The records of the Wisconsin Nurses Association, District 3, and its predecessor and/or affiliated groups are organized as administrative records, correspondence, financial records, committee records, subject files, and section records. The records are fragmentary and very incomplete for the early years, but cover well the period from the 1930's through the 1960's.
ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS consist of various revisions of the constitution and by-laws, minutes of regular meetings and meetings of the board of directors from 1945 to 1972, reports, annual meeting programs, newsletters, and manuals. Three early record books (1903-1916) document the intentions, minutes, and membership of two predecessor groups, the Madison Graduate Nurses Association and the Dane County Graduate Nurses Association. The reports section includes materials on committees, office, and the annual reports to the state headquarters (1921-1970).
The correspondence is organized as a general file (1940-1973), much of which is related first to committee work and then to membership, and into several topical files which are of more recent date. The latter include a file of ANA memoranda, correspondence (1968-1970) concerning an effort to restore overtime premium pay for nurses at the University of Wisconsin Hospital, and information on computerized dues billing by the ANA.
The FINANCIAL RECORDS are typical of most professional organizations, with the exception that a sizeable portion of the documentation concerns the business operations of the nurses registry. Related to this activity are an early receipt and disbursement ledger (1919-1951) and monthly statements and audits of the Graduate Nurses Central Directory. For the Third District organization there are additional monthly statements, annual statements, budgets, and audit reports.
Many COMMITTEES were created during the existence of the organization. Some of the most long-lived committees - membership, nominations, and programs - are well represented (1942-1969), but nevertheless incomplete. Even less well represented are materials from the financial committee, the historical materials committee, and the public relations and publicity committee. Of interest in this series is the current and long-term goals steering committee. The aims put forth in this committee were established by the national headquarters and partially followed by the district.
Alphabetically-arranged SUBJECT FILES contain information on diverse topics and organizations related to the Third District, some of which may contain materials which overlap with documentation in other sections of the records. Included are information on national and state conventions (1940's-1972) and material from the WNA Advisory Council. Representing the work of Third District members in community and professional groups are files on the Community Welfare Council of Madison, Inc., the Madison Student Nurses Association, and the Wisconsin Association of Licensed Practical Nurses. 0ther more general files cover disaster planning; economic security; health planning; legislation; scholarships; and medical-surgical, operating room, and psychiatric nursing.
Sections, which conduct their own business and activities beyond the parent organization, play a most important role in WNA. The largest portion of the documentation in the SECTION RECORDS concerns the Nurses Official Registry, which was partially replaced by the Private Duty Nurses Section. For this section there are a constitution and by-laws, correspondence, membership lists and applications, minutes, reports, and assorted miscellany. (The financial records for the Registry are described above.) The General Duty Section activities are reflected in minutes, correspondence, and other general material. The material on other sections, however, is limited in scope and consists chiefly of printed matter from the national headquarters.
