Posted: Nov. 19, 2009

 

The Judge Joseph A. Padway House

 

5312 North Lake Drive

This brick Spanish Colonial residence was constructed in 1931 for Judge Joseph A. Padway. It was constructed at an estimated cost of $25,000 by well-known Milwaukee builder Bentley Brothers, Inc. It sits on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan. The residence was identified by the Wisconsin State Historical Society in a 1980 survey.

Joseph Arthur Padway was a lawyer, labor counsel, and politician. Born in Leeds, England in 1891, he came to the United States in 1905, and to Milwaukee about 1906 or 1907. He graduated from Marquette University in 1912, was admitted to the bar, and set up a law practice in Milwaukee. In 1915 he became general counsel for the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor, eventually becoming legal counsel for all American Federation of Labor affiliated unions in the state, including the Milwaukee Federated Trades Council, the Milwaukee City and County Civil Service Employees, and the Milwaukee Building Trades Council.

Originally a Socialist, Padway was elected to the state senate on that ticket in 1924, served in the session of 1925, but resigned in 1926 to serve as judge of the Milwaukee civil court (1926-1927). He gradually allied himself with the Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin, served as treasurer of the Republican state central committee (1931), and from 1933 to 1937 was a regent of the state normal schools.

Faithful to his union obligations and closely allied with the Progressive program, Padway was instrumental in preparing much of the Wisconsin labor legislation passed into law between 1915 and 1935. These measures included the revision of the railroad corporation law, unemployment compensation, the minimum wage and hour law, the anti-yellow dog contract law, and the law making jury trial mandatory in labor contempt cases. These statutes were usually well in advance of similar labor legislation passed by other states and the federal government.

Throughout the 1920's Padway was counsel to a number of Wisconsin unions involved in labor disputes, and won national recognition for his role as counsel during the bitter Kohler Co. strike of 1934. In 1938 Padway left Wisconsin to serve as general counsel for the American Federation of Labor and served in this capacity until his death. In this role he was recognized as labor's legal spokesman in the nation's courts and in Congress.

The architect of the residence was Hugo V. Miller. Miller (1885-1949) was born in Milwaukee, the son of Anton Mueller and his wife Elizabeth Becke. Hugo did not attend college but beginning as a teenager trained in the architectural offices of John Menge Jr. and Ferry and Clas. He practiced independently from 1911 and had offices in the Merchants and Manufacturers Bank Building on Plankinton Avenue in his early years but practiced out of his home for most of his career. In the two decades prior to the Great Depression he designed a substantial number of residential buildings and commercial buildings, a number of which are on the WI Architecture and History Inventory.

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About "Preserving Our Past"

The Village of Whitefish Bay is a community of residential neighborhoods, punctuated with an attractive walking district of fine stores, excellent schools and vibrant houses of worship. It is filled with homes and other buildings that are architecturally rich, well-designed and maintained, and diverse in character.

Its residents have contributed much to the broad cultural, political, economic and social history of the area. And its residents are interested in maintaining their connections with an historic past.

To help maintain these connections, the Historic Preservation Commission is in the process of identifying buildings and historic sites that it believes may be architecturally significant or historic. On a monthly basis we will feature a building or site from our inventory.

 

• Archive: Read about the village's other historic buildings
• From the commission: About our inventory and a request for help
• More information: Historic designation application and procedures online