Made in Milwaukee

In 1886, the mill was the site of the Bay View Massacre, a major labor disturbance, with striking workers demanding an 8-hour workday. Fourteen thousand workers from all trades descended on the Mill on May 3rd of that year. They were met by 250 members of the Wisconsin National Guard, sent by Republican Governor Jeremiah Rusk to quell the disturbance. 

The next day, the guard was joined by the local Kosciuszko Militia. Orders were given that if any workers tried to enter the Mill, they would shoot to kill. These directives were passed down to a captain who instead ordered the soldiers to pick out a man and shoot when orders were given—as a display of their might. 

Early on the morning of May 5th, seven individuals, including a 13-year-old boy, perished when fired upon as they approached the scene. It was the first in a long line of labor strikes across the country, culminating in the Homestead Strike of Pittsburgh in 1892, where another seven people lost their lives demonstrating for fair labor practices.

The drawing is the work of F. Otto Becker, a Milwaukee designer and illustrator, perhaps best known for his 1889 depiction of the Battle of Little Bighorn which was used extensively in Anheuser-Busch advertisements at the turn of the century. Becker was part of the great Milwaukee illustrator tradition of the early 20th century; Milwaukee artists and illustrators were in great demand during this era. 

Becker‘s work stood out among his contemporaries and he was quite successful as a draftsman.

Lee Frederickson lived and worked in Clinton, Wisconsin. He submitted this painting to the 10th Region Public Works of Art Project in March 1934 and, following review by the Project’s Technical Committee, it was approved for public display in as part of the project. The painting was then placed on display at what was noted in the records as Milwaukee Vocational School, which later merged with the Milwaukee Institute of Technology to become Milwaukee Area Technical College in 1969.

Richard Lorenz was born in Voigtstedt, near Weimar, in Germany and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar. In 1886, he travelled to Milwaukee to take a job with William Wehner’s American Panorama Company. Panorama paintings originated in the late 1700s and quickly spread across Europe. Painted on a long roll of canvas wound around cylinders, the paintings would be slowly unrolled from one cylinder, displayed across a long wall or in the round, and rolled onto another cylinder.

Panorama paintings were popular for their entertainment and educational value, some of the most popular depicting historic battles. Panorama paintings came to the United States in 1883 when Wehner founded his company on Wells Street in Milwaukee. He chose Milwaukee because of its German heritage. As he brought some 20 academy-trained German artists to work on the panoramas, Wehner wanted to make them feel at home in what was then known as ‘Little Munich.’

These artists not only captured scenes of industry across Wisconsin and Milwaukee, they  participated in the art scene of Milwaukee with their work. Their contributions to industry went beyond merely relating their observations: these three artists, among many others, were active participants in the "art industry" of Milwaukee in the 20th century.