Local History

Wisconsin Legislative Innovations

This article originally appeared in Exchange, a newsletter published by the Wisconsin Historical Society. (Volume 40, Number 1, 1998) It is the 19th in a series of articles titled Researching Community History. The series highlights the Society's resources available to local historians. It was written by Tom McKay, retired local history coordinator for the Wisconsin Historical Society.

On October 22, 1903, the Burnett County Sentinel reported the following news:

"M.J. Kalmen who narrowly escaped fatal injury while working near a revolving pulley at the Farmer's Starch Factory last week is feeling much better after what he considers his lucky escape. Though his broken arm and bruised hand pained him intensely to begin with, he has kept at work all the time."

Mr. Kalmen's story of endurance tells a part of the circumstances of work near the turn of the century in the northern Wisconsin community of Grantsburg. Despite the obvious toughness and courage of this starch factory worker, a different story probably would have unfolded had the same injury happened to the same individual less than a decade later. In 1911, Wisconsin passed a ground-breaking law considered to be the first modern workman's compensation act in the United States. That law altered the lives of workers in Grantsburg and every Wisconsin community.

The ever-evolving laws of state government established a framework that made a direct impact on the histories of all communities, but local historians may have limited knowledge of the dates and central features of many significant laws. Two sources, both written to commemorate Wisconsin's leadership in innovative legislation, can help provide this context to the story of local history. The first is the State of Wisconsin Blue Book, 1997-1998. An article titled "Wisconsin at 150 Years" includes nine pages of Wisconsin firsts, and many of the firsts relate to state laws. Local historians will find even more information of this type in the second source, Wisconsin Legislative Innovations. The Legislative Reference Bureau produced this publication in 1981.

The Blue Book article intersperses Wisconsin's legislative firsts with many other innovations. These achievements range from the establishment of the first kindergarten in the United States in Watertown by Margarethe Meyer Schurz to the invention of the automobile speedometer by Charles H. Warner of Beloit. On the legislative front, the sesquicentennial Blue Book lists the dates of more than 40 pioneering laws passed by the state of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Legislative Innovations offers a larger listing of laws with a synopsis of the significance of each piece of legislation. A researcher interested in 19th-century agriculture will find a reference to the 1874 "granger" law that addressed issues of railroad shipping rates that concerned local farmers. Legislative action in 1911 led to the implementation of a state building code in 1914 and guided the way public buildings were constructed throughout Wisconsin. The state took its place among the leaders in supporting public libraries under a bill passed in 1868. Almost a century later, Wisconsin passed a law in 1962 that was the first in the country to mandate the installation of seat belts on all automobiles. Some laws such as the protection of women's property rights in 1850 helped to change society, while others on issues such as railroad crossings made everyday life safer.

Several entries in Wisconsin Legislative Innovations will guide local historians to sources of more detailed information about the subject of the law in question. For example, a note on the 1925 law requiring licensing of private detectives refers to an article from the Milwaukee Leader of July 30, 1925. Books and other secondary sources also appear among the references for many of the laws listed.

Local historians will find Wisconsin Legislative Innovations, Legislative Reference Bureau, Informational Bulletin 81-IB-4, September 1981, in the Wisconsin Historical Society library, and it is available through interlibrary loan. The State of Wisconsin Blue Book, 1997-1998 is widely distributed at libraries throughout Wisconsin. Both sources provide starting points toward a context to understand laws that created changes in local life and local history.