The collection contains Bender's personal files on his various civic and professional activities, including committee reports and correspondence as well as some biographical information. The collection is divided into nine main series: Biographical Material; City/County Government (Milwaukee); Marquette University School of Medicine; Metropolitan Milwaukee War Memorial, Inc.; Milwaukee County Park Commission; Milwaukee-Downer College; Milwaukee Society for Suppression of Commercial Vice; Professional Material; and War and Community Funds and Chests.
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL series consists of two folders containing newsclippings, excerpts from other printed material, and correspondence relating to the personal life of Bender from 1916 to 1966 and their lives of his parents, William and Nellie Bender, from 1931 to 1943.
The CITY/COUNTY GOVERNMENT (MILWAUKEE) series contains files of the various committees and civic organizations with which Bender was involved. The series is divided into five parts, each representing a specific organization, and includes correspondence, committee reports, bulletins, speeches, minutes, city ordinances, and articles of incorporation and by-laws. By far the most extensive holdings in this segment are the files of the Metropolitan Study Commission.
The MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE series covers Bender's activities and concerns as a member of the Board of Directors. The files are divided into ten sub-categories by subject. Included are correspondence; financial materials including budget studies and proposals; reports of the treasurer and accountant; reports of the Dean, faculty, and extensions to the Board of Directors; articles of association and by-laws; minutes and agenda of the Board, the Corporation, and various committees; near-print and miscellaneous material including general correspondence and circulars.
The Metropolitan Milwaukee War Memorial, Inc. was organized in 1945 by a group of Milwaukee citizens to promote the construction of a memorial in the city. Walter Bender played a crucial role in the development of the corporation and the memorial. The METROPOLITAN MILWAUKEE WAR MEMORIAL, INC. series contains his records for the organization. The series is divided into seven parts. Included are Legal Documents consisting of briefs and decisions on two related legal cases; an Organization file containing organizational charts; a section on the Planning and Construction of the Memorial which includes building programs, site selection reports, correspondence, and leaflets and correspondence, contracts, and committee and corporation reports.
The largest segment of the collection relates to the MILWAUKEE COUNTY PARK COMMISSION, whose operations are chronicled during the years Bender was its president. The Budget section of this series contains correspondence, proposed budgets, annual summaries of capital improvement programs, and priority proposals for “Improvement and Major Maintenance Accounts.” “Civil Service Matters” contains any material dealing with park employees. It includes correspondence, employee and evaluation reports, job descriptions, and a separate file on Leonard Pampel, the inventor of the water system used for the Milwaukee County Zoo aquarium. The Pampel file also includes correspondence, the agreement between Pampel and the Park Commission, and Pampel's patent. The Concessions and Vending Machines subseries includes specific material on concessions activities such as concessions reports, studies, and correspondence to the Commission.
In the mid-1950s an extended expressway system was proposed for the Milwaukee area, and its anticipated effect on County Park lands is recorded in the “Expressway System” files. These consist of correspondence, reports and studies, and minutes of conferences on the subject. Lakefront development, a major concern of the Park Commission, is covered in the “Lakefront Committee” file which includes a 1940 study of the lakefront, a 1962 progress report and correspondence, legal documents, proposals, and minutes. The Land Acquisition file includes correspondence, memoranda, near-print, agreements, and maps concerning Park Commission land acquisition from 1956 to 1964. Material concerning the Park Commission's association with various planning agencies is found in the correspondence, planning reports, and minutes of meetings of joint planning agencies filed under the heading Planning Agencies.
The Programs subseries is made up of programs undertaken during Bender's tenure, and is divided into nine sections, eight containing the correspondence, reports, and memoranda of separate specific programs and one miscellaneous file. The subseries Recreation contains the correspondence, pamphlets, reports, and clippings of the Recreation department of the Park Commission on subjects including playgrounds, camping facilities, stadium parking, and planned recreational activities. The Reorganization file deals with the Commission's association with the Public Administration Service, which in 1955 published a report regarding the Milwaukee administration of its parks and recreation. This prompted a reorganization, and included here are related materials such as organizational charts, correspondence, conference minutes, and reports. “Senate Bill 463, S.” refers to a proposal in 1958 by the County Board of Supervisors giving themselves veto power over the Park Commission. The files consist of correspondence and newsclippings regarding the bill and arguments against it. Filed in the Sewerage, Water Pollution, and Flood Control section is material relating to water quality and control in Milwaukee, including correspondence, memoranda, near-print, and city ordinances. The correspondence, near-print, city ordinances, and Commission minutes filed under “zoning” relate to Milwaukee zoning procedures and jurisdiction. Miscellaneous consists of three folders of general correspondence including complaints; newsclippings, articles, reports; and minutes of a general nature and not directly related to other subseries.
The MILWAUKEE-DOWNER COLLEGE series consists of material Bender accumulated as a member of the Board of Trustees. It is divided into five subseries and primarily consists of correspondence and memoranda, minutes and agenda, reports, and budgetary material.
The MILWAUKEE SOCIETY FOR SUPPRESSION OF COMMERCIAL VICE series contains some of the financial records, budgetary correspondence, and account books for this organization, which replaced the Milwaukee Vigilance League around 1915 and survived until 1922. Bender received these records in 1928.
The series PROFESSIONAL MATERIAL deals with Bender's legal career, and is divided into six subseries. The Bar Associations file contains his correspondence, minutes and reports from the American Bar Association, the Milwaukee Bar Association, and the State Bar of Wisconsin. Five specific case files involve clients represented by Bender. They are: The Town of Greenfield in a 1956 law suit; Public School Teachers Annuity and Retirement Fund in a retirement fund dispute that reached the State Supreme Court in 1956; The city of Wauwatosa in matters of water utility regulation in 1954-1955; Wisconsin Council of Agriculture in labor legislation matters including the draft of the Wisconsin Employment Peace Act in 1939; and the YMCA in a case concerning distribution of residual legatees of the Elmer L. Arnold estate in 1956-1957. In general these files consist of correspondence, near-print, legal documents, and legislative materials.
The ninth series, WAR AND COMMUNITY FUNDS AND CHESTS, contains Bender's records of various organizations involved in World War II relief. The subseries, Miscellaneous Chests and Funds, contains material from organizations with which Bender had only limited contact. The series is composed primarily of correspondence, with some near-print, minutes, financial records, and reports.
