The archives preserves the historical records of UWM and its predecessor institutions. To assist in the preservation of UWM’s history, we administer the campus records management program.
The archives also supports the research and instructional missions at UWM by providing access to historically significant papers and records created or collected by individuals, families, and organizations (i.e., “manuscript collections”). Significant individual collections include the WTMJ-TV news film collection (1950-1980), the largest surviving body of television news footage in Wisconsin; the Roman B.J. Kwasniewski photograph collection, documenting Milwaukee’s Polish south side from 1911 to 1947; the records of Milwaukee Mayor Henry Maier; and the editorial files of the Little Review magazine.
As a research aid, the archives maintains a reference collection of published sources that relate to its archival holdings and manuscript collections. It includes histories of area communities, businesses, organizations, and churches.
Collection strengths pertain to the following subject areas:
The archives preserves and shares the historical records of UWM and its predecessor institutions. We acquire records from all levels of the university, including administrative and governance units; schools, colleges, and academic departments; athletic programs; and student groups and other affiliate organizations. The archives also has a rich photograph collection, blueprints for most campus buildings, student newspapers, a complete run of yearbooks from 1896 to 1968, athletic films, and taped interviews with campus administrators.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- LGBT Resource Center
- Roberto Hernández Center records
- Office of the Chancellor
- University Communications and Media Relations records
- UWM Athletics
- UWM Photographs
Online collections:
- Echo Yearbook
- INVICTUS Black Student Union newspaper
- Ivy Yearbook
- Latino Activism at UWM
- UWM photo collection
- UWM African American Alumni oral history
- UWM oral history
- UWM Post student newspaper
Subject guides:
Social action-based collections in the archives cover topics including peace activism, anti-discrimination and civil liberties, health, political and economic action, and community action/neighborhood revitalization, and are some of our most popular records.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- City Club of Milwaukee records
- James Groppi papers
- Lloyd A. Barbee papers
- NAACP Milwaukee Branch records
- Mayor Henry Maier administration records
- Metropolitan Integration Research Center records
- More than One Struggle oral history
- Sherman Park Community Association records
- Vel Phillips papers
- Voces de la Frontera records
Online Collections:
Subject guides:
Collections in the archives document many ethnic communities in Milwaukee including the African American, German, Jewish, Latino, Native American, Polish, and South Asian communities. The archives also documents the experiences of Milwaukee women, disabled people, and other historically marginalized groups.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- Herman Weil papers
- Jim Northrup papers
- Jonathan Coleman papers
- Lizzie Black Kander papers
- Lorraine M. Radtke papers
- Milwaukee Indian Education Committee records
- Milwaukee Turners Foundation records
- Nancy Oestreich Lurie papers
- Roman B. J. Kwasniewski Photograph Collection
- Tony Baéz papers
Online collections:
- African Americans in the Milwaukee Police Department oral history
- Curative Care Network
- Danube Swabian Immigration to Milwaukee oral history
- Desi Wisconsin
- Italians in Milwaukee oral history
- Living for the City oral history of Milwaukee’s Black middle class
- Milwaukee Polonia
Subject Guides:
We have extensive holdings pertaining to the history of Milwaukee women and Milwaukee’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities as well as records relating to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- ACT UP Milwaukee records
- Brady East STD Clinic records
- Cream City Foundation records
- Donna Utke papers
- Gay Peoples Union records
- Jerry Johnson collection of LGBT ephemera
- Lesbian Alliance of Metro Milwaukee records
- Miriam Ben-Shalom papers
- Pridefest records
- Vivent Health records
Online collections:
- ACT UP Milwaukee
- Eldon Murray papers
- House of History Black LGBTQ+ oral history
- LGBT Collections
- Milwaukee Gay/Lesbian Cable Network Programs
- Milwaukee LGBT oral history
- Milwaukee Transgender oral history
- Vivent Health (AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin) records
- Wisconsin HIV/AIDS oral history
Subject Guides:
The archives documents the activities of artists, writers, and performing artists in the Milwaukee area, as well as the records of local galleries, production companies, collectives, and other artistic organizations. We also hold the records of local architects including architectural drawings.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- Archive of Wisconsin Women Artists
- Charlotte Russell Partridge and Miriam Frink papers
- Community Media Project records
- Fine Arts Quartet papers
- Layton School of Art and Design records
- Milwaukee Women’s Art Library
- Pabst Theater records
- Schomer Lichtner and Ruth Grotenrath papers
- Seven Arts Society records
- Yehuda Yannay papers
Online collections:
The archives documents the history of the brewing and beermaking in Milwaukee including the corporate records of beermakers and organizational records of related associations.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
The archives collects on the history of the archives profession including the records of regional and national archival organizations and the papers of prominent professionals in the field.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- Society of American Archivists records
- Midwest Archives Conference records
- Academy of Certified Archivists records
- Archives Leadership Institute records
- Helen Willa Samuels papers
- Larry J. Hackman papers
Online collections:
The archives holds a number of collections relating to nursing, health care, and health advocacy organizations in Milwaukee.
Significant and/or frequently used collections include:
- Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions records
- Brady East STD Clinic records
- St. Mary’s School of Nursing records
- Sinai Samaritan Medical Center records
- National Black Nurses Association. Milwaukee Chapter records
- Norma Lang papers
- Vivent Health records
- Wisconsin Nurses Association. District 4 and 5 records