Title: Jacob F. Friedrick Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1931-1968

Creator:

• Friedrick, Jacob F., 1892-1978

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss CT; Audio 815A

Quantity: 1.4 cubic feet (3 archives boxes and 1 half-archive box), 0.4 cubic feet of photographs (1 archives box), 3 audio recordings
Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries' Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center and the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives and Museum Collections; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of Friedrick, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, labor and civic leader; including correspondence, speeches, resolutions, photographs, and subject files containing information on a wide range of his public activities. Included are files on the Advisory Commission on Workmen's Compensation and several Milwaukee development groups.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil000ct

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The life of Jacob Frank Friedrick suggests the typical Horatio Alger story: the poor immigrant boy with limited education grows up to become an important labor, civic, and educational leader in his community and state. Jacob was born to Frank and Barbara (Wolf) Friedrick in Perjanios, Hungary (now Periam, Rumania), on January 31, 1892. His family immigrated to the United States and in 1904 he joined them in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, he finished only the eighth grade and then spent a year and a half learning the machinist's trade at what became the Boys' Technical High School. Though this was the end of his formal schooling, he continued to read widely throughout his life, concentrating especially on economics. This interest was bolstered by later friendships with John R. Commons, Selig Perlman, and Edwin E. Witte, professors of economics at the University of Wisconsin.

After completing his machinist's apprenticeship in 1909, Friedrick worked in Omaha, Nebraska, and Indianapolis, Indiana, before returning to Milwaukee where he joined his first labor union, Lodge 66 of the International Association of Machinists (AFL). Almost immediately he became an active unionist. He was elected president of his local in 1917 and 1918 and most sources credit him with bringing about the first reduced work week in the Milwaukee metal trades--from 55 to 44 hours. His activities also brought him troubles. The day following the end of World War I, he was fired for his participation in a one-day walkout in a successful effort to make an employer abide by the overtime rules of the War Labor Conference Board. The next year, Friedrick was again fired because his name was published in a list of union delegates to a Chicago protest meeting in behalf of Tom Mooney, a militant unionist who was jailed because of his alleged part in a 1916 San Francisco bombing. Friedrick persisted in his union activities however, becoming business representative of Machinists District Lodge 10, Milwaukee, a position he held until 1929.

At the same time, Friedrick became prominent in other activities related to unions and labor welfare. In 1920, he helped to establish the Milwaukee Labor College, a night school for workers which was the forerunner of the University of Wisconsin School for Workers at Madison, established in 1925. He also worked with John R. Commons in preparing an unemployment compensation bill which was introduced in the 1921 Wisconsin legislature. Not passed until 1931, this was still the first law of its kind in the nation. Friedrick was appointed to the first Industrial Commission Advisory Committee on Unemployment Compensation, a post he held until the mid-1960s.

Having joined the Socialist Party in 1918, Friedrick quit his job with Machinists District Lodge 10 in 1929 and joined the Milwaukee Ledger, the Socialist Party newspaper in Milwaukee. He was employed there as labor and city hall reporter until 1935 when he left both the newspaper and the Party. He joined the Farmer-Labor-Progressive Federation, and returned to the labor movement as general organizer for the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council. Friedrick's later positions in the labor movement included AFL Regional Director, with headquarters in Milwaukee, 1945-1952; secretary-treasurer of the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council, 1952-1959; and president of the Milwaukee County Labor Council (AFL-CIO), 1959-. His other labor activities included appointments as a U.S. representative to the Berlin Trade Fairs in both 1957 and 1958, and as labor arbitrator in a 1960-1961 seniority dispute between the Wisconsin Electric Power Company and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local No. 317.

Besides these full-time labor activities, Friedrick had become very active in local and statewide civic affairs. In the early 1950s, he was a member of the following: the policy committee of Milwaukee County's five major taxing units, Governor Kohler's Education Advisory Committee to handle state participation in the GI Bill for Korean War veterans, the board of directors of the Community Welfare Council and the United Hospital Fund Drive, and the Milwaukee Common Council's special committee to study health insurance plans for city employees. His activities continued to mount in the early 1960s. In 1959-1960, he was a member of the Continuing Revenue Survey Commission. In 1960, he took part in Governor Gaylord Nelson's Conference on Resource and Industrial Development. That same year, he was appointed by Nelson to a nine-year term on the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents--the first labor leader so honored; and he served as president of the Board from 1962 to 1964.

In 1961, he became a member of the Wisconsin Coordinating Commission on Higher Education and in 1965, participated in the White House Conference on Education as well as in Governor Warren Knowles' Conference on Economic Development. Also in the early 1960s, he was a prominent member of four Milwaukee civic betterment groups: one supporting area vocational schools; the Greater Milwaukee Committee, a group dedicated to civic betterment and reform; We-Milwaukee, a group of white business and labor leaders and African American leaders who strove to develop equal employment standards through out the city; and the board of directors of United Community Services of Greater Milwaukee.

Friedrick married the former Agnes Piechowiak on June 21, 1914. They had three children, Maxine (Mrs. Philip LaPorte), Frederick, and Frank.

(The above biography was primarily written by Douglas Clanin, a U.W. Library School student in the summer of 1969. He cited four major sources of information: Who's Who in America, Vol. 33 (1964-1965), p. 695; John D. Pomfert, "'Jake' Friedrick of the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council" in Jack Barbash (ed.), Unions and Union Leadership: Their Human Meaning (New York, 1959), pp. 63-66; Robert L. Dishon, "Friedrick's Career: Labor Lamplighter," Milwaukee Sentinel, May 14, 1965; and Robert L. Lewin, "J. F. Friedrick: A Dropout of 1908 Leads UW Regents," Chicago Daily News, December 7, 1963.)

The Jacob F. Friedrick Papers comprise correspondence, speeches, clippings, minutes and other meeting and conference materials, resolutions, photographs, tape recordings, legal documents, and other items. Dating primarily between 1940 and 1968, the Papers are organized in seven groups: Correspondence, General Public Statements, Labor Affairs, Civic Affairs, Certificates and Biographical Clippings, Photographs, and Tape Recordings. There is little personal information about Friedrick in these Papers; their subject matter is almost entirely concerned with his public career as a labor and civic leader.

Correspondence, is divided into general correspondence, 1949-1976, and congratulatory correspondence classified by the occasions that prompted it. Several letters in the general correspondence are of special interest: a December 27, 1956, letter from Friedrick to George Meany which pertains to a request to preserve the jurisdiction of the building trades crafts in Milwaukee; sharp exchanges in 1956 between Friedrick and Elliot N. Walstead, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, concerning the AFL's support of Henry Maier in the primary; and a November 12, 1953, letter from a Marquette University professor that prompted Friedrick to write a critique of a student's paper which illustrates his knowledge of economics. The congratulatory correspondence includes correspondents: C. A. Elvehjem, William Green, Fred H. Harrington, Hubert H. Humphrey, Warren P. Knowles, Henry Maier, George Meany, Gaylord Nelson, Selig Perlman, William Proxmire, Henry Reuse, W. Willard Wirtz, Edwin E. Witte, and Clement J. Zablocki. Additional correspondence may be found in the labor and civic affairs files when it pertains to the specific subjects included there.

General Public Statements, 1939-1968, are a biographical source as they exhibit Friedrick's philosophy on a wide range of subjects. The newspaper articles, eulogies, commencement and Labor Day speeches, radio addresses and interviews, statements, and resolutions relate to many topics: the reasons for labor organization, the value of education, improving the community, human rights, standards of living, labor legislation, the closed shop, on-the-job training, Jane Addams, Selig Perlman, and John R. Commons. A few public statements also have been filed in the labor and civic affairs files when pertaining to the specific subjects there.

Labor Affairs and Civic Affairs, both contain a variety of materials concerning organizations and events with which Friedrick was involved. Of special interest are the materials on the Advisory Commission on Workmen's Compensation in the Labor Affairs files. The bills, minutes of meetings, and speeches there primarily concern hearing loss and reflect Friedrick's interest in the field. In Civic Affairs, the papers concerning the Greater Milwaukee Committee, We-Milwaukee, and the Governor's conferences of 1960 and 1965 especially illustrate Friedrick's thinking on many urban and social problems including traffic, pollution, unemployment, ghetto living, and inadequate schools.

Certificates and Clippings, from 1936-1980 include some biographical information on Friedrick.

Photographs include images of Friedrick, George Meany, Walter Reuther, and William Green at various national and regional labor conventions; photos pertaining to the 1957 and 1958 trips to the Berlin Trade Fairs; and one image, autographed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, showing him and Friedrick shaking hands, probably at the White House Conference on Education.

Audio Recordings are of a 1955 testimonial dinner for Friedrick and a 1966 radio interview with him.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Jacob F. Friedrick, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1951; December 3, 1965; and April 24, 1969. Accession Number: M65-411, M69-128

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann and F. Gerald Ham's 1969 class, November 10, 1970.

Wisconsin. Worker's Compensation Advisory CouncilLabor unions -- WisconsinWorkers' compensation -- WisconsinMilwaukee (Wis.)Manuscript collectionSound recordingsSpeeches

Milwaukee Mss CT	Correspondence
Box   1   Folder   1	1949-1960
Box   1   Folder   2	1961-1968
Box   5   Folder   3	1969-1976
Box   1   Folder   3	Honorary Doctor of Laws, in reference to 1955
Box   1   Folder   4	Board of Regents, in reference to 1960, 1962
Box   1   Folder   5	Testimonial Dinners, in reference to 1955, 1960, 1968
	General public statements
Box   2   Folder   1	1939-1959
Box   2   Folder   2	1960-1968, undated
	Labor affairs
Box   2   Folder   3	Advisory Committee on Workmen's Compensation, 1953-1961
Box   2   Folder   4	Wisconsin Electric Power v. Operating Engineers Local 317 arbitration documents, 1959-1961
Box   2   Folder   5	Berlin trade fairs, 1957-1958
Box   2   Folder   6	Cigar Makers No. 25, 1960
Box   2   Folder   7	Kohler Strike, 1955-1956
Box   2   Folder   8	Social Security Rally, 1967 March 12
Box   2   Folder   9	Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Conventions, 1960-1966
Box   2   Folder   10	Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Convention, merger banquet 1958
Box   2   Folder   11	Wisconsin State Federation of Labor Conventions, 1931, 1932, 1942
Box   2   Folder   12	Miscellaneous minutes and resolutions, 1954-1966, undated
	Civic Affairs
Box   3   Folder   1	Farm Leadership Training Project, 1966
Box   3   Folder   2	Friedrick v. Story, 1965-1968
Box   3   Folder   3	Governor's Conference on Economic Development, 1965
Box   3   Folder   4	Governor's Conference on Resource and Industrial Development, 1960
Box   3   Folder   5	Greater Milwaukee Committee for Community Development, 1962-1968
Box   3   Folder   6	Guidance of Students toward Technical Vocations, 1961-1962
Box   3   Folder   7	Milwaukee Medical Center, 1937-1938
Box   3   Folder   8	Milwaukee Vocational School, 1966-1968
Box   5   Folder   4	School for Workers, 55th anniversary
Box   5   Folder   5	J.F. Friedrick Center, 1980
Box   3   Folder   9	Conference materials, 1955; 1960
Box   3   Folder   10	We-Milwaukee, 1963-1968
	Clippings and certificates
Box   3   Folder   11	Certificates and biographical clippings, 1936-1968
Box   5   Folder   1	Clippings, 1968-1980
Box   5   Folder   2	Certificate, 1969
	Photographs
Box   4	National and regional labor conventions
Box   4	Berlin Trade Fairs trips, 1957-1958
Box   4	President Lyndon B. Johnson, shaking hands with Friedrick
Audio 815A	Audio recordings
Audio   815A/1	Jacob Friedrick Testimonial Dinner, 1955 June 29
Audio   815A/2	Edited version
Audio   815A/3	Radio Interview with Friedrick, on Sound of Ideas, WISN 1966 February 27