Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities
BETA

Newspaper Wisconsin Vorwärts (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1893-1898

View All Front Pages

About Wisconsin Vorwärts (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1893-1898

The Vorwärts was a socialist German-language Sunday newspaper published in Milwaukee from 1886-1932; its title means “Forward,” after the Wisconsin state motto. The first six issues of the paper are not extant; numbering indicates that it was originally the Sunday edition of the Milwaukeer Arbeiter-Zeitung, likely started by Paul Grottkau. A former editor of the Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung, Milwaukeer was a thrice-weekly labor newspaper, written for the many German-speaking workers in the area.

In 1888, Grottkau moved back to Chicago to take up with his old paper, and from there, a succession of German American labor leaders edited the Vorwärts and Arbeiter-Zeitung, which changed names to the Milwaukee Volks-Zeitung in 1890. These included Jacob Hunger, veteran publisher Michael Biron, and Valentin Blatz, who was also a noted beer brewer. The Arbeiter-Zeitung and its successors also had a weekly edition, Die Wahrheit, which was published from 1889 to 1910.

In January 1893, Victor Berger took over the newspapers from Michael Biron, who, though ill, would still write occasional articles. Berger changed the title of the Volks-Zeitung to the Wisconsin Vorwärts, reflecting his hope of a broader audience. But the paper’s roots were unchanged. It carried the seal of a number of trade unions Berger co-founded, including the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council that represented most of the city’s unions. The paper was the official political organ for Social Democracy of America, the Social Democratic Party of America, and the Socialist Party of America, all of which Berger helped found. In 1898, Berger stopped printing the daily Wisconsin Vorwärts to begin publishing the English-language Social Democratic Herald, while continuing the weekly Vorwärts unchanged. The papers helped promote the new Socialist Party presence and policies throughout the Milwaukee area and empowered the labor unions. In its early days, the party grew rapidly, forcing Berger away from his papers for extended periods and leading him to hire Jacob Hunger back as assistant editor starting 1904. The Socialists’ crowning achievement was the Milwaukee city election of 1910, in which the party elected a mayor, a majority of the city’s common council, and the first Socialist congressperson, Victor Berger.

In 1911, as he prepared for Congress and began to set up an English-language socialist paper, the Milwaukee Leader, Berger offered the Vorwärts to Heinrich Bartel, current editor-in-chief of the Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung. Bartel accepted and took up publishing with the October 10 issue. The following years were a tumultuous time for the German American Socialists, especially during and after WWI, but the Vorwärts continued, despite financial difficulties. When Berger was killed in a streetcar accident in 1929, the Vorwärts mourned for weeks with front-page obituaries. Without his moral and fiscal support, the paper floundered. The Great Depression was especially hard on labor newspapers, as most of their subscribers were put out of work. After years of having barely any dues paid, the Social-Democratic Publishing Company stopped its presses in December 1932.

Provided By: Wisconsin Historical Society

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Wisconsin Vorwärts (Milwaukee, Wis.) 1893-1898

Names

  • American Federation of Labor

Dates of Publication

  • 1893-1898

Created / Published

  • Milwaukee, Wis. : V. Berger, [1893-1898]

Headings

  • -  Labor--Wisconsin--Newspapers
  • -  Germans--Wisconsin--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans--Wisconsin--Newspapers
  • -  Milwaukee (Wis.)--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans
  • -  Germans
  • -  Labor
  • -  Wisconsin
  • -  Wisconsin--Milwaukee
  • -  United States--Wisconsin--Milwaukee--Milwaukee
  • -  United States--Wisconsin--Washington--Milwaukee

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Jahrg. 12, no. 1 (3. Jan. 1893)-17. Jahrg., no. 194 (17. Aug. 1898).
  • -  Organ of American Federation of Labor, -Aug. 17, 1898; Fed. Trades Council von Milwaukee,
  • -  Also published in weekly ed.: Wahrheit (Milwaukee, Wis.), and Sunday ed.: Vorwärts (Milwaukee, Wis. : 1887).

Medium

  • 6 v. ; 58 cm.

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn87082470

OCLC Number

  • 15644352

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://www.loc.gov/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://www.loc.gov/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Wisconsin Vorwärts Milwaukee, Wis. -1898. (Milwaukee, WI), Jan. 1 1893. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn87082470/.

APA citation style:

(1893, January 1) Wisconsin Vorwärts Milwaukee, Wis. -1898. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn87082470/.

MLA citation style:

Wisconsin Vorwärts Milwaukee, Wis. -1898. (Milwaukee, WI) 1 Jan. 1893. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn87082470/.