University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Eastside Housing Action Committee (Milwaukee, Wis.).

Records, 1972-1978.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 11

1.2 cubic ft. (3 archives boxes)

ABSTRACT: Records of a tenant union organizing committee focusing on the problem of an ethnically mixed, deteriorating neighborhood plagued with a high rate of absentee landlordism. Contains records on funding; sponsorship; and activities including organization of tenant unions, initiation of legal actions on behalf of tenants, lobbying for legislative reform, and support for local cooperative businesses.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The records have been arranged in five major series: Organizational Records, Funding and Sponsorship Records, Activities, Correspondence with Related Organizations, and an Informational File.

Within the Organizational Records there is little evidentiary material as to ESHAC structure other than a small sample of monthly minutes and incorporation papers. A history of the organization is included, but it emphasizes general strategy rather than concrete organizational information.

The Funding and Sponsorship Records, covering seven years of the organization's existence, not only indicate the diverse sources of its support, but the proposals, in particular, contain abundant information on policy, strategy and yearly project evaluations. Included in these materials are correspondence, job descriptions, evaluations, project narratives and proposals, and a sample of the federal registers. Of particular interest, are the a-location or budgetary papers which, although not entirely complete, contain financial information otherwise unaccounted for in the collection.

The largest series documents the Activities: legal, legislative and miscellaneous, that provide the organization's focus. Included in the legal records are correspondence, legal briefs, petitions, grievance forms, and newspaper clippings related to specific actions against negligent landlords. Also of note is a large body of material covering the lawsuit against Dan Giwosky of Fox Bay Realty. Of particular interest is a sample copy of a landlord-tenant lease. The legislative activities focus upon broad reform in the area of zoning laws, building inspection codes, utility deposit rules, a rent control ordinance and a rent tax credit. Included in these records are legal briefs, copies of proposed ordinances and transcripts of hearings. The remainder of ESHAC's activities revolved around educational workshops, a research task force on deteriorating neighborhood conditions; and efforts to solve local community problems such as highway expansion.

The Correspondence with Related Organizations series includes correspondence with people and organizations such as the city alderman, Edward Griffin, the Community Development Coalition, and the Milwaukee Central City Consumer Council. This correspondence reveals the extent of community cooperation with ESHAC and its goals.

The Informational File includes publications, film catalogues, property inventories and handbooks used in ESHAC educational workshops and research activities.

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY: Inspired by the student activism of the 1960's six eastside Milwaukee tenants met in an Episcopal church in spring, 1972, to form the Eastside Housing Action Committee (ESHAC). Operating since 1972, the organization focuses on the problems of an ethnically mixed, deteriorating neighborhood with a high rate of absentee landlordism.

In the first two year, ESHAC staged ten drives for organizing tenants of the eastside's largest landlord and created seven tenant unions. The Committee also held bargaining sessions with six landlords and their tenants to resolve issues such as rent increases and housing maintenance. These efforts met with mixed results because it was difficult to sustain tenant commitment to the organization's long range strategies although solutions to concrete problems were readily acknowledged.

ESHAC acquired VISTA aid when it joined the Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development (MAUD) in February 1973. In July of that year, ESHAC opened its Locust Street office and the scope of its activities broadened from tenant to wider community concerns. This new involvement in more general problems of the eastside neighborhood found expression in organized opposition to city plans to widen Locust Street--a move which would have destroyed numerous housing units and local businesses. Along with success in this effort came a willingness to include local residents on the staff and in the decision-making process. This new input promoted social and cultural interaction among Blacks, Latins, elderly whites and youth; rehabilitation of neighborhood housing; and support for community-owned businesses as its main goals. From these broad objectives the organization focuses upon four activities: 1) a community newsletter, 2) improved social services, 3) community economic development and 4) the creation of the Eastside Housing Center.

The ESHAC newsletter began publication in early 1973 and by 1975 it had a circulation of 2,000 per month and addressed local problems such as blockbusting, tavern issues, housing speculation, youth unemployment and day care. The Committee's community service activities focuses upon tenant problems for which it established a small claims referral for rental deposit questions and organized "locals" in tenant complexes. Tenants' rights workshops were included in these efforts. ESHAC commitment to neighborhood social services also involves the creation of an integrated community day care center. In addition, the organization played an integral role in the founding of the Gordon Park Food Cooperative in September 1976 to replace a food store that had closed after 42 years of operation. ESHAC also reorganized a floundering printing shop into another cooperative called the Community Press. Finally, in April 1975, ESHAC developed the Eastside Housing Center to promote research and education centered on housing problems which includes absentee landlordism and housing abandonment.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Eastside Housing Action Committee (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1972-1978. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 11. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. Golda Meir Library. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

ACQUISITION: Presented by the Eastside Housing Action Committee of Milwaukee, Wisconsin via Carol Brill, Director in 1980 (accession number M80-338).

PROCESSING: By Sara Shutkin and Joanne Hohler, July, 1982.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

African Americans--Civil rights--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Afro-Americans--Housing--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Discrimination in housing--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Landlord and tenant--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
Neighborhood government--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Rental housing--Resident satisfaction--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 11	BOX	FOLDER
Activities, Legal, Fraudulent Document Libel Allegation, 1976-1977	1	13
Activities, Legal, Giwosky Suit, 1972-1977	1	11-12
Activities, Legal, Leases-Landlord/Tenant, Samples, undated	1	16
Activities, Legal, Security Deposit Claims Information, undated	1	15
Activities, Legal, Small Claims Actions, 1973-1975	1	14
Activities, Legislative, Alderman's Task Force on Zoning, ca.1973-ca.1974	2	5
Activities, Legislative, Assembly Bill 998, ca.1975	2	9
Activities, Legislative, Building Inspection Codes, 1974-1976	2	7
Activities, Legislative, Family Zoning Ordinance, Clippings, 1974	2	6
Activities, Legislative, Public Service Commission Deposit Rule, 1974-1975	2	8
Activities, Legislative, Rent Control Ordinance, ca.1973	2	3
Activities, Legislative, Rent Tax Credit, 1973	2	4
Activities, Legislative, Rent Withholding Ordinance, ca.1973-ca.1974	2	1
Activities, Legislative, Rezoning Petition, 1972-ca.1973	2	2
Activities, Miscellaneous, Educational Workshop, Teaching Aids, undated	2	10
Activities, Miscellaneous, Locust Street Expansion Opposition, 1974-1976	2	11
Activities, Miscellaneous, Locust Street Lighting Petitions, ca. 1975.	2	12
Activities, Miscellaneous, Property Research Task Force, undated	2	13
Activities, Miscellaneous, Tavern Reopening Opposition, 1976	2	14
Correspondence with Related Organizations, City Alderman, Edward Griffin, 1974-1976	2	15
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Community Development Coalition, 1974	3	1
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Eastside Community Alternatives, 1972-1975	3	2
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Eastside Focus, undated	3	3
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Eastside Radio Program, WUWM, 1976	3	4
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Gordon Park Women's Association, 1977	3	5
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Housecoping Project, UW-Extension, 1975	3	6
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Hunger Task Force, 1974	3	7
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Milwaukee Central City Consumer Council, 1973-1975	3	8-9
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Milwaukee East Organizations Congress, 1975	3	10
Correspondence with Related Organizations, VISTA Volunteer, 1973	3	11
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Wisconsin Information Service, Information and Referral Project, 1973	3	12
Correspondence with Related Organizations, Youth Service Bureau, 1973-1975	3	13
Funding and Sponsorship, ACTION-VISTA, Correspondence, Job Descriptions, 1973-1977	1	5
Funding and Sponsorship, ACTION-VISTA, Project Proposals, 1973-1977	1	4
Funding and Sponsorship, Benefits, 1973-1974	1	7
Funding and Sponsorship, Community Development Agency, Correspondence, Proposals, 1975-1976	1	10
Funding and Sponsorship, Milwaukee Associates in Urban Development (MAUD), 1973-1978	1	6
Funding and Sponsorship, Tax Exemption Records, 1974	1	3
Funding and Sponsorship, United Community Services, ca.1975-ca.1977	1	8-9
Informational Files, Educational Films, undated	3	16
Informational Files, Landlord/Tenants, Evictions and Relocations, undated	3	14
Informational Files, Legislative Reform-Proposals and Drafts, 1972-1973	3	15
Informational Files, Property Inventories, 1973-1976	3	17
Informational Files, Public Schools, Handbook on Parent-Teacher Relations, 1973	3	18
Informational Files, Publications Samples, 1973	3	20
Informational Files, Work Incentive Programs, ca. 1972-ca. 1973	3	19
Organizational Records, History and Policy, 1972-1978	1	1
Organizational Records, Minutes, General, Housing Committees, 1974-1976	1	2