University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Padway, Joseph A., 1891-1947.

Papers, 1916-1940, 1946.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 6 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 40

1.2 cubic ft. (3 archives boxes) + 2 microfilm reels (35 mm)

ABSTRACT: Papers of a labor lawyer, Wisconsin state senator and Milwaukee County judge. Padway became chief counsel for the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor in 1915 and for the American Federation of Labor in 1938. In addition he was politically active in Wisconsin as a Socialist until the mid 1920s, and as a Progressive thereafter. The papers contain subject files pertaining primarily to his political activities, personal interests, and travel; and scrapbooks covering his legal interests and more noteworthy cases.

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Padway papers are strongest in documenting his personal and political activities in the 1920s and 1930s. They are divided into Subject Files and Scrapbooks.

The Subject Files are somewhat heterogeneous in character and only a few of them pertain to Padway's legal practice. Individual files contain such things as printed matter, notes, clippings, drafts of articles, speeches, and some correspondence. Most extensive are files of speeches and writings, and of notes and impressions from a world tour taken by Padway and his family in 1926 and 1927. The "Insurance" and "Vocational Schools" files date from his service in the state legislature, and the "Congressional Campaign" file and some of his speeches and writings document other state political activities. Files on "Palestine" and the "United Palestine Appeal" reflect his interests in the formation of a Jewish state. An indication of Padway's work with the labor movement can be obtained from his labor speeches, from the file on the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co. Strike, and from a few other files.

The Scrapbooks consist almost exclusively of newspaper clippings and provide a fairly consistent record of Padway's political and legal activities. Volumes 1-2 (1924-1932) include clippings on Padway's legislative and judicial terms and the 1932 congressional race. Volumes 3-7 (1934-1937) document a number of important state and local legal actions in which Padway was involved. These include an anti-pinball ordinance enacted in Milwaukee; the case of I. J. Rosenberg, a prominent Milwaukee banker convicted and sentenced for violating state banking laws; a scandal at the Milwaukee House of Corrections; and labor disputes at the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company, the Kohler Company, the Luick Dairy, the Boston Store in Milwaukee, Milwaukee area glove factories, the Garton Toy Company of Sheboygan, and the Seaman Body Corporation of Racine. The final seven volumes (1938-1939) consist largely of clippings on national labor issues including the National Labor Relations Act and conflicts between the AFL and the CIO. The original scrapbooks were discarded after microfilming.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Joseph A. Padway was born July 25, 1891 in England, immigrated to the United States in 1905, and to Milwaukee a year or two later. He received a law degree from Marquette University and was admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1912. During his career Padway established himself as one of the nation's premier labor lawyers. He founded the firm which became Padway, Goldberg, and Previant, and later, Goldberg, Previant and Uelmen. In 1915 he became general counsel for the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor and eventually became legal counsel for all American Federation of Labor (AFL) affiliates in the state. In this capacity he was involved with many of the significant labor disputes in the state including the Kohler Company and Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company strikes of 1934. As Wisconsin labor's legal advisor he also had substantial impact on much of the labor and social welfare legislation enacted in the state from the late 1910s through the 1930s. From 1938 until his death Padway served as chief legal counsel for the AFL and maintained offices in both Milwaukee and Washington, D. C. During this period he helped shape the Federation's legal responses to important labor legislation including the National Labor Relations Act and the Taft-Hartley Labor Act, and to the challenge of the Congress of Industrial organizations (CIO).

Padway was also active in Milwaukee state politics. Until the mid 1920s he was associated with the Progressives. He served briefly as a state senator in 1925, and from 1925-1927 was a Milwaukee County Civil Court judge. He also served in 1931 as treasurer of the Republican state central committee, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1932, and from 1933-1937 was a regent of the state normal schools.

In 1912 Padway married Lydia Rose Paetow; they had one daughter, Ruth Doris (later Mrs. Leo Winshel). Joseph A. Padway suffered a stroke while addressing the 1947 AFL convention in San Francisco and died in that city on October 9, 1947.

The biographical note is based on biographical sketches which appear in Gary M. Find (ed.), Biographical Dictionary of American Labor Leaders (1974); and the Dictionary of Wisconsin Biography (1960).

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Padway, Joseph A., 1891-1947. Papers, 1916-1940, 1946. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection 6 and Milwaukee Micro Collection 40. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. Golda Meir Library. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTIONS:

Laundry and Dry Cleaning Drivers. Local 360 (Milwaukee, Wis.). Records, 1936-1947. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection DT)

ACQUISITION: Presented by the Goldberg, Previant, and Uelmen Law Firm of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1967 and 1972 (accession numbers M67-32, and M72-4).

PROCESSING: Processed by Harold L. Miller in December 1980.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

American Federation of Labor.
Jews--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--History.
Judges--Wisconsin--Milwaukee County.
Lawyers--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Legislators--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Milwaukee (Wis.)--History--Sources.
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company.
Progressives--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Socialists--Wisconsin--Milwaukee.
Wisconsin State Federation of Labor.

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION 6 MILWAUKEE MICRO COLLECTION 40	BOX	FOLDER
American Federation of Labor Convention, Clippings and Programs, 1934	1	1
Biographical, 1929	1	2
Congressional Campaign, 1932	1	3
Correspondence, 1929-1931, 1938, 1946	1	4
Insurance, Legislative Information, 1924-1925	1	5
Letters of Introduction and Itinerary, 1926-1929	3	6
Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Co., Labor Relations, 1934	2	7
National Labor Relations Board, 1938-1940	1	6
Scrapbooks, Volume 1, 1924-1932 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 2, 1932 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 3, 1934 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 4, 1934 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 5, 1934-1935 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 6, 1935-1937 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 7, 1937-1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 8, 1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 1]
Scrapbooks, Volume 9, 1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Scrapbooks, Volume 10, 1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Scrapbooks, Volume 11, 1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Scrapbooks, Volume 12, 1938-1939 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Scrapbooks, Volume 13, 1938 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Scrapbooks, Volume 14, 1939 [Milwaukee Micro Collection 40, reel 2]
Speeches and Writings, Atlantic Monthly Article, Wagner Act, 1940	1	8
Speeches and Writings, Cardoza, Benjamin, 1938	1	9
Speeches and Writings, Disraeli, Benjamin, undated	2	1
Speeches and Writings, Insurance Brief, undated	2	2
Speeches and Writings, Labor, 1916-1936	2	3
Speeches and Writings, Miscellaneous, 1926-1930	2	4
Speeches and Writings, Political, 1931-1934	2	5
Speeches and Writings, "Progressive Wisconsin," 1934	2	6
United Palestine Appeal, 1925-1926, 1935-1936	2	8
Vocational Schools, 1923, 1925	3	1
Wisconsin Federation of Labor, 1926, 1934	3	2
World Tour, India, Travelogue, 1929	3	4
World Tour, Italy, Travelogue, Photographs, 1926-1927	3	5
World Tour, Italy and England, Impressions, undated	3	3
World Tour, Palestine, Information and Correspondence, 1926-1930	1	7
World Tour, Palestine, Travelogue, 1927	3	7
World Tour, Paris, 1925-1926	3	8