Edmund T. Melms
{{Short description|Factory worker, Socialist Party official}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Edmund T. Melms
| image = Edmund T. Melms 1912 Edit.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Melms {{circa}} 1912
| office1 = Sheriff of Milwaukee County
| term_start1 = 1915
| term_end1 = 1917
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| office2 = President of the
Milwaukee Common Council
| term_start2 = 1910
| term_end2 = 1912
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| office3 = Member of the Milwaukee Common Council
| term_start3 = 1904
| term_end3 = 1912
| predecessor3 =
| successor3 =
| birth_name = Edmund Ludwig Robert Paul Theodore Melms
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1874}}
| birth_place = Greenfield, Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1933|01|06|1874}}
| death_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
| resting_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Factory worker, journalist
| spouse = {{marriage|Augusta|1895}}
| children = 2
| awards =
| education =
| party = Socialist
}}
Edmund Ludwig Robert Paul Theodore Melms (1874–1933) was an American factory worker, journalist, Socialist Party official, and politician in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.{{cite book |title=Municipal Campaign Book, 1912 |date=1912 |publisher=Social-Democratic Party |location=Milwaukee |page=25 |url=https://archive.org/details/milwaukeemunicip00soci/page/25/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2025}}
Early life
Edmund T. Melms was born in Greenfield, Wisconsin, in 1874.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=1448&term_type_id=1&term_type_text=people&letter=M|title=Melms, Edmund [Ludwig Robert Paul) Theodore 1874 - 1933|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|accessdate=2013-06-23}} He dropped out of school in 7th grade, and became a factory worker. In 1897, he co-founded what was then called the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin. In 1902, he became secretary of the Milwaukee County Socialist Party, serving in that position until 1927. As a Party organizer, Melms developed the "bundle brigades," which distributed Socialist literature in twelve different languages across the city. He also wrote for Victor Berger's Milwaukee Leader and Social Democratic Herald.{{cite book |last1=Johnpoll |first1=Bernard K. |last2=Klehr |first2=Harvey |title=Biographical Dictionary of the American Left |date=1986 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=New York |pages=273–274 |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000unse_o7r7/page/273/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2025}}
Public office
Melms was an unsuccessful candidate for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1902.{{cite web|url=http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/mellette-memorial.html#295.30.02|title=Melms, Edmund T.|publisher=Political Graveyard|accessdate=2013-06-23}} In 1904, he was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council, and in 1910 was elected its president, serving in both positions until 1912.{{cite book |last1=Stevens |first1=Michael E. |title=The Family Letters of Victor and Meta Berger, 1894-1929 |date=1995 |publisher=State Historical Society of Wisconsin |location=Madison |page=120 |url=https://archive.org/details/familylettersofv0000unse/page/120/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2025}} As an alderman, he introduced a resolution to ban the practice of transporting prisoners through the streets in uncovered patrol wagons, on the basis that it "exposed [them] to view as criminals."{{cite book |last1=Harring |first1=Sidney L. |title=Policing a Class Society: The Experience of American Cities, 1865-1915 |date=1983 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick |page=98 |url=https://archive.org/details/policingclasssoc0000harr/page/98/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2025}}
Melms first ran for sheriff of Milwaukee County in 1912,{{cite book |title=S-D P. Milwaukee County Campaign Manual Fall 1912 |date=1912 |publisher=Social-Democratic Party |location=Milwaukee |page=88 |url=https://content.mpl.org/digital/collection/SocPartyCol/id/4395/rec/4 |access-date=28 April 2025}} but was defeated. He ran again in 1914 and won, serving from 1915 to 1917.{{cite book|author=Industrial Commission of Wisconsin|title=Workmen's Compensation ... Annual Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4EfAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA3-PA82|year=1912|publisher=Industrial Commission of Wisconsin.|pages=3–}} In 1918, he was an unsuccessful candidate in a special election for the Wisconsin State Senate. Melms ran for Congress in Wisconsin’s 5th district five times between 1906 and 1926, but was never successful. The closest he came to victory was in 1922, when he lost to State Assemblyman John C. Schafer by a margin of 631 votes out of 41,645 cast.{{cite web |title=Melms, Edmund T. |url=https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=130995 |website=ourcampaigns.com |access-date=27 April 2025}}
Later life and death
Melms died in Milwaukee on January 6, 1933.{{cite news |title=Edmund T. Melms dies in Milwaukee |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-leader_1933-01-14_15_2/page/n3/mode/1up |access-date=27 April 2025 |work=The New Leader |date=14 January 1933 |location=New York}} He is buried at Forest Home Cemetery there.
Works
- [https://content.mpl.org/digital/collection/SocPartyCol/id/6828/rec/7 The Two Johns.] Milwaukee: Co-Operative Printery, {{circa}} 1900s.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{commons-inline}}
- [https://www.ourcampaigns.com/CandidateDetail.html?CandidateID=130995 Our Campaigns - Melms, Edmund T.]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melms, Edmund}}
Category:People from Greenfield, Wisconsin
Category:Socialist Party of America politicians from Wisconsin
Category:Wisconsin city council members