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Term: Olbrich, Michael Balthasar 1881 - 1929

Definition:

lawyer, politician, leader in the Madison parks movement, b. Chemung, McHenry County, Ill. He moved to Wisconsin as a child. He graduated from the Univ. of Wisconsin (B.L., 1902; LL.B., 1904), and in 1905 set up a law practice in Madison. Olbrich was widely known as an attorney, and was also active in Progressive Republican politics. He placed Robert M. La Follette, Sr. (q.v.), in nomination for the presidency before the Republican national conventions of 1912 and 1916, served as the state's deputy attorney general (1919-1921), and from 1921 to 1926 was executive counsel to Governor J. J. Blaine (q.v.). In 1912 he was chairman of the Republican state central committee, and in 1914 was chairman of the Non- Partisan Progressive campaign in Wisconsin. Olbrich was also prominent in the Madison parks movement, and for several years was a leader in the Madison Park Foundation. In this capacity he was instrumental in acquiring land for the Univ. of Wisconsin arboretum. Olbrich gateway in the arboretum was named in his honor (1939), as well as Olbrich Park on Madison's east side. He was a regent of the Univ. of Wisconsin (1925-1929), and practiced law in Madison until his death in 1929. Wis. Reports, 206 (1932), pp. xlii-xlviii; F. L. Holmes, et al., eds., Wis. (5 vols., Chicago, 1946); Madison Capital Times, Oct. 10, 12, 1929.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Michael B. Olbrich Papers for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.