades of Homes. Homeless deals with two shelters, one in 1971, and a proposal for another at 303 South Paterson Street in 1985. Housing includes material for a neighborhood promotional brochure, a study comparing properties in Marquette with ones of comparable size in Maple Bluff, and materials on UW student housing policies.

Planning, arranged chronologically, includes comprehensive plans, developed by MNA alone and with others. Rolled maps, some based on the 1966 Madison Area Transit Study (MATS) are found in this series. A further subseries, Resources, includes reports and studies from welfare and planning agencies and UW classes. Properties/Issues pertains to individual properties, organizations or businesses that became issues of note to MNA for zoning, sale, potential development, or other reasons. Railroad Yards consists of an illustrated report and other material regarding the tracks and adjacent land.

Recreation, Parks, Libraries concerns Children's House Mini Park, a joint project with the Wil-Mar Center; Hawthorne Library; Orton Park; and beautification efforts.

Schools consists primarily of material presented to the School Board to persuade them to keep the elementary school open. Street Assessment centers on a tax issue. Third Lake Ridge Historic District contains a brief description of that section of neighborhood. Traffic and Transportation contains materials on the Atwood Bypass, Blair intersection, Jenifer Street cul de sac and other traffic measures. Zoning centers on the down-zoning ordinances MNA sought to have passed to combat absentee landlords.

The PHOTOGRAPHS series is a single photograph of the Orton Park bandstand.

Acquisition Information

Presented by David Mollenhoff, 1987 Accession Number: M87-054

Processing Information

Processed by Christina Johanningmeier (Practicum student), 2010

Mss 1068	Series: Administrative
Box   1 Folder   1	Organizing documents, by-laws, constitution
Box   1 Folder   2	Organizational ideas
Box   1 Folder   3-7	Minutes, 1969-1971, 1978-1980
Box   1 Folder   8	Council minutes, 1969-1977
Box   1 Folder   9	Council agendas, 1970-1976
Box   1 Folder   10	Meeting notices, 1969-1974
Box   1 Folder   11-13	Financial and administrative, 1967-1976
Box   2 Folder   1	Officer rosters and committee assignments, 1972-1977
Box   2 Folder   2	Area Representative Program, 1971
	Correspondence
Box   2 Folder   3-6	General, 1971-1980
Box   2 Folder   7	From residents, 1973
Box   2 Folder   8	Outgoing, 1978-1980 Newsletters
	Newsletters
Box   2 Folder   9	Distribution
Box   12 Folder   1	Distribution (continued)
Box   2 Folder   10	Newsletters, 1969-1980
Box   2 Folder   11	State of Marquette Neighborhood, Warren Lehman, 1970
	Membership
Box   2 Folder   12	Lists, 1969-1977
Box   2 Folder   13	Correspondence, 1970-1971
Box   2 Folder   14	Committee report, 1973-1974
Box   2 Folder   15	Public relations
Box   2 Folder   16	Civic Action Kit
Box   2 Folder   17	Awards to MNA, 1977
	Series: Activities	⇧
Box   2 Folder   18	Subseries: Citywide Organization of Neighborhoods, Commercial Revitalization
Box   2 Folder   19-20	Commercial Revitalization, general
Box   2 Folder   21-23	Common Wealth Development, 1978-1980
Box   12 Folder   2	Common Wealth Development
Box   3 Folder   1	Gisholt purchase, 1972
Box   3 Folder   2	Tax incremental financing, 1978-1980
	Williamson Street
Box   3 Folder   3	600 block, 1970
Box   3 Folder   4	Madison Development Corporation, 1978
Box   12 Folder   3	Madison Development Corporation, Willy Sheets
Box   3 Folder   5	Williamson Street Merchants Association, 1976
Box   3 Folder   6	Repaving, 1973
Box   3 Folder   7-8	Revitalization, 1977-1978
Box   3 Folder   9	Rezoning, 1974-1978
	Subseries: Events	⇧
	Alternate Parade of Homes
Box   3 Folder   10	1975
Box   12 Folder   4	, 1975 (continued)
Box   3 Folder   11	1977
Box   3 Folder   12	1986
	Orton Park events
Box   3 Folder   13	Old Fashioned 4th of July, 1969
Box   3 Folder   14	Festival, 1970
Box   4 Folder   1	Old Town Summerfest, 1971
Box   4 Folder   2	Festivals, 1970-1972
Box   4 Folder   3-6	Festival, 1972-1975
Box   4 Folder   7	Farmers' Market, undated
Box   12 Folder   5	Festivals, artwork
Box   4 Folder   8	Spring Fling, 1977 May
Oversize Folder	Street Fair poster, 1978
	Subseries: Homeless	⇧
Box   4 Folder   9	Rescue Mission, 1971
Box   4 Folder   10	Shelter facility proposal, Bassett Associates, 1984
Box   4 Folder   11	Shelter, 1984-1985
Box   4 Folder   12	Shelter project, 1985
	Subseries: Housing, 1969-1980	⇧
Box   4 Folder   13	Ad Hoc Committee on City-State Relations Minutes
Box   12 Folder   6	Ad Hoc Committee on Property Deterioration
Box   4 Folder   14	Ad Hoc Committee on Property Deterioration (continued)
Box   4 Folder   15	Brochure Project
Box   4 Folder   16	Central City
Box   4 Folder   17-18	Code Enforcement Committee
Box   5 Folder   1	Elderly and low and moderate income
Box   5 Folder   2	General
Box   5 Folder   3	Marquette Development Corporation
Box   5 Folder   4	Promotion
Box   5 Folder   5	Response to Community Development Fund
Box   5 Folder   6	Revitalization-architects
Box   12 Folder   7	Tax study
Box   5 Folder   7	University of Wisconsin (UW) policy student housing
Box   5 Folder   8	UW student housing trends
	Subseries: Planning	⇧
	Neighborhood Plan Committee
Box   5 Folder   9	Keynote remarks, 1969
Box   5 Folder   10	Master Plan process
Box   5 Folder   11-12	Committee
Box   5 Folder   13	Handouts
Box   5 Folder   14	Master Plan graphics
	Master Plan
Box   5 Folder   15	First draft, 1971
Box   5 Folder   16	Final draft, 1971
Box   12 Folder   8	Demographic, traffic maps
Box   6 Folder   1	State office building complex
Box   6 Folder   2	Merchandising plan
Box   6 Folder   3	Workable plan
Box   6 Folder   4	Goals, 1972-1973
Box   6 Folder   5	Neighborhood plan, 1976
Box   6 Folder   6	Goals/76 project
Box   6 Folder   7	CMC bus tour, 1977
Box   6 Folder   8	Open space plan, 1977
Box   6 Folder   9	Land use plan, 1977
Box   6 Folder   10	CDBG applications, 1978-1980
Box   6 Folder   11-12	Landsman plan, 1981-1982
	Resources
Box   7 Folder   1	Community Welfare Council report, 1968
Box   7 Folder   2	Dane County Social Planning Agency report, 1968
Box   7 Folder   3	Design Coalition report, 1976
Box   7 Folder   4	Madison Planning Commission/East Side Corridor, 1967
Box   7 Folder   5-6	Student papers, 1966-1977
Box   7 Folder   7-10	Student papers, urban land economics-public policy
	Subseries: Properties/Issues	⇧
Box   8 Folder   1	524 South Dickinson Street
Box   8 Folder   2	1144 Jenifer Street
Box   8 Folder   3-4	Bus barn, 1977-1979
Box   8 Folder   5	Law Park environmental impact statement
Box   8 Folder   6	Madison Area Technical College site
Box   8 Folder   7	Pilgrim Church
Box   8 Folder   8	Pornographic book store
Box   8 Folder   9	Taco John's
Box   8 Folder   10-11	Walker Property-Immanuel Church
	Subseries: Railroad Yards	⇧
Box   8 Folder   12	Inventory report, undated
Box   8 Folder   13	Madison yards, 1969-1972
Box   8 Folder   14	Railroad corridor, 1978-1980
Box   8 Folder   15	Railroad project, 1971-1981
	Subseries: Recreation, Parks, and Libraries	⇧
Box   8 Folder   16	Beautification projects, 1973-1985
Box   8 Folder   17	Children's House mini park, 1971-1972
Box   9 Folder   1	Kerr-McGee triangle, 1977
Box   9 Folder   2	Hawthorne Library closing, 1968
Box   9 Folder   3	Library, parks, police, energy, 1978-1980
Box   9 Folder   4	Orton Park bandstand and plaque
Box   12 Folder   9	Orton Park bandstand and plaque
Box   9 Folder   5-6	Recreation, 1970-1971
	Subseries: Schools	⇧
Box   9 Folder   7	Save the School Crusade, 1969
Box   9 Folder   8	MNA School report, 1969
Box   9 Folder   9-11	General, 1968-1971, 1978-1980
Box   12 Folder   10	General, 1971
Box   9 Folder   12-13	Marquette School, 1971, 1973
Box   10 Folder   1	Subseries: Street Assessment, 1969	⇧
Box   10 Folder   2	Subseries: Third Lake Ridge Historic District	⇧
	Subseries: Traffic and Transportation	⇧
Box   10 Folder   3	Atwood bypass
Box   10 Folder   4	Blair intersection redesign, 1980-1981
Box   10 Folder   5	Bus shelter project, 1971-1972
Box   10 Folder   6-7	Interim plan, 1969-1976
Box   10 Folder   8	Isthmus traffic study, 1976
Box   10 Folder   9	Long-range transportation plans
Box   12 Folder   11	Long-range transportation plans
Box   10 Folder   11-12	Traffic, 1971-1973, 1978-1980
Box   10 Folder   13	Transportation class report, 1972
	Subseries: Zoning, 1968-1975	⇧
Box   11 Folder   1	Zoning
Box   11 Folder   2	Family Zoning definition
Box   11 Folder   3	Incidents
Box   11 Folder   4	R4A-70 zoning
Box   11 Folder   5	R4L family apartment district development
Box   11 Folder   6	R4L zoning
Box   11 Folder   7	R5 R4 (a) triangle
Box   11 Folder   8	R5 modification
Box   11 Folder   9	R6 xoning
Box   11 Folder   10	Rezoning effort
Box   11 Folder   11	Small group presentation material
PH 6623	Series: Photographs	⇧
Folder   1	Orton Park bandstand