Talk:Wisconsin Progressive Party

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There was an odd hinky period in the late 1930s-early 1940s where the Progressives and Socialists had some kind of quasi-fusion going on. There are members of the Assembly who are listed in the Blue Book as "Progressive" who are also active members of the Socialist Party state committees, etc. We need to be ultra-cautious as to any assertion that a given person switched parties, unless we can find a reliable source stating that they did so. Does anybody have access to Socialist Party newspapers for that era? I know a lot of those historical records were desroyed by the suspicious (can you say "Chief Brier's Red Squad"? I knew you could!) fire that destroyed the old S.P. office on 3rd Street in Milwaukee.) --Orange Mike | Talk 17:24, 2 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The best history that I can find is in a 1947 newspaper article: "Death Defers Socialist Fete: Party 50 Years Old", Milwaukee Journal July 6, 1947. Facts according to that article:

• July 9, 1897: "Branch 1 of the Social Democracy of America" founded
• 1898: name changed to "Social Democratic party"
• 1911: name changed to "Socialist Party of Wisconsin"
• 1936: joined the Wisconsin Farmer-Labor Federation
• November 1941: left the Federation

Some other details from other articles: In 1934, the Socialists refused to merge with the Progressives (Kentucky New Era article) Two years later, in December 1935, the Progressives and Socialists did agree to merge as the "Farmer-Labor-Progressive Federation. (New York Times article; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article). But at the same time, you don't see candidates running as "Farmer-Labor Progressives." It seems that this Federation was just an umbrella organization for both Socialists and Progressives. In other places, I recall seeing this being described as a gentleman's agreement between the two parties not to run candidates against each other; Socialists getting Milwaukee, Progressives the rest of the state. Mayor Hoan of Milwaukee (Socialist) joined the federation, though Governor La Follette (Progressive) did not.

Quote from 1936 Milwaukee Journal editorial:

"A few leaders can get together in Milwaukee and resolve that for purposes of vote-getting they will amalgamate the Progressive party, the Socialist party, the Milk Pool, the Farmers' Equity, the State Federation of Labor and the rest of them. But all their resoluting can't deliver the votes of people deciding for themselves. Progressives, many thousands of them, were not represented by this tie-up of their party with Socialism. Many were offended by it. Farmers aren't often Socialists. The Socialists evidently had no great disposition in the part of the state where they have strength to offer any promising offices to Progressive candidates."

So I agree that articles should not state that someone "changed parties" unless some source actually says they did. Some officials were members of both the Socialist and Progressive parties during the federation, only to be forced to make a choice in Nov. 1941 when the Socialists left the federation. I try to instead say "Smith ran as a Socialist in 1937, and as a Progressive in 1939" if the candidate indeed changed the banner under which he was running (though not necessary switched parties). Hope this helps.--BaronLarf 05:19, 3 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The problem is in finding out what ballot line they were listed on. The listings in the Blue Book may not be entirely reliable sources for this period. Also: Frank Zeidler ran on the Progressive ballot line for State Treasurer in 1942, well after Nov. 1941; but Frank never left the S.P. to his dying day. How do we handle it? --Orange Mike | Talk 14:21, 3 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you don't think the BB is trustworthy, the Sentinel and Journal usually ran example ballots shortly before an election. I haven't found problems yet with the BB's elections sections every other year, though there I have seen that the master tables of all Wisconsin state legislators sometimes run in the BB's are incomplete. And as far as Frank Zeidler goes... I can't find any sources saying that Zeidler ran as a Progressive in the State Treasurer election in 1942. My sources say that F.Zeidler ran for governor as a Socialist in 1942. Journal, 1944 Blue Book From what I've read, the Socialist Party told all of their members in 1941 they had to choose between the Progressive party and the Socialist party. --BaronLarf 05:57, 4 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

???? Hmmm... I would swear I read somewhere that Frank was on the Progressive ballot line in 1942; but of course you're right, he was the S.P. candidate for Gov. that year. I've corrected that, along with a bit of other gibberish. He was elected County Surveyor in 1938 on the Progressive ballot line; somehow, the two races must have gotten tangled. --Orange Mike | Talk 14:56, 4 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

He was on the Progressive ballot line for State Treasurer in 1940, not 1942; came in 2nd, with 30.6% of the vote, well ahead of the Democrat but behind the Republican. --Orange Mike | Talk 15:15, 4 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I think this is the banner of the Wisconsin Progressive Party. If someone could make a digital version of the banner then upload it to be used as a logo for the National Progressive Party (United States) and/or the Wisconsin Progressive Party, It would be helpful. I'm also not sure if it was used by the Progressive Party (United States, 1924–1934) [[1]] [[2]] [[3]] Zyxrq (talk) 23:46, 24 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]