The records are a fragmentary collection chiefly consisting of correspondence, clippings, leaflets, and posters. The correspondence includes form letters from the Washington, D.C., office as well as exchanges concerning local activities. Of interest is a lengthy letter from John C. Stauber, head of the Madison group, to the national staff in May 1975 and a draft of an apparently unpublished manuscript “Economic Democracy” by Jeremy Rifkin, the head of PBC, which was sent to Stauber for criticism.
Activity is better documented in files of clippings, posters, press releases, leaflets, and handouts. Oversized posters have been transferred to the Sound and Visual Archives. Filed with a press release dated September 1, 1975, is material pertaining to a national public opinion poll concerning attitudes toward the capitalist system; a similar poll in Madison is documented by material filed with an April 19, 1976, release. Results of both polls are among the topics noted in the newspaper clippings. Also discussed is the group's attempt to dramatize the commercialism of Christmas by means of a “Buy-Centennial” demonstration. Day-to-day activities of 1976 are well represented in an office log used by members to communicate with one another.
The remainder of the collection consists of a single newsletter issued by the Madison group, publications of other PBC chapters, a few fragmentary financial records, notes on economic research on Wisconsin, and a proposal drafted by the Coalition for Responsible Development (of which MPBC members may have been a part) for the further growth of Madison. Miscellany includes questions drafted to ask of Presidential candidate Morris Udall in January 1976 and a satiric Bicentennial play and song.
