Milwaukee Series 44 documents the mayoral administration (1960-1988) of Henry W. Maier and
provides a detailed picture of issues that sometimes never made the local press or became
public. Like most modern managers, Maier relied heavily on his staff to prepare background
information and policy guidance. This is reflected in the records. There are very few
documents actually handwritten by Maier, and it is often impossible to tell if typed letters
were dictated or written by him, or if he simply signed them.
Maier's office staff, especially Staff Assistants Richard J. Budelman, Bradley Carr, Bert
Muiroy, and Press Aide Robert J. Welch, created most of the records. The documentation
consists largely of correspondence, memoranda, and reports created by Maier's staff to
provide the mayor with background information and recommendations. Quite often, the staff
memoranda provide great detail about a particular issue. For example, the files under
“Welch, Robert J.,” one of Maier's press aides, contain documents pertaining to
the mayor's relationship with the media. Richard J. Budelman's frank memos offer a unique
glimpse into the administration's operations.
A few records, mostly from city offices, dating 1959-1960, are also included.
Some materials were microfilmed before the records were transferred to the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin. Materials microfilmed include: Milwaukee Journal and Sentinel editorials, scrapbooks, and speeches. Paper copies of the speeches are
also available in boxes 169-178. An Appendix to this finding aid is a chronological list of
Maier's speeches.
The records are organized into three series:
- Series 1. Subject Files, Boxes 1 to 199, 251, 264-268 and microfilm Reels 1-14
- Series 2. Memorabilia, Boxes 252 to 263
- Series 3. Media Files including Tape Recordings, in Boxes 200-248, and
Videorecordings, in Boxes 249-250
Topical Abstracts
The records contain materials on a wide variety of topics. The following abstracts provide
general information about the availability of materials on given topics.
Administrative Operations
Included are voluminous records detailing many of the operations of city departments and
offices. Some of the major files concern the Board of Estimates; building inspection;
capital improvements; Central Board of Purchases; Central Electronic Data Services; City
Attorney; City Plan and City Service Commissions; the Departments of City Development,
Intergovernmental Fiscal Liaison, and Public Works; and labor contracts with city workers.
While much of the documentation is routine, researchers can trace the evolution of the city
budget and operations in great detail. The files of the City Attorney provide interesting
documents which explain the legal authority of the city in many lawsuits. The controversies
surrounding the 1981 investigation of sanitation workers by the Milwaukee Journal are
especially well documented.
Business and Economics
The city's efforts to improve its business and economic environment are documented in a
number of places in the records. Researchers should examine the files of the Department of
City Development and subjects such as downtown, economic development, economy, the landbank,
and the port of Milwaukee. A number of specific activities and projects are also well
documented. The files contain materials on the city's dispute with Brown Deer over the
annexation of Granville. Much of the land, kept in a “landbank,” was later used
for industrial development and the Northridge Shopping Center. By the end of the 1970s,
Milwaukee was receiving multi-million dollar Urban Development Action Grants. To develop
small industries, Maier established the Science and Technology Utilization Council. Also
well documented are large downtown redevelopment efforts including the Bradley Center, Grand
Avenue Mall, and Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena (MECCA). Records
detailing the origins and development of Summerfest and on cable television franchising in
Milwaukee are especially comprehensive. Information on the development of the interstate
high-way system, relocation housing, and the growth of public resistance to the building of
more roads is also present. Researchers should look both in the expressway files and under
the names of specific roads.
Civil Rights
Much information on affirmative action and the civil rights movement, especially in the
1960s and 1970s, is available in the records. Studies in the early 1960s on acculturation
and public schools, funded by the Ford Foundation, provide insights on the status of
African-American Milwaukeeans in the early 1960s. In 1968, the city began a “Learn By
Doing” program to provide educational, cultural, and recreational jobs for
disadvantaged youths. Of particular interest is the log kept by the mayor's office during
the July 1967 civil disturbances. Audio tapes of Maier's meeting with Father James Groppi in
August 1967 are available in Audio 1235A. Extensive files also exist on the city's
affirmative action program, the “War on Prejudice,” and the Commission on
Community Relations and its implementation of the Greenleigh & Associates study on
Milwaukee race relations. Relatively little information can be found on the busing and
integration of Milwaukee public schools, largely because Maier did not become actively
involved in the issues, and the staff usually directed constituent correspondence to the
School Board. The controversies over the police department's treatment of minorities are not
well documented. Patrons can, however, find some information in the files on Ernest Lacy and
the Police Department.
Federal and State Aid
Maier was a strong advocate of state and federal assistance to the city, which is well
documented in files on state aid and shared taxes, the Community Development Agency, Crusade
for Resources, housing, HUD, Model Cities, and the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities. Many of
these files contain extensive progress reports on various assistance projects, especially
for housing. The Model Cities and Community Development Agency are particularly rich sources
of information, providing detailed grant applications and reports, minutes of meetings with
citizen's groups, and planning documents and proposals. Maier's fight with Governor Tony
Earl in the mid-1980s over state aid and shared taxes is also well documented.
Media Relations
Henry Maier engaged in a long-running dispute with the local press, especially the Milwaukee Journal. The records include extensive
correspondence and memoranda written by the mayor and his staff dealing with alleged
journalistic errors, especially by Journal
reporter Joel McNally. Also included are files from Maier's formal complaint to the FCC,
claiming a journalistic monopoly by the Journal Company. Included too are copies of the
mayoral office's newsletters, beeper and press releases, scripts for radio and television
shows, and background materials and transcripts for news conferences. Of special interest
are the quantitative analyses of press reporting by the staff, and Maier's heavily annotated
copy of a 1987 Milwaukee magazine article,
“The Unknown Mayor.” Journal
and Sentinel editorials from 1960-1988 are
available on microfilm.
National Policies and Politics
Henry Maier was heavily involved in establishing national urban policies. Many of the files
contain Maier's correspondence with national political leaders. In 1963, he became vice
president of the National Municipal League, and one year later he was elected president of
the National Municipal Association (later the National League of Cities). In 1965, he
spearheaded the passage of a resolution by the U.S. Conference of Mayors calling for the
elimination of exclusionary zoning, and initiated a proposal with the National League of
Cities for a national urban observatories program. In 1971, Maier was elected president of
the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM). In 1973, he organized the Caucus of Democratic Mayors
and served as its first president. The following year, he was elected chairman of the
National Conference of Democratic Mayors (NCDM), and helped set strategy for the role of
mayors in the National Democratic Committee. In 1975, following extensive work by Maier, the
NCDC adopted a National Urban Policy statement, which Jimmy Carter and the National
Democratic Committee endorsed the following year. In 1977, Maier received the NCDM
Distinguished Urban Mayor Award. In 1979, Maier went to the Camp David economic summit with
Jimmy Carter; he also received the Distinguished Urban Mayor Award from the National Urban
Coalition. In 1983, Maier successfully lobbied the NCDM to draft a new urban policy for the
presidential campaign. The following year, he received the USCM's Distinguished Public
Service Award. In 1987, he received the Urban Coalition's Distinguished Urban Mayor Award;
the USCM's Michael A. DiNunzio Award for his leadership on the fight against urban poverty,
and the NLC's President's Award.
State and Local Politics
Henry Maier was a major figure in the state of Wisconsin and in Milwaukee throughout his
years in office, and most of his political activities are well documented. The files contain
many documents on Maier's role in the Wisconsin Alliance of Cities, and his dealings with
Wisconsin's governors. Files on Maier's re-election campaigns of 1972 and 1980 provide a
detailed glimpse at his political operations, although relatively little exists for his
other campaigns. Little material can be found on the Wisconsin Democratic Party. The files
include Maier's official correspondence with the Common Council and its committees, but
relatively few letters to individual council members discussing issues will be found. The
mayor's Common Council files also include copies of his veto messages. Of particular
interest are the folders on the 1987 veto of the Groppi Viaduct.
Series 1. Subject Files
Arrangement
The subject files are organized alphabetically by personal name, name of office, or by
topic. Files can contain a variety of materials, including correspondence, staff memos, and
reports.
Cross References
Throughout the subject files, there are cross references between names of individuals,
organizations, and topics--for example: Correspondence [See also “Personal
Correspondence”] or Braves [See “Milwaukee Braves”].
The “See also” references refer to related folders elsewhere in the files.
These references are not intended to provide access to every possible related folder, but
only to help find other major headings; usually, no more than three “See also”
references are provided.
Names of Offices
Many city offices changed names throughout the years of the Maier administration or were
known by various official and unofficial names. This finding aid employs the most common
name last used by the administration. Where necessary, cross references to the office
holders are also provided. For example, there is a cross reference from “Executive
Secretary” to “Johnson, Charles W.”
Series 2. Memorabilia
In this series are 111 pieces of memorabilia from the Maier administration. The items were
given to the mayor from a variety of sources. The contents list below is arranged by date,
then by the name of group giving the item. It provides name of the group donating the item,
date, notes, item number, and location. The number on the artifact was usually provided by
the mayor's staff before he left office.
Some items are on exhibit, oversized, or still in Henry Maier's possession, and are so
noted. The exhibited items are marked “exhibit”; oversized items are marked
“oversize”; and items in Maier's possession are marked “HWM.” The
location of these materials will be updated as needed.
Series 3. Media Files
This series contains 1,370 audio cassette and reel-to-reel tapes, arranged chronologically.
These are assigned call number Audio 1235A plus a number for each item; in each year, the
item numbers begin again at “#1”. (Two 16 mm films from 1967 are shelved and
numbered with the tape recordings.)
This series also contains 49 videotapes recorded by the mayor's office. Each video has a
separate call number which is indicated in the contents list below.
