Padway, Joseph Arthur

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PADWAY, JOSEPH ARTHUR

PADWAY, JOSEPH ARTHUR (1891–1947), U.S. labor lawyer and politician. Padway, who was born in Leeds, England, went to Milwaukee in 1905. Admitted to the Wisconsin bar in 1912, he was appointed legal counsel for the Wisconsin State Federation of Labor three years later. He was elected state senator on the Socialist ticket and served in the 1925 session of the legislature. Padway was twice appointed to the Milwaukee civil court bench (1924, 1926). After 1927 he was associated with the Progressive Republicans in Wisconsin. Padway played a major role in shaping Wisconsin labor legislation between 1915 and 1935. Upon his appointment as the first general counsel of the American Federation of Labor, he moved to Washington where he served until his death. In this capacity, he successfully defended the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act before the United States Supreme Court.

bibliography:

L.J. Swichkow and L.P. Gartner, The History of the Jews of Milwaukee (1963), 163, 253–4.

[Louis J. Swichkow]