William Kerr founded the Robert Burns Club of Milwaukee in October 1986. The club joined
the Robert Burns World Federation in 1987. In 1988, it joined the North American Association
of Federated Burnsians (NAAFB), which was eventually re-named the Robert Burns Association
of North America (RBANA).
The club hosts monthly gatherings where members meet to discuss the poet's life and works,
and also engages in a variety of social activities. It hosts an annual supper celebrating
the poet's birthday, participates in the annual Milwaukee Highland Games, and conducts
seminars on the cooking of haggis, a traditional Scottish dish.
In 1992 the club published a collection of essays, songs, and poems titled Mither Wit and Native Fire: The Genius of Robert Burns. In 1994
the club hosted the General Meeting of the North American Association of Federated Burnsians
(NAAFB) at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin. That same year, the club was involved in
renovating the Robert Burns Monument at Burns Commons, Knapp Street and Prospect Avenue,
Milwaukee.
