COUNCIL ON URBAN AND RURAL LIFE RECORDS, 1966-1984
Historical Note/Scope and Content

Historical Note

The Council on Urban and Rural Life was an advocacy and research organization, funded by the United Way and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which served as the urban affairs office for the Archdiocese from its founding in 1966 (as the Council on Urban Life) until its dissolution at the end of 1983. It published research studies on local issues, including the lending practices of financial institutions, patient care in nursing homes, and police-community relations, and provided short-term assistance (usually less than three years) to community groups in the form of resource and leadership development and research, withdrawing after they became self-sufficient.

The CURL Records include subject and project files, reports, and publications documenting the group's approach to community organizing and its stance on social issues, and the conflicts this engendered.

Gift of the Council on Urban and Rural Life, 1976.

Scope and Content

Series 1, Subject Files, 1966-1984, documents the organization's founding, its general administration, and relations with funding agencies. The records are arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically thereunder.

Series 2, Community Organizing/Project Files, 1967-1983, contains information on the council's organizing projects, including the Milwaukee Alliance of Concerned Citizens and Taxes and Taxpayers, and the Neighborhood Perception of Needs Study it conducted for United Way and the Community Relations-Social Development Commission. The records are arranged alphabetically by project and chronologically thereunder.

Series 3, Publications, 1969-1978, includes the CURL's published reports, arranged in alphabetical order by title.