Faces of Milwaukee: Father James Groppi

What does it mean to be an ally? It is hard to find a better role model than the subject of today’s portrait, Father James Groppi, champion of fair housing, voting rights, and the needs of the poor and disenfranchised. Born in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee in 1930 to Italian parents, he attended Catholic schools and Bay View High School before attending Seminary. While there, he spent his summers in Milwaukee’s inner city neighborhoods working at a youth center serving the poor, primarily Black families where he saw their struggles and the effects of discrimination up close.

After being ordained as a Catholic priest in 1959, he began his work at St. Veronica’s Church in Milwaukee but was transferred to St. Boniface in 1963, which had a primarily African-American congregation. From the beginning he was outspoken and active in civil rights. He attended the March on Washington, and the Selma to Montgomery marches in support of the Voting Rights Act. Bringing his passion back to Milwaukee, he became active in the local NAACP chapter Youth Council, organizing protests against the segregation of the Milwaukee schools, numerous demonstrations in favor of fair housing, and he organized the “Milwaukee Commandos”, a group of Black men who helped keep protest marchers safe. He organized marches across the 16th street viaduct every day for 200 days to bring attention to the issues of housing segregation despite constant threats of violence, and being pelted with firecrackers, bricks, and human waste as marchers walked. He also worked locally with Vel Phillips on legislation that would outlaw racial discrimination in home buying and renting, work that would eventually be realized at the national level in 1968 through the passage of the Federal Fair Housing Act.

Father Groppi was never afraid to stand up to hatred. His actions and beliefs got him beaten, arrested, vandalized, burned in effigy, and he received numerous death threats. After leading a march to Madison to protest cuts to welfare, he held the State Assembly Chamber for 11 hours with a sitdown strike until removed by police. He was sentenced to 6 months in jail for his actions, but eventually had the charges invalidated in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Although his life was cut tragically short by brain cancer at age 54, he made a huge impact through his passion and his empathy, substantially improving the housing situation for Black families, and drawing attention to many other causes. As we all consider what we must do to make a difference today, he provides a shining example of what is possible.