Forward Janesville - TheReport - Second Quarter 2018

SECOND QUARTER 2018 • 9 Full Circle: A Century in the Making T hey say history repeats itself and judging from the history of Janesville this seems like a very reasonable assumption. In fact, the parallels between the burgeoning Janesville of the early twentieth century and the city we know today are somewhat remarkable. One hundred years ago, Janesville was emerging from a period of conflict and challenge. The early 1900s were fraught with economic and political instability. Change was needed to keep moving ahead. Local leaders were working hard to reinvent Janesville’s image and actively support local business growth. Around this time, in 1918, entrepreneur Joseph A. Craig, President of Sampson Tractor, was diligently trying to convince William Durant to move Samson to Janesville and merge it with Durant’s growing Janesville Machine Co.—what would later become General Motors. The move and merger was approved and, unbeknownst to either man at the time, would shape the city for decades and decades to come, growing into the city’s largest employer. Janesville Machine and Samson Tractor were just some of the big players making headlines in Janesville at the time. Founded in 1888, Parker Pen was thriving a few decades into its reign, and the local economy that had grown to support so many large employers was booming like never before. The hard work of late nineteenth century leaders and business people had borne fruit. An entrepreneurial spirit reigned. With economic success, however, came challenges. Similar to today, a housing shortage soon followed the influx of companies and workers, inspiring contractors to form new construction companies and build hundreds of houses in a very short time period to meet the growing demand. During this time, women all over the nation were fighting for the vote, launching a vibrant suffrage movement that would at long last bear fruit on August 18, 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment. In many ways, women in Janesville were leading the charge for women’s rights, securing victories that far outpaced other regions. Women were given the vote by 1919 in Janesville thanks to a vibrant local effort. Janesville hired its first policewoman in 1921. The Janesville Women’s Federation was an active political group that fought consistently to improve conditions and regularly succeeded in raising women’s wages and enacting new policies. Janesville was also home to Carrie Jacobs-Bonds, a female songwriter who became the first individual in the nation to sell over one million pieces of sheet music and earn over $1 million dollars for a song. Today’s Women’s March and #MeToo movements reflect the ongoing effort to push forward, as strong Janesville women continue to work to have their voices heard. Early Janesville and Rock County leaders were clearly politically astute and forward- thinking. Janesville reformed the way city governance was approached, hiring a City Manager in 1922, the now legendary Henry Traxler. Traxler would go on to drastically improve public health and welfare and dramatically shape Janesville’s infrastructure. Among his most notable accomplishments are the development of Riverside Park, the construction of Monterey and Racine Street bridges, the addition of modern downtown street lighting and municipal parking, the addition of modern patrol cars and a centralized fire station, and establishing Janesville’s first sewage treatment plant. He did all of this without burdening Janesville with added debt, and, just before his retirement in 1950, Janesville had the lowest taxes in Wisconsin for a city of its size. Today, Janesville’s Arise downtown development plan and AriseNow public- private partnership to help support that plan are evidence of the latest in visionary city planning designed to move Janesville forward yet again. The foundation laid by Janesville’s early entrepreneurs and politicians had lasting effects. General Motors would operate in Janesville until 2008. Parker Pen famously introduced the P-51, based on an idea from the son of George Parker, a World War II army pilot. The P-51, marking 51 years in business, was used by President Eisenhower to sign the peace agreement ending World War II. J.P. Cullen & Sons, founded in 1892 and winner of the contract for the new Janesville High School in 1921, would go on to build so many seminal Janesville structures, becoming one of the largest contractors in the state. Today, Janesville is on the verge of renaissance. Similar to those early twentieth century visionaries, the dreamers of today have grand plans for our fair city—and a burgeoning level of support from diverse players to help turn those dreams into reality. So many times, Janesville has been knocked down and gotten back up fighting. Today is no different. We are proving once again that we can transform ourselves and that the future is truly in our hands. As a new era of possibilities dawns, perhaps the most important question we can all ask ourselves is what part will we each play? Let’s hope that one hundred years from now, our legacy will be remembered as one of optimism, vision, and determination—a century to remember. Sources: Wisconsin Public Television, various transcripts A Century of Stories by Mike DuPre (2000) City of Janesville 175th Anniversary , special insert to the Janesville Gazette (2010) BY LAURA BARTEN