Elmer Baumann
electrician and Socialist legislator
Elmer H. Baumann (born February 15, 1902) was an American electrician from Milwaukee who served one term (1927–1928) as a Socialist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly representing Milwaukee County's 11th Assembly district (the 11th and 24th wards of the City of Milwaukee).
Background
Baumann was born on February 15, 1902, in Milwaukee, and attended in public schools. He became an electrician and joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. In 1925, he served as the assistant business agent for his local union and as a delegate to the IBEW's international convention in Seattle, Washington. He held various positions within the Milwaukee labor movement and was serving as vice-president of IBEW Local 494 at the time of his election.
In the Assembly
Baumann had never held public office prior to his successful 1926 bid for the Assembly to replace fellow Socialist Olaf C. Olsen. Due to his only opponent's failure to complete the necessary paperwork, Baumann ran unopposed in the 1926 election, becoming one of three Socialists to do so. He was assigned to the Assembly's Standing Committee on education.
In his 1928 re-election bid, Baumann was defeated by Republican Alex Chmurski, who received 3,358 votes compared to 3,056 for Democrat George Brier and 2,989 for Baumann.
After the Assembly
Baumann served on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors for some time.
“Elmer Baumann” enters the record as electrician and Socialist legislator. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Elmer, Baumann and electrician can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Elmer Baumann” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Elmer, Baumann and electrician provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5366481. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1902, 1927, 1928 and 1925.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elmer Baumann”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elmer Baumann primary sources, Elmer Baumann archive and Elmer research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elmer Baumann”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elmer Baumann” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.