University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2017 Making an Old-world Milwaukee: German Heritage, Nostalgia, and the Reshaping of the Twentieth Century City Joseph B. Walzer University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Ethnic Studies Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Walzer, Joseph B., "Making an Old-world Milwaukee: German Heritage, Nostalgia, and the Reshaping of the Twentieth Century City" (2017). Theses and Dissertations. 1719. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1719 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MAKING AN OLD-WORLD MILWAUKEE: GERMAN HERITAGE, NOSTALGIA AND THE RESHAPING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CITY by Joseph B. Walzer A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2017 ABSTRACT MAKING AN OLD-WORLD MILWAUKEE: GERMAN HERITAGE, NOSTALGIA AND THE RESHAPING OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY CITY by Joseph B. Walzer The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017 Under the Supervision of Professor Rachel Buff This dissertation examines the importance of white ethnicity, and especially Germanness, in the “civic branding” and urban restructuring efforts of city officials, civic boosters, and business leaders in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the mid-to-late twentieth century. Scholars have increasingly identified the significant roles the “revival” of European ethnic identities played in maintaining white racial privilege in response to the Civil Rights Movement since the 1960s. I contribute to these new veins of scholarship by tracing the continued and evolving prominence of Germanness in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, long after common assumptions of ethnic assimilation might have expected such nineteenth century German ethnic identities to have “melted” into American society. My research in civic and community organization records, as well as local newspaper stories, reveals the active, yet often-uncoordinated efforts of various cultural agents and power brokers to maintain white ethnic, German hegemony in Milwaukee between the 1920s and 1980s. The combined crises of World War, National Prohibition, and a perceived weakening of German influence in the diversifying city prompted civic boosters and business interests who relied on the privileged place of Germanness in Milwaukee’s social order to secure German hegemony in nostalgic memories of “Old Milwaukee” in the 1920s through 1940s. These narratives offered carefully crafted visions of Milwaukee’s Germanness as ii productive, pragmatic, yet fun, and characterized German cultural contributions—especially the festivity and hospitality associated with gemütlichkeit—as essential to the city’s nineteenth century development and charming Old World character. As working class politics, growing racial inequality, and civil rights movements challenged Milwaukee’s prevailing social order in the decades following the Second World War, business leaders, developers, and pro-business public officials deployed these narratives of heritage and nostalgia in their efforts to reimagine the city as a post-industrial tourist and entertainment destination. In the process, such constructions effectively secured white ethnic claims to power and privilege in urban space. Repeatedly elided from visions of Old Milwaukee, people of color negotiated a progressively uneven socio-economic urban terrain in which they were considered perennial tenants. Meanwhile, these same visions encouraged white ethnic residents and visitors to think of the city as inherently “theirs.” iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements V Introduction 1 Chapter One: From “German Athens” To “Old Milwaukee” 24 Chapter Two: Selling Gemütlichkeit 76 Chapter Three: Heritage Renewal 130 Chapter Four: Selling Old Neighborhoods 182 Conclusion 238 Bibliography 248 Curriculum Vitae 258 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am incredibly fortunate to have such supportive mentors, colleagues, family, and friends, without whom this dissertation project would not have been possible. I am particularly indebted to my advisor, Rachel Buff, whose patient guidance, faithful encouragement, and scholarly activism instilled hope, courage, and motivation throughout this journey. I am also grateful to the members of my committee, Joe Austin, Robert Smith, Joseph Rodriguez, and Matthew Jacobson, who were very generous with their time, and, along the way, significantly challenged and inspired my understandings of how lines of ethnicity, race, and class have been reproduced and intersected in urban spaces. This project evolved from several years of contemplation, writing, and revising. I thank my colleagues, Dawson Barrett, Beth Robinson, John Terry, Melissa Terry, Will Tchakirides, Eric Fure-Slocum, Jacob Glicklich, and Bill Reck, who read and commented on drafts of this work in writing groups and conference panels. They not only helped shape my thinking, but also served as excellent models of brilliant and creative scholars and activists. My thanks, also, to the mentors who offered their insight and encouragement at various stages in this project: Margo Anderson, Stephen Meyer, Michael Gordon, Amanda Seligman, Aims McGuinness, Tracey Heatherington, Ben Johnson, Marc Levine, Judith Kenny, Winson Chu, Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Chia Vang, Philip Minehan, Nan Kim, Kimberly Hernandez, Gregory Carter, and Thomas Jablonsky. The successful completion of this project was very much due to the tremendous support of archivists, librarians, and student workers who graciously assisted me in my research. I particularly thank Ellen Engseth, Abigail Nye, Christel Maass, and the staff at the University of v Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries Archives Department, Gayle Ecklund at the Milwaukee Public Library Archives, Steve Schaffer at the Milwaukee County Historical Society Archives, and Al Muchka, Dawn Scher Thomae, and Ruth King at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Several colleagues helped point me toward important resources along the way, as well, including Liz Kaune, Jeffrey Zimmermann, Jessica McGillivray, Levon Hudson, Sigrid Degner, Martin Kozon, and Heather Angelinetta. I also thank the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee History Department and Comparative Ethnic Studies Program for their generous support through scholarships, awards, and travel funding that allowed me to complete my research and refine my arguments at various conferences. I could not possibly ask for a better support network of family and friends. I am eternally grateful to my parents, Mary and Mike Walzer, who nurtured the creativity, reading, writing, and teaching skills that ultimately led me on this path. Their encouragement to “look it up” whenever I had a question they may or may not have had an answer to fostered an insatiable scholarly curiosity that continues to grow to this day. I struggle to find the words to adequately express my gratitude to my wife Rosemary who has been the perfect partner on this journey, eagerly cheering my victories and steadfastly enduring mighty challenges along the way. My love to you, always. vi INTRODUCTION In a 1978 issue of Inland, a Midwestern regional-interest journal published by the Inland Steel Company, Chicago author Sheldon A. Mix extolled the virtues of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and its growing reputation as a destination for area travelers. “At least once a year, many Chicagoans—and ex-Chicagoans living in the suburbs—drive north to Milwaukee for a day of sightseeing and hearty dining,” Mix wrote. “Only 90 minutes away, they find a city several notches smaller than Chicago with a Fun Calendar to crowd both daylight and evening hours; an urban adventureground where the pace is less hectic, where getting around is easier, traffic is lighter, and finding reasonably priced garages where you can park your own car is no chore.”1 While the city provided many of the amenities of a modern American metropolis, including tall buildings, an engaging public museum and zoo, well-groomed public parks, and excellent restaurants, Mix indicated, they were uniquely juxtaposed with Milwaukee’s continued appreciation for things that were old-fashioned—exhibited in the preservation of historic churches, theaters, and its ornate nineteenth century City Hall and Public Library buildings.2 Moreover, Milwaukee offered visitors an array of Summer festivals in its “fun calendar,” capped by Summerfest—an event featuring rides, games, food, beer, and popular music acts that “brightens Milwaukee’s lakefront for 11 days” every July.3 Yet, among Milwaukee’s most alluring aspects for visitors, Mix suggested, was the lingering pride of its residents in their ethnic heritage and culture. “Milwaukee displays its ethnicity like a banner,” he noted, citing the Holiday Folk Fair held in downtown every fall, which offers “food, music, costumes, and 1 Sheldon A. Mix, “Milwaukee Ramble,” Inland: The Magazine of the Middle West 25, no. 2 (1978): 15. 2 Ibid., 19–20. 3 Ibid., 16. 1 dancing of 45 local ethnic groups,” and popular restaurants, like Fazios’ Landmark and Serbian Old Town, which continued to serve ethnic specialties.4 Echoing sociologist John Rector Barton’s claim that Wisconsin’s diverse population resembled more of a “beef stew” than a “melting pot,” Mix asserted,