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The Reverend James Groppi | |
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| Born | James Edmund Groppi (1930-11-16)November 16, 1930 |
| Died | November 4, 1985(1985-11-04) (aged 54) |
| Occupations | civil rights activist,community organizer,priest |
| Spouse | Margaret Rozga |
James Edmund Groppi (November 16, 1930 – November 4, 1985) was an AmericanCatholic former priest and notedcivil rights activist inMilwaukee, Wisconsin. He became well known for leading numerous protests, many times being arrested during them.[1] Groppi resigned as a priest in 1976.[2] In 1985, he died ofbrain cancer at the age of 54.
James Groppi was born in theBay View neighborhood on the south side ofMilwaukee, Wisconsin toItalian immigrant parents. Giocondo and Giorgina Groppi had twelve children, of which James was the eleventh. In this working-class community, Giocondo joined others from Italy in Milwaukee's grocery business, opening "Groppi's" store in Bay View, where James and his siblings worked.[3] Typical of boys in heavily Catholic south side Milwaukee, James attended aparochial grade school (Immaculate Conception), but went on to the public high school in Bay View, where he was captain of the basketball team in his senior year.
A year after graduation, James Groppi enrolled atSt. Lawrence Seminary (1950–1952) inMount Calvary, Wisconsin. According to writer Frank Aukofer, "It was during his seminary years that Father Groppi began developing an empathy with the Black poor. He worked summers at a youth center in Milwaukee's inner core. It was there that he saw the social suffering and ostracism that Negroes lived with every day".[4] Groppi was ordained to the priesthood in June 1959 after studying atSt. Francis Seminary (1952–1959).
At first assigned to St. Veronica's Church in Milwaukee, in 1963 Groppi was transferred to St. Boniface, the latter parish having a predominantlyAfrican-American congregation.[3] Groppi became interested in – and active in – the cause ofcivil rights for Africans-Americans, participating in the 1963March on Washington and theSelma to Montgomery marches in 1965 on behalf of theVoting Rights Act. He also participated in theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference voter registration project in the South, led byMartin Luther King Jr., during the summer of 1965.
Later in 1965, Groppi returned to Milwaukee, becoming the advisor to the Milwaukee chapter of theNational Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth Council, organizing protests against thesegregation of Milwaukeepublic schools. He served as advisor to the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council until 1968. He also became second vice president of Milwaukee United School Integration Committee (1965–1966).
In his capacity as NAACP advisor, Groppi organized an all-Black male group called the Milwaukee Commandos. They were formed to protect marchers and help quell violence during the "Freedom Marches." With the NAACP Youth Council, Groppi mounted a lengthy, continuous demonstration against the city of Milwaukee on behalf offair housing. He led these fair housing marches across the 16th Street Viaduct (since renamed in his honor) spanning theMenomonee River Valley. The half-mile wide valley was considered to be a symbolic divide for the city.[5] Throughout this period, he received both physical and moral support from human rights activists likeDick Gregory and Martin Luther King Jr. Though Groppi was denigrated and arrested on numerous occasions for standing firm in his beliefs, he was instrumental in dramatizing the segregated housing situation in Milwaukee. These efforts led to enactment of an open-housing law in the city.
In 1966 Groppi acted on common knowledge in the Milwaukee area that most judges and elected officials belonged to theFraternal Order of Eagles, which at the time did not admit people of color to its membership. He questioned how a judge who was a member of an organization that did not welcome African-Americans as members could rule impartially in cases involving African-Americans. He organized pickets at the homes of some of the member judges, most notably Circuit Court JudgeRobert Cannon, despite the fact that Cannon was aliberal and had voiced opposition to the Eagles' membership policies. These demonstrations continued, on and off, until 1967. During this period, Groppi also worked for passage of legislation which would outlaw discrimination in the buying and renting of homes (in 1968 such a law was passed on the federal level, known as theFair Housing Act).
In 1968 Groppi was awarded thePacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award by the Davenport Catholic Interracial Council.[6] It was named after a 1963encyclical byPope John XXIII that called upon people of good will to secure peace among all nations.Pacem in terris isLatin for "Peace on earth".
On September 29, 1969, Groppi organized and led the "Welfare Mothers' March on Madison," during which over 1,000 welfare mothers marched into Wisconsin's State Assembly chamber, seizing it in protest against planned welfare cuts.[7] Groppi and his supporters held the State Assembly chamber in asitdown strike for 11 hours before police recovered the chamber. Cited in abill of attainder for "contempt of the State Assembly" and sentenced to six months in jail, Groppi appealed to the federal courts, which quickly reversed his conviction. His last appeal was to the U.S. Supreme Court, which inGroppi v. Leslie invalidated the contempt citation on notice and due process grounds.[8]
Groppi's ecclesiastical superiors did not always approve of his activities and transferred him to St. Michael's Church in 1970. Groppi repeatedly requested to be assigned to a parish in the African-American community, several of which were opened in the archdiocese during his priesthood, but he was consistently rebuffed. Groppi eventually resigned from the priesthood in 1976 and began studies atAntioch School of Law.[9]
Groppi later married Margaret Rozga, who became an English professor at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Waukesha.[10] They had three children together.[11]
From 1975 to 1976, Groppi worked for the Tri-County Voluntary Service Committee, where he was responsible for recruiting and supervising VISTA volunteers inRacine,Kenosha andWalworth counties. He rose again to public attention when he joinedMarlon Brando to mediate the clash between theMenominee Indians and theAlexian Brothers at theAlexian Novitiate inGresham, Wisconsin, in 1975. The Menominee wanted to reclaim the land on which the Novitiate is located.
Groppi attended theVirginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal) inAlexandria, Virginia, during the fall of 1978. In January 1979, he continued preparations for the Episcopal priesthood by working for St. Andrews Church, an inner-city parish inDetroit, Michigan. However, his lifelong commitment to Catholicism caused him to question whether it was spiritually possible for him to continue conversion to the Episcopal priesthood, and he aborted that pursuit later that year.[citation needed]
In 1977,[12] Groppi became a bus driver for theMilwaukee County Transit System. In 1983 he was elected president of the bus drivers' local union, ATU 998.[13] In 1984, he became partially paralyzed following an unsuccessful surgery that aimed to remove a cancerous brain tumor. He died the following year due to complications of the same cancer.[2]
His papers are maintained at theUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
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