The bulk of the collection relates to the period 1958-1978 when the Council co-sponsored and independently offered a number of programs including speaker dinners and luncheons, Great Decisions study groups, various institutes usually co-sponsored with the World Affairs Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, high school programs, a WISN-TV discussion program titled “World Affairs Forum,” and a series of awards dinners, which included the controversial 5,000 dollar award and recognition to former Secretary of State Dean Acheson in 1969.
The records of the World Affairs Council of Milwaukee have been arranged into the following three series - Administrative Records, Organizations/Agencies, and Programs.
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS contains by-laws and statements of purpose, board and committee minutes and records, an organization history, financial records, correspondence, scholarship materials, membership and officer lists, Council Courier newsletters, financial records, and miscellaneous materials. Correspondence documents the organization's networking attempts for purposes of cooperation, fund raising, membership, and program offerings.
ORGANIZATIONS/AGENCIES consists of program flyers and newsletters sent by other world affairs councils including those in Los Angeles and Chicago and correspondence and speaker lists from the Department of State, Foreign Policy Association, and National Council of World Affairs Organizations. There is some correspondence and program flyers from the Institute of World Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, but more information regarding the cooperative relationship between the two organizations exists within the PROGRAM series and correspondence files of ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS.
PROGRAMS includes correspondence, program flyers and brochures, newsclippings, press releases, biographical information on speakers, question notes, and planning materials relating to the variety of programs offered by the organization during the period 1958-1978.
