The local chapter was originally founded in 1919 as the Milwaukee Normal Teachers
Association No. 79 of the American Federation of Teachers. This became the Milwaukee State
Teachers College Union, Local 79 of the American Federation of Teachers when Milwaukee
Normal School became the Milwaukee State Teachers College in 1927, and finally the American
Federation of Teachers Local 79, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1956 with the merger
of Wisconsin State College and UW-Milwaukee Extension Center. Membership was open to the
faculty of all of these institutions. The union sought to secure the working conditions and
compensation it considered appropriate to the profession and concerned itself with such
issues as tenure, civil rights, academic freedom, and competitive salaries.
