Mayor Henry Maier

Henry W. Maier was born on February 7, 1918 in Dayton, Ohio. Following his return from World War II, Maier became increasingly active in Milwaukee politics. He ran for mayor in 1948, at the age of twenty-eight, and finished sixth of fifteen candidates. Maier became chairman of the First Ward Democratic Club and worked extensively with Andy Biemiller, Vi Lomoe, Dan Hoan, and others to strengthen the localDemocratic Party. He was elected to the state legislature in 1950. Through the 1950s, Maier was active in developing the Democratic Party, fighting reapportionment, and assisting in creating the University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee. He won his first mayoral election in 1960, defeating Henry Reuss.

Some of the most dramatic days in Maier's career came in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He made some controversial decisions during the 1967 race riots, calling in the National Guard, declaring a curfew on the city, banning night demonstrations, and accusing the Milwaukee Journal of unfair coverage of the events. He spoke to the public through press conferences almost daily during the two-week period, apprising the community of each development and voicing strong opinions of the tactics used by the demonstrators.

In 1969 he filed a suit with the Federal Communications Commission accusing the Journal Company of holding a monopoly on media coverage of the news. He even went so far as to ban WTMJ reporters from his press conferences for a period.

Mayor Maier and communication:

How did Mayor Maier's use of television affect the public's understanding of local issues?

How has political communication changed since Henry Maier was mayor of Milwaukee?

In the Archives: The Henry Maier collection is quite extensive, comprising over 200 boxes of material. But there are several subject files on topics such as the 1967 riots and his action against the Journal Company. These include telegrams and drafts of statements made on television and provide an excellent view of those events from Maier's perspective. (collection guide is not currently online, a print guide to the collection is available in the Archives.)

Click on the TV to see Mayor Maier at a press conference discussing the public's fearsduring the 1967 Civil Rights riots (From the WTMJ-TV Collection)