[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 14 (Thursday, February 1, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S862]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING MILWAUKEE'S SESQUICENTENNIAL

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to a great 
American city, Milwaukee, WI, on its birthday.
  Yesterday, Milwaukee celebrated the 150th anniversary of its 
incorporation.
  The residents of that small trading center of 1846 would be 
astonished if they walked the streets of the lively, diverse city of 
more than 625,000 people today.
  Milwaukee was born as a city during a very important year in 
Wisconsin history. Congress passed enabling legislation admitting 
Wisconsin to the Union in 1846, and delegates gathered that year in 
Madison for the State's constitutional convention.
  Milwaukee sits astride the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic 
Rivers on Lake Michigan at the site of three former settlements--
Juneautown, Kilbourntown and Walker's Point--that themselves grew up in 
the area that had been camping grounds of the indigenous Native 
American population, including members of the Potawatomi, Ottawa, 
Chippewa, and Menomonee nations. French explorers, including, notably, 
Father Jacques Marquette, began visiting the area in the late 1600's, 
and by the mid-1700's, a trading post had been established.
  Mr. President, vigorous commerce has been central to Milwaukee's 
existence from its beginning. What was to become Milwaukee began as 
three competing commercial ventures by Byron Kilbourn, a surveyor; 
George Walker, a trader and land speculator; and a fur trader, Solomon 
Juneau, who brought along a partner, Morgan Martin. By the late 1830's, 
each venture had spawned individually incorporated settlements whose 
inhabitants competed fiercely, even coming to blows during local 
hostilities that flared up into the Great Bridge War of 1845.
  Realizing that conflict was not the handmaiden to progress, all three 
settlements eventually agreed to form one city, Milwaukee.
  Mr. President, Milwaukee, once incorporated, grew quickly; its 
population soaring from about 20,000 in 1850 to more than 285,000 by 
the turn of the century and to more than 575,000 by 1930.
  Immigrants came in several waves, each group establishing its unique 
imprimatur on the city. In the early 1800's, they were mostly New 
Englanders and New Yorkers whose roots reached back to England. The 
first African-American settler, a man named Joe Oliver, arrived in 1835 
and worked for Solomon Juneau. By the middle of the 1840's, German 
immigrants were arriving at the rate of more than 1,000 per week. Irish 
immigrants arrived, too, settling largely in the city's third ward, on 
the southeast side of the downtown. The Polish community grew quickly 
in the late 19th century, giving the South Side its character. The city 
was eventually populated with settlers from Italy, Hungary, the 
Balkans, Mexico, nearly every point on the compass. In terms of the 
diversity of ethnic backgrounds of its residents, Milwaukee is as 
cosmopolitan a city as one can find.
  By the arrival of the Civil War, Milwaukee had become a busy center 
for the quintessential Midwestern hog and wheat industries. In 1868, an 
iron and steel mill was built south of the Milwaukee River, kicking off 
a vigorous industrialization. By 1890, the leading industry was the one 
for which Milwaukee is probably best-known throughout the world--
brewing.
  Nowadays, the city is the home to companies like Harley-Davidson, 
Miller Brewing, Master Lock and Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance. 
Area firms annually create goods with an aggregate value of 
approximately $19 billion.
  Mr. President, Milwaukee also has had a lively political history, not 
just limited to Democrats and Republicans. Israeli Prime Minister Golda 
Meier grew up and was educated in Milwaukee before leaving to later 
make her mark in history. From 1910 through 1960, several socialists 
were elected mayor, running the city for 38 of those 50 years. One of 
them, Frank Zeidler, was the city's chief executive from 1948 until 
1960. Elected to office on a public enterprise program, he doubled the 
city's size from about 48 square miles to about 96 square miles with an 
energetic annexation program.
  Stability has been one hallmark of Milwaukee government, earning the 
city a reputation for efficiency, honesty and fiscal responsibility, 
traits that would serve any government well. Three men--Daniel Webster 
Hoan, Frank Zeidler, and Henry Maier --served as mayor for a total of 
64 years.
  Milwaukee is the home of some wonderful architecture, from some of 
the impressive homes along Lake Drive to city hall. The city boasts an 
array of cultural opportunities, including its symphony, a zoological 
park, the Pabst Theatre and big-league basketball and baseball 
franchises, as well as other sports teams.
  Like all modern cities, Milwaukee faces challenges in a rapidly-
changing, ever-more-complex world, but, given what I know of the 
character of the people who live there, I am confident Milwaukee will 
rise to those challenges.
  So, Mr. President, let me say, happy anniversary, Milwaukee, and my 
best wishes for many more.

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