Wisconsin Workers and Disability from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression Karalee Donna Surface Marquette University
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Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects In Harm's Way: Wisconsin Workers and Disability from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression Karalee Donna Surface Marquette University Recommended Citation Surface, Karalee Donna, "In Harm's Way: Wisconsin Workers and Disability from the Gilded Age to the Great Depression" (2015). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 523. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/523 IN HARM’S WAY: WISCONSIN WORKERS AND DISABILITY FROM THE GILDED AGE TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Karalee Surface A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2015 ABSTRACT IN HARM’S WAY: WISCONSIN WORKERS AND DISABILITY FROM THE GILDED AGE TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION Karalee Surface Marquette University, 2015 During the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the American workplace proved especially dangerous to its workers’ lives and limbs. The introduction of mass- production, coupled with a lack of safeguards on mechanized equipment and a dearth of workplace safety or sanitation regulations, ensured that an ever-growing number of workers were maimed or killed. Wisconsin legislators initially sought to remedy the issue of workplace violence by issuing a series of safety laws in the late 1870s and early 1880s. This, however, failed to stem the number of accident victims. Furthermore, the common law liability system through which injured workers could seek restitution from their employers was woefully inadequate for aiding disabled workers in their time of greatest need. In the early 1900s, as communities were increasingly unable to provide financial assistance to these workers and their families, Wisconsin was among the first states to introduce a no-fault workmen’s compensation law that ensured the injured parties quick and reliable reimbursement for their losses. This project explores the impact of work-related injuries on turn-of-the-century Wisconsin workers, restoring disabled workers to the narrative of nineteenth-century industrialization. At a macro-level, it recounts hazardous working conditions of the farms, lumber operations, and manufacturing enterprises of the state, giving particular attention to the havoc that working wrought on the human body. It also explores both the worker’s efforts to seek legal redress and the prejudices often directed at them by their “able-bodied” peers. The study concludes with a micro-level analysis that documents the experience of industrial violence at a personal level. It draws on a wide variety of sources, including institutional records from the state’s Industrial Commission and Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, newspapers, magazines, philanthropic journals, and four surveys of disabled Wisconsin workers that were conducted between 1907 and 1926. Ultimately, it reveals how disabling work injuries thrust individuals into a complex and often contradictory post-accident world, making an indelible impact—for better or for worse—on their lives. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Karalee Surface As every historian will freely admit, no undertaking of this grand scope could be completed without “a little help from [our] friends.”1 This has certainly been the case as I embarked on the journey that is graduate school, and especially as I worked on this project. In both my graduate career and my research process, I have meandered—at times, aimlessly—in pursuit of a topic that could provide suitable inspiration. I am eternally grateful to all of the friends and colleagues who have exercised patience during this process and have presented me with wonderful and challenging questions to help me discover this elusive historical focus. This dissertation could not have been completed without the assistance of several wonderful archivists and librarians. Many thanks to Matt Blessing and the staff of the Wisconsin State Historical Society Archives, as well as staff members at the Milwaukee County Historical Society and the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. Additional thanks to the Marquette University Interlibrary Loan department, which has brought so many materials right to my front door. A special thanks, as well, to the staff of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee archives, especially Dan Hauck, who tirelessly filled transfer requests for me and took an interest in my project. I would also like to thank the Marquette University History Department for their gracious funding, which has allowed me not only to complete this project, but to grow as a teacher. No list would be complete without a very special thank you to the amazing Marquette history faculty and my fellow graduate students. They have become a second 1The Beatles, “A Little Help from My Friends,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967. ii family, and their support has been invaluable. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Philip Naylor, whose colloquium on twentieth-century Europe inadvertently spawned the idea for this project, and who has been my musical kindred spirit here at Marquette. Thank you as well to Dr. Laura Matthew, Dr. Lezlie Knox, Father Steven Avella, and Dr. Michael Donoghue who are all such inspiring teachers and friends. To Jolene Kreisler for your infinite help with everything from classroom access to copy machine quirks, I am so appreciative of both your technical support and friendship. In my time at Marquette I have been lucky to work with several amazing graduate cohorts. Thank you to members of the graduate writing group—Jeff, Brandon, Mike, Sam, Matt D., Matt C., and Aaron. Your insights and suggestions have made this project infinitely better. To my original MA cohort, whom I still consider the best of friends— Beth Gabriel, Laura Lindemann, Mallory Musolf, Paolo Guttadauro, Bryan Rindfleisch, and John French—thank you for simply being you. I’m so very glad our paths have crossed, and I look forward to many more trips to Scotland (with the girls) over the decades. I have also been blessed with two “academic sisters” who have so enriched this graduate journey. To Charissa Keup and Bethany Harding, thank you is not enough but it will have to suffice. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Kristen Foster, Dr. James Marten, and Dr. Tom Jablonsky for being academic parents to me on this journey. You have enriched me as a scholar, a teacher, and a person and I only hope to follow in all of your rather large footsteps. Dr. J., your insights into this project and your expert blend of encouragement and critique have been so vital, and I could not have achieved this feat without them or you. iii Last, but certainly not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and extended support network. Thank you to my wonderful babysitters (Angie Kirchner and Terry Koontz) for allowing me the freedom to continue researching and writing all while knowing Sylar was in great hands. To my brothers (Jason, Andrew, and Ryun), my sister- in-law (Andrea), and my wonderful parents-in-law (Robin and Eric), thank you for years of support and love. Mom, you are the absolute best friend and cheerleader I could ever ask for. Dad, you are my hero. I always want to be a better me, because of what I see in each of you. Both of you have always had faith, even when I did not; and for that, I am so very grateful. To my husband, Kyle, thank you for providing the wonderful, pragmatic counterpoint to my occasionally crazy academic personality. And thank you for your continued love and support. I certainly never imagined my own historical inquiries would lead me back to your actuarial roots, but am thankful for the happy coincidence—and your expert statistical skills! I would like to dedicate this project to my son, Sylar, and his cousins Brice, Brody, and Raelyn. The four of you have inspired me more than you know, and though I look back through history as a matter of my profession, I look so forward to the future that lies ahead for all of you. Keep striving, keep inquiring, and always keep learning. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS....................................................................................................i INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................1 A Note on Periodization and Sources....................................................................28 CHAPTER I. PERILS OF PRODUCTION..............................................................................32 Down on the Farm.....................................................................................33 Wisconsin Lumber Frontier.......................................................................41 Industrial Wisconsin..................................................................................53 II. NAVIGATING THE LEGAL SYSTEM..........................................................72 Work-Accidents Outside the Court System, 1870-1911............................75 Navigating the Courts Under Employers’ Liability Law...........................83 Roots of Change.........................................................................................95 Navigating the Workmen’s Compensation System in Wisconsin, 1911-1930................................................................................................102 Positive Repercussions.................................................................109 Impact of State Intervention.........................................................119