: ''This article deals with the Wisconsin state affiliate established in 1897 of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. For the current party affiliated with the Socialist Party USA, see Socialist Party of Wisconsin.'' Socialist Party of America - Logo

The Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin (SDPW) was established in 1897 as the Wisconsin state affiliate of the Chicago faction of the

Social Democratic Party of America The Social Democratic Party of America (SDP) was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1898. The group was formed out of elements of the Social Democracy of America (SDA) and was a predecessor to the Socialist Party of ...

. When that organization merged in 1901 to form a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

known as the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

, the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin became the state affiliate of that organization, retaining its original name. The party was responsible for electing the first

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

member of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and was the governing party in the city of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

for many years, electing several long-time mayors.

Historical background

Socialism was by no means new to

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, a fair percentage of the émigrés from Germany in the dozen years prior to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, the so-called "

Forty-Eighters The Forty-Eighters were Europeans who participated in or supported the Revolutions of 1848 that swept Europe. In the German Confederation, the Forty-Eighters favoured unification of Germany, a more democratic government, and guarantees of human r ...

," had been exposed to radical ideas and been participants in a continent-wide battle against absolutist

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. Milwaukee was, among other things, an enclave of

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

radicalism, with some 24% of the city German born in 1895. it was there that the American Socialist movement sank deep roots. The first socialist newspaper in Wisconsin appeared in Milwaukee in November 1875, a small sheet called ''Der Sozialist.'' The paper had a

Lassallean The General German Workers' Association (german: Allgemeiner Deutscher Arbeiter-Verein, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class ...

political orientation and survived for only about one year. The first English-language paper appeared the next year, when a weekly called ''Social Democrat'' saw print. As with ''Der Sozialist,'' this paper proved to be short-lived. Chicago radical publisher

Paul Grottkau Paul Grottkau (1846–1898) was a German-American socialist political activist and newspaper publisher. Grottkau is best remembered as an editor alongside Haymarket affair victim August Spies of the '' Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung,'' one of the lea ...

came to Milwaukee in 1886, bringing with him his newspaper, the German-language tri-weekly the ''Arbeiter Zeitung'' (Workers News). This publication continued without interruption, although undergoing a name change to the ''Volks Zeitung'' (Peoples' News), until it was sold in January 1893 to a young school teacher named

Victor L. Berger Victor Luitpold Berger (February 28, 1860August 7, 1929) was an Austrian–American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America and its successor, the Socialist Party of America. Born in ...

and transformed into the '' Wisconsin Vorwärts'' ('Wisconsin Forward'). Berger assumed the role of both editor and publisher of the publication, and his emergence in this capacity marked a turning point in the history of the socialist movement in the state. Berger grew his paper by attempting to de-emphasize revolutionary change in favor of incremental reform, and made a conscious effort to forge alliances with the

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

movement of his city and state. The

minimum program In Marxist practice, a minimum programme consists of a series of demands for immediate reforms and, in far fewer and less orthodox cases, also consists of a series of political demands which, taken as a whole, realise key democratic-republican mea ...

which Berger espoused included such things as the municipal ownership of

public utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

, the national ownership of mines, abolition of child labor, establishment of

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

and

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

taxation, and establishment of state standards for working conditions as well as old age pensions and insurance against sickness. Additional political demands included abolition of the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and the

veto power A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto pow ...

of the executive branch, and the elimination of the standing army and restrictions upon immigration. Berger's consistent advocacy of this "constructive" program began to be felt and by the end of the 1890s the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council was won over to support of the practical immediate demands espoused by Berger. In 1901 ''The Social Democratic Herald,'' the official organ of the Chicago-based

, moved its office to Milwaukee. This paper would continue as the English-language voice of socialism in Wisconsin through September 1913.

Early organizations

Behind Milwaukee's socialist press, there was an evolving political organization. Between 1874 and 1876 there was a Milwaukee branch of the

International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

— the so-called "First International" in which

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

played no small role. Many of the members of this pioneering group, which met at a place called Casino Hall, would go on to become leading members of the Social-Democratic Party during the decade of the 1890s. The 1877 election saw the first explicitly socialist campaign in Wisconsin, when leaflets touting a so-called "Social Democratic Ticket" were circulated among the workers of Milwaukee. The direct forerunners of the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin Included the German language Sozialistischer Verein, in which Victor Berger played a leading role, and a small English-language group styling itself as the "Fabian Society," in which

Frederic Heath Frederic Faries Heath (1864–1954) was an American socialist politician and journalist who was a founding member of the Social Democratic Party of America in 1897 and the Socialist Party of America in 1901. He was an elected official in Wisconsin ...

was the most active participant. Berger's group was part of the

turner movement Turners (german: Turner) are members of German-American gymnastic clubs called Turnvereine. They promoted German culture, physical culture, and liberal politics. Turners, especially Francis Lieber, 1798–1872, were the leading sponsors of gy ...

— a network of social and gymnastic organizations established in America by emigrants from Germany. On October 9, 1893, with a city election in Milwaukee less than a month away, members of the Sozialistischer Verein and Fabian Society gathered with individuals associated with the

Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

, the People's Party ("Populists"), and unaffiliated trade unionists to decide upon a common plan of action. A committee of 15 was elected, who managed to hammer out the differing views of the various participating organizations into a coherent platform behind a set of nominees called the "Cooperative Ticket." The alliance of reformers and radicals had no great delusions of their prospects of success, but instead sought to make their united effort at the polls a cause for building the organized strength of the working class. This alliance lasted until the summer of 1894, when the Populists severed themselves from the socialist movement by banning admission of Victor Berger and two dozen socialists as delegates to their state convention. Relations between the socialists and the Populists continued to sour over the next several years, with Berger declaring at the time of the November 1896 elections that socialists should support the Populists at the polls only until a national political party was established for the working class. Berger and his co-thinkers had not long to wait for such an organization. On January 2, 1897, trade union organizer and orator

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...

announced in an open letter that he was severing himself from the increasingly conservative People's Party, owing to his conversion to Socialism. Berger had been instrumental in winning Debs to the socialist cause, visiting him with books in hand during the time of his incarceration in Woodstock Jail in Chicago in 1895, and he wrote to Debs exploring the formation of a new explicitly socialist political party. This would take shape later that same year as the

Social Democracy of America The Social Democracy of America (SDA), later known as the Cooperative Brotherhood, was a short lived political party in the United States that sought to combine the planting of an intentional community with political action in order to create a s ...

, from which Berger and Debs would split in 1898 to form the electorally-oriented

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

Establishment

On July 7, 1898, Eugene Debs made his first public speech on behalf of the Social Democracy at a meeting held at West Side Turner Hall in Milwaukee before a large and enthusiastic audience. Two nights later, Milwaukee saw the establishment of Branch 1 of the Social Democracy of America, with Debs again on hand to provide a keynote address to the session. Between 75 and 100 of the city's residents, including many German-American immigrants, turned out to help establish the new organization. From the earliest days, left wing opposition existed to the new organization in the form of the Socialist Labor Party, which sought to debate Debs and the Social Democracy on the nature of Socialism. One historian of this interlude has intimated that such a desire for debate was natural, characterizing party leader

Daniel DeLeon Daniel De Leon (; December 14, 1852 – May 11, 1914), alternatively spelt Daniel de León, was a Curaçaoan-American socialist newspaper editor, politician, Marxist theoretician, and trade union organizer. He is regarded as the forefather ...

of the SLP and Victor Berger of the Social Democracy as "the sages behind two opposing schools of socialism." Debs had planned to stay in Wisconsin helping to establish the Social Democracy in other cities around the state, but he was ultimately called away to the

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

coal fields to help organize striking miners then engaged in a heated economic battle with mine-owners. Berger and Heath, the two leading figures in the Wisconsin movement, sought to expand the size and influence of their movement among Wisconsinites by establishing a daily newspaper, which they hoped to launch on New Year's Day, 1898. In a surprising move intended to unite the warring factions of American socialism, an offer was made to Daniel DeLeon to come to Wisconsin from New York City in order to edit the new paper. There is no evidence that DeLeon ever answered this proposal, which seems to have been made in good faith. The idea for an English daily was ultimately abandoned at this time. The first city convention of the Social Democratics in Milwaukee was held on February 1, 1898, and included substantial representation from the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council and individual unions. An initial slate of four candidates was put forward by the organization to run in the Milwaukee municipal election which followed on April 5. Those nominated were the first of many subsequent Socialist candidates to be bound to the party program through the submission of signed-but-undated "blank resignations," which were entrusted to the party organization to be dated and submitted if the elected candidate were to ever lose the party's trust. The electoral platform guiding these candidates has been described by one historian as one of "detailed reformism," including calls for city-owned utilities,

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

projects, free textbooks for schoolchildren, and the development of recreation areas in poor sections of the city of Milwaukee. The Social Democratic candidate for mayor, machinist Robert Meister, ultimately received 2400 votes, trailing the 26,000 ballots received by the Democratic Party's victorious nominee and the 18,000 votes for his

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent. The Social Democratic campaign was taken statewide for the first time in the fall of 1898, with a platform calling for establishment of a

progressive income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...

and a new

property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...

to replace the current system of taxation, universal

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

for all literate adults, establishment of the

initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a pu ...

and

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

, abolition of the

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...

power of the governor, abolition of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, and prohibition of

child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

and night work for women. This set of substantial reforms was not met with favorably by the electorate as the Social Democratic ticket generated results no better than the Milwaukee mayoral effort, polling a mere 2,544 votes in a statewide race.

Development

The Social-Democratic Party was buoyed to some extent by an onslaught against the Socialist Labor Party, an ideological battle lead nationally by the '' Appeal to Reason,'' a large circulation weekly based in the rural town of

Girard, Kansas Girard is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,496. History Girard was founded in the spring of 1868, in opposition to Crawfordsville, and named af ...

. The ''Appeal's'' 1898 onslaught was followed by a split of the SLP over the question of trade union tactics in the following year. Dissatisfied former member of the SLP in Milwaukee bolted for the Social-Democratic Party, swelling its ranks and reducing the physical and rhetorical volume of its left wing opponents. In 1900 dissident former members of the SLP and the Chicago-based Social Democratic Party managed to patch up their differences long enough to run a joint ticket for the presidency, headed by Eugene Debs for President and

Job Harriman Job Harriman (January 15, 1861 – October 26, 1925) was an ordained minister who later became an agnostic and a socialist. In 1900, he ran for vice president of the United States along with Eugene Debs on the ticket of the Socialist Party of ...

of California for Vice-President. Although the SDP leadership remained leery of the former SLP members, organizational unity eventually followed, formalized by a convention in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

which was gaveled to order on July 29, 1901. The

was thereby born.

Electoral victories

The Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin broke through electorally in 1904, first winning office in the Milwaukee city election in April. That successful campaign saw nearly 20,000 votes cast for the SDP, with ten party members elected as city aldermen and another four as city supervisors. In addition, two party members won positions as justices and two more as constables. Among those elected to office for the first time as incoming aldermen were pioneer English-speaking socialist Frederic Heath and future Mayor Emil Seidel. Newspaper editor Victor Berger finished third in his bid to become Mayor of Milwaukee, but he nonetheless recorded a respectable 15,343 votes (27.2% of those cast) in a three-cornered race. Success continued in November 1904 when the party saw five of its candidates elected to the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

and one other elected to the

. That election also saw the first Congressional campaign of the party's patriarch, Victor Berger, when he stood for election in Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District, centered in Milwaukee. During this campaign the SDP refined its electoral tactics, dividing the distribution of campaign literature in the urban center of Milwaukee on a carefully planned block-by-block basis and managing to distribute 100,000 pieces of campaign literature, hitting every dwelling in the city, in a 24-hour period. An efficient political machine to rival those of the so-called "old parties" was thereby developed — a factor not to be underestimated in any assessment of the organization's electoral success. The SDP scored its biggest electoral triumph to date in the spring of 1910 when

Emil Seidel Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947) was a prominent German-American politician. Seidel was the mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, Seidel became the Vice Presidential ...

was elected as

Mayor of Milwaukee This is a list of mayors of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. List External linksJS Online {{Mayors of the City of Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporatio ...

. One key factor behind socialist success in this race was a breakthrough by the SDP among working class

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

voters, who had traditionally supported candidates of the Democratic Party. Seidel's victory capped a decade of steady SDP growth in Milwaukee mayoral elections, in which the party's candidates had seen the number of socialist votes cast grow by a factor of 8 between the election of 1900 and the end of the decade. In the fall 1920 election, the Socialist Party of Wisconsin elected 3 State Senators and another 9 of its members to the Wisconsin Assembly. This was topped in the 1922 election, which saw the return of Victor Berger to Congress, while 2 party members were elected to the State Senate and another 10 were sent to the Assembly. The party did not run a candidate for U.S. Senate in 1922, avoiding a race which was handily won by popular progressive Republican

Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Robert Marion "Fighting Bob" La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th Governor of Wisconsin. A Republican for most of his ...

over his Democratic challenger by a margin of nearly 5-to-1.

Sewer Socialists

The SDPW was the center of what was derisively termed " Sewer Socialism" within the socialist movement: an element which favored

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

over

Orthodox Marxism Orthodox Marxism is the body of Marxist thought that emerged after the death of Karl Marx (1818–1883) and which became the official philosophy of the majority of the socialist movement as represented in the Second International until the Firs ...

, deemphasizing

social theory Social theories are analytical frameworks, or paradigms, that are used to study and interpret social phenomena.Seidman, S., 2016. Contested knowledge: Social theory today. John Wiley & Sons. A tool used by social scientists, social theories rela ...

and revolutionary rhetoric, in favor of honest government and efforts to improve

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. The Sewer Socialists fought to clean up what they saw as "the dirty and polluted legacy of the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

," cleaning up neighborhoods and factories with new

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

systems, city-owned water and power systems, and improved education.

Successor organizations

In December 1972, when in convention a majority of the Socialist Party voted to change the name of the organization to

Social Democrats, USA Social Democrats, USA (SDUSA) is a small political association of social democrats founded in 1972. The Socialist Party of America (SPA) had stopped running independent presidential candidates and consequently the term "party" in the SPA's na ...

so as to better work within the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, a secessionist Wisconsin contingent was influential in the formation of a new organization dedicated to the traditional vision of independent political action, the Socialist Party, USA.

Prominent members

Oscar Ameringer Oscar Ameringer (August 4, 1870 – November 5, 1943) was a German-American Socialist editor, author, and organiser from the late 1890s until his death in 1943. Ameringer made a name for himself in the Socialist Party of Oklahoma as the editor of ...

* Louis A. Arnold *

Allan L. Benson Allan Louis Benson (November 6, 1871 – August 19, 1940) was an American newspaper editor and author who ran as the Socialist Party of America candidate for President of the United States in 1916 United States presidential election, 1916. Biogra ...

Meta Berger Meta Berger ( Schlichting; February 23, 1873 – June 16, 1944) was a prominent female socialist organizer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and advocate for improved public schooling systems. She was also the wife of the prominent democratic socialist p ...

* Winfield R. Gaylord *

Daniel Hoan Daniel Webster Hoan (March 12, 1881 – June 11, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 32nd Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1916 to 1940. A lawyer who had served as Milwaukee City Attorney from 1910 to 1916, Hoan was a promi ...

* W. A. Jacobs *

Ralph Korngold Ralph Korngold (1882–1964) was a Polish-born author and businessman. He is best remembered as a leading public propagandist for the Socialist Party of America during the decade of the 1910s and as a biographer of Maximilien Robespierre. Biography ...

Leo Krzycki Leo Krzycki (1881-1966) was a chairman of the Socialist Party of America and vice president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Background Leo C. Krzycki was born on August 10, 1881, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Martin Krzycki and K ...

* Isador Ladoff *

George Lippert George Lippert (1844, Bavaria – July 1906, Salem, Oregon), was born with three legs and, as was discovered during his autopsy, two hearts. He worked as a curiosity for nearly 50 years, many of them for P. T. Barnum. Although he claimed that his ...

Edmund T. Melms Edmund Ludwig Robert Paul Theodore Melms was a factory worker, Socialist Party of America, Socialist Party official, and politician in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Early life Melms was born in Greenfield, Wisconsin, in 1874. He dropped out of school in ...

* George A. Nelson *

Paul Porter Paul Porter (born c. 1954) is an American public address announcer best known for his work for the Orlando Magic of the NBA, and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League. Porter has served as the arena voice for the Magic since th ...

A.M. Simons Algie Martin Simons (1870–1950) was an American socialist journalist, newspaper editor, and political activist, best remembered as the editor of ''International Socialist Review (1900), The International Socialist Review'' for nearly a decade. ...

* Elizabeth H. Thomas *

Carl D. Thompson Carl D. Thompson (March 24, 1870 – July 3, 1949) was an American preacher, Christian Socialist, and Social Democratic politician. A Congregationalist minister early in his life, Thompson is best remembered as a lecturer and political organizer ...

Frank Zeidler Frank Paul Zeidler (September 20, 1912 – July 7, 2006) was an American socialist politician and mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving three terms from April 20, 1948, to April 18, 1960. Zeidler, a member of the Socialist Party of America, i ...

Party Press

Milwaukee

* ''Milwaukee Arbeiter Zeitung'' ilwaukee Workers’ Newspaper(1886–1893) — Tri-weekly, published previously in Chicago. ** ''Wisconsin Vorwärts'' isconsin Forward(1893–??) — Edited by Victor Berger. ** ''Die Wahrheit''

he Truth He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

(1893–1910) — Edited by Victor Berger. * ''Social Democratic Herald'' (1901–Sep. 1913) — Weekly, published previously in Terre Haute and Chicago. * ''The Vanguard'' (1900s) — Monthly theoretical magazine. * ''Milwaukee Leader'' (Dec. 1911–1940s) * ''Wisconsin Comrade'' (1914–May 1916) — Monthly members’ bulletin. ** ''The Coming Nation'' (June 1916–March 1917)

Footnotes

Publications

* Louis A. Arnold, ''Men of Wisconsin: They Have Silenced the Voice of Freedom But Votes Speak Louder than Words: Let Your Answer Be Victor L. Berger for US Senator (Socialist Ticket).'' Milwaukee: Louis A. Arnold, n.d. (1918). * Victor L. Berger, "A 'Dissolved' Trust," ''The Vanguard,'' vol. 5, no. 10, whole no. 54. Milwaukee: Social-Democratic Publishing Co., 1907. ** ''Berger's Broadsides.'' Milwaukee: Social-Democratic Publishing Co., 1912. ** ''Voice and Pen of Victor L. Berger: Congressional Speeches and Editorials.'' Milwaukee: Milwaukee Leader, 1929. * Winfield R. Gaylord, ''County Option: Where Labor Stands at Present on the Liquor Question: Address Delivered in the Debate on County Option in the Wisconsin Legislature, March 31st, 1909.'' Milwaukee: Social-Democratic Publishing Co., n.d. (1909). * Daniel W. Hoan, ''Inaugural Address of Daniel W. Hoan, Mayor of Milwaukee: Delivered to the Common Council of Milwaukee, Wis., April 16, 1918.'' Milwaukee: n.p., n.d. (1918). * Ralph Korngold, ''Brain Jolters.'' Milwaukee: Milwaukee Social-Democratic Publishing Co., n.d. (c. 1914). * Paul Porter
''Which Way for the Socialist Party?''
Milwaukee: State Executive Board, Socialist Party of Wisconsin, 1937. * Emil Seidel, ''Which Must Go? America or Private Ownership of Railroads?'' Milwaukee: Socialist Party of Wisconsin, n.d. (c. 1920). * Norman Thomas, ''Collective Security and War.'' Milwaukee: Socialist Party of Wisconsin,'' 1938. * Carl D. Thompson, Ferdinand Rehfeld, and Max Grass (eds.)
''Milwaukee Municipal Campaign Book 1912, Social-Democratic Party.''
Milwaukee: County Central Committee of the Social-Democratic Party, Milwaukee County, Wis., 1912. * R.W. Tucker, ''The Debs Caucus: A Party Within a Party.'' Milwaukee: Socialist Party of Wisconsin, 1970. * ''Some Anti-Socialist Voices of the Press on Victor L. Berger, Representative of the Fifth Wisconsin District, and his Work in Congress.'' Milwaukee: Social-Democratic Publishing Co., n.d. (c. 1912). * Socialist Party of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Socialist Platform, 1918,"
''Milwaukee Leader,'' vol. 7, no. 337 (Aug. 31, 1918), pg. 8.

SDPW average paid memberships

:: : Sources: Carl D. Thompson, "The Rising Tide of Socialism," ''The Socialist'' (Columbus, OH), Aug. 12, 1911, pg. 2; ''St. Louis Labor,'' Feb. 22, 1902, pg. 5; "Dues Paid Last Year," ''The Worker,'' March 22, 1903, pg. 4; ''Socialist Party Official Bulletin'' and successors, Executive Secretary state-by-state membership summaries, January issue
"Socialist Party Official Membership Series,'
(1932). Report to 1937 Convention, cited i

Early American Marxism website. Adoloph Germer
''Report of Executive Secretary to the National Executive Committee: Chicago, Illinois — Aug. 8, 1918,''
pp. 5-6. "Exempt" members denote those receiving special dispensation from the state office due to unemployment starting 1913. 1909 figure from ''Socialist Party Official Bulletin,'' April 1910, pg. 10.

External links

"Socialist Party Papers, 1897-1980s, finding aid,"
Milwaukee County Historical Society, Collection Mss-0770. {{DEFAULTSORT:Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin Political history of Wisconsin Organizations disestablished in 1972 Political parties established in 1897 1897 establishments in Wisconsin Political parties in Wisconsin