Public service often invites skepticism, but at Milwaukee’s Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility, the mission remains rooted in a century of civic innovation. Public servants going into government to clean things up. So, before the treatment center was built, how was water in Milwaukee treated? “It wasn’t,” Graffin replied.
This facility, a 101-year-old feat of engineering, processes up to 400 million gallons of wastewater daily. This 101-year-old pioneering feat of engineering treats as much as 400 million gallons of wastewater each day, as our guide Bill Graffin explains.
Before its implementation, raw sewage flowed directly into regional rivers and Lake Michigan, the very source of the city’s drinking water.
Kevin Shafer, the executive director of the local sewer system, noted that while private industry could have theoretically funded such a project, the required capital was immense. It necessitated a public tax base to move forward, a vision realized in 1925 under the administration of Milwaukee’s Socialist leadership.
Milwaukee stands out as the only major American city to elect three Socialist mayors who held office for nearly 40 years starting in 1910. Beginning in 1910, they collectively presided for nearly 40 years.
Local historian John Gurda suggests that voters favored them as the most effective choice during a time of high corruption and a massive working-class demographic, with 57% of males employed in manufacturing. So there was an appetite for change; and then you had a huge working-class population as well – 57% of Milwaukee’s males worked in manufacturing. ‘Machine shop of world,’ that was the self-signed slogan, one was corruption in high places. So, appeals to that class consciousness were really well-received. Because it didn’t emphasize ideology, Gurda said, “Yes, absolutely, asked if that was why it was successful. He added that Milwaukee’s Socialists were anti-capitalist, “but they worked with anyone. One of the first acts of the first Socialist mayor, Emil Seidel, was erecting a public exhibit on the city’s budget – which was not exactly thrilling political theater. “It appealed to immigrant thrift,” Gurda said. “Because people, the average German house frau, you gotta make a dollar stretch, and the Socialists were doing that on the city level. During his 24 years in office, Milwaukee won award after award for being the safest, healthiest and cleanest big city in America. “We won the public health award so often that Milwaukee had to be retired, to give other cities a chance,” Gurda said. “So, not sexy. But what they wanted to do was create a better life for the working people especially, they certainly believed a kind of leftist philosophy.
The movement was bolstered by a community of German immigrants who brought Socialist ideals to intellectual hubs like Turner Hall.
Unlike revolutionary movements elsewhere, this was a distinctly pragmatic Midwestern approach—often called “Sewer Socialism”—that prioritized functioning infrastructure, parks, and housing over abstract class warfare.
The Impact of Practical Governance
- Emil Seidel: The first Socialist mayor, known for prioritizing transparent budgeting to appeal to immigrant thrift.
- Daniel Hoan: Served 24 years, leading the city to win national public health awards so frequently that organizers eventually had to retire Milwaukee from competition.
- Frank Zeidler: The final Socialist mayor, who left office in 1960 as the Democratic Party began absorbing many of these progressive policies.
Under Hoan’s leadership, the city turned a waste byproduct into a revenue stream: Milorganite. By processing microbes from treated wastewater, the city created a fertilizer that remains popular with master gardeners and golf course superintendents today, generating millions annually.
While “Socialism” remains a contentious term in contemporary American politics, often used as an accusation against candidates like Michigan’s Abdul El-Sayed, it held a different meaning in early 20th-century Milwaukee. Gurda observes that citizens learned to trust these officials, who maintained a reputation for being incorruptible. According to while recent polls show it’s increasingly appealing to younger voters, it’s still more often an accusation hurled to cast suspicion on a candidate, such as attack ads accusing Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed of promoting Socialism. [For the record, El-Sayed has, Repeatedly that he is not a Socialist.].
As the New Deal eventually co-opted parts of the Socialist platform—such as incorporating old-age insurance into the 1935 Social Security Act—the movement’s distinct identity faded.
However, historians argue the primary lesson from this era for modern progressives is the value of non-ideological, results-oriented governance aimed at improving daily life for the working class. According to it was probably more social democracy back in those years,”, Gurda, “and I think probably less ideological than practical.
Additional Information
- Book: The Making of Milwaukee (4th Edition) by John Gurda, published by the Milwaukee County Historical Society.
- Broadcast: This story aired on “Sunday Morning” on November 1.
- Related Coverage: Features include a book excerpt on Frank Capra, an investigation into DEA fentanyl oversight, and a look at the challenges of municipal governance in Washington, D.C.
Important Details
- For more info.
- This week on “Sunday Morning” (Nov. 1).
- According to whistleblower, DEA let fentanyl pills hit the streets.
- Can a Socialist Mayor Keep D.C. Safe.
