Contains miscellaneous papers, mostly dating 1912-1919, of a Milwaukee political and
socialist leader. Of special interest is drafts and a manuscript booklet on Seidel's defense
of his 1910-1912 Socialist mayoral administration in Milwaukee. Seidel described the
Socialist philosophy as being "the duty, the purpose, and the object of a real democratic
government'; showed what the Socialists tried and succeeded in accomplishing; and "set right
the wrong impressions" held by the opponents of socialism. Also includes a 31 December 1914
letter to Mrs. May Wood Simons in which Seidel stated his interests and position on
vocational education and the role of education in building a socialist society; and undated
manuscript which provides Seidel's comparison of the management of railroads under
capitalism and socialism, and the relationship of railroad terminals to city planning.
Seidel's personal file includes manuscripts on the future of Milwaukee, the elimination of
taxes, and a letter stating his opinion on a court for domestic relations.
The file on unions contains the first report of the strikers' aid committee (of which
Seidel was a member) organized by the Federated Trades Council and the Milwaukee County
Central Committee during the strike against the Cudahy Brothers Company and against the
Illinois Steel Company in 1919. The files on World War I contain Liberty Loan contracts from
the Cudahy Brothers; drafts of notes for anti-war speeches, in German; a report of the 1916
Conference of Socialist Parties of Neutral Countries; and proceedings of the 1917 Emergency
Convention of the Socialist Party in St. Louis.
