Frank Boncel

A controversial figure in Milwaukee politics. He served as a Milwaukee Alderman (Socialist) from 1932-1936. During the term, he sponsored the "Boncel Ordinance" in response to a strike at the A.J. Lindemann and Hoverson Co., stove manufacturers. The law, which some have characterized as "draconian," allowed the mayor or chief of police to shut down any strikebound establishment where 200 or more people gathered on a half-acre lot for two or more successive days. The purpose of the law was to force employers to bargain collectively. The law was never used. It was enacted September 20, 1935 and then repealed on June 23, 1936 after Frank Boncel was defeated in his reelection bid by Clement Michalski.

Sources

Fink, Leon, Workingmen's Democracy: the Knights of Labor and American Politics at pg. 208.

Holli, Melvin G. The American Mayor: the Best and Worst Big-City Leaders at. pg. 73.

Pienkos, Donald, Politics, Religion and Change in Polish Milwaukee, 1900-1930 , published in the Wisconsin Magazine of History vol. 61, no. 3, Spring, 1978, pp. 178-209, (at page 17 of the pdf file)

Obituary in the Milwaukee Journal, December 24, 1937, pg. 1-2.

Relation to other profiles on the Milwaukee Polonia Project:

• Nephew to Andrzej Boncel