Soglin, Paul, 1945 - | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Soglin, Paul, 1945 -

Soglin, Paul, 1945 - | Wisconsin Historical Society
Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

anti-war activist and six-term Madison mayor (1973-1979, 1989-1998); B.A, Univ. of Wisconsin 1966, LL.B., Univ. of Wisconsin  Law School, 1972; while in graduate school, Soglin was a key leader of the anti-Vietnam War movement on campus and was elected to the city's Common Council (1968-1972).  Soglin was first elected mayor  in 1973, and over the next six years his administrations created the State Street Mall, Capital Concourse, Madison Civic Center, nearly 300 units of elderly housing, and the city's bicycle routes. After leaving office, he was a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (1979-1980) and practiced law in Madison (1980-1989). In 1989 he returned to the mayor's office and was re-elected in 1991 and 1995, during which time he was a key proponent of the city's Monona Terrace convention center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, which opened in 1997.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Paul Soglin Papers for details.

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[Source: PBS Online Newshour; Historic Madison, Inc.; Mr. Soglin's blog, "Waxing America" at http://psoglin.typepad.com/ (Dec. 30, 2005)]