Title: Richard Elsner Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1854-1967

Creator:

• Elsner, Richard, 1859-1938

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 193

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

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

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

Abstract:

Photocopies from a scrapbook and memoir of Richard Elsner, an early champion of both the trade union and Socialist movements in Milwaukee. Born in Germany, Elsner came to Milwaukee in 1880 and became a pioneer in the Brewery Worker's Union, a veteran of the Socialist Party, an attorney, and was elected as a civil judge, register of deeds, and a member of the Wisconsin legislature. The papers include photocopies of family materials, writings by Elsner, miscellaneous articles, and photographs of Elsner and his family. Also included is an undated biography of Elsner written by Charlotte Bleistein.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00193

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Richard Elsner was born on May 29, 1859 in Silesia, Germany. He immigrated to Milwaukee in 1880 and was employed as a brewery worker. Around this time he joined the Knights of Labor and held office on the Executive Board District Assembly 108. He held various offices in Brewery Workers Union Local No. 9. He organized the first national boycott against a brewery and was successful in having that brewery unionized. This led to other breweries being unionized. In 1886 he was elected Justice of the Peace on the Labor ticket. That same year he married Emma Melster. He studied law in the evenings at the old Milwaukee Law School, and received his degree from the University of Wisconsin. In 1910, when Emil Seidel was mayor, Elsner was elected Civil Judge. He was elected Register of Deeds in 1918 and served for four years. One of the founders of the Commonwealth Mutual Savings Bank, he was also a Socialist member of the Wisconsin Legislature. He died on January 18, 1938 after a brief illness.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Charlotte Bleistein, Greendale, Wisconsin, April 4, 2002. Accession Number: M2002-059

Processing Information

Processed, April 4, 2002. The finding aid was created by Leslie Heinrichs at the Milwaukee ARC, May 24, 2002.

Box   1 Folder   5	Biographical and Miscellanous Papers, 1854, 1882, 1888, 1894, 1910-1918, 1928-1937, 1956, undated
Box   1 Folder   9	Biography, undated
Box   1 Folder   8	“Christ and Socialism for St. Louis,” undated
Box   1 Folder   4	Death, 1938-1939
Box   1 Folder   2	Freie Gemeinde of Milwaukee, 1922, 1924, 1967
Box   1 Folder   7	“The Lawyer,” Transcript by Elsner, 1894
Box   1 Folder   6	Memoirs, 1897-1934, undated
Box   1 Folder   1	Newspaper Clippings, 1930-1937, undated
Box   1 Folder   3	Photographs, Family Portraits, Photocopies, 1877-1923