Allen J. Busby (March 6, 1900 – July 19, 1988) was an American politician, educator, and lawyer from West Milwaukee,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Background

Born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, on March 6, 1900, Busby graduated from

West Allis Central High School West Allis Central High School is a public high school in West Allis, Wisconsin, United States. The school boundaries are the city of West Allis, village of West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, West Milwaukee and portions of New Berlin, Wisconsin, New Be ...

. He studied at Wisconsin State Normal School, then 1922 earned a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

(UW–M), and in 1925 received an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. After studying law at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, he returned to UW–M, where he received his

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

in 1928 and was admitted to the bar. Busby was principal of the

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Little Chute, Wisconsin Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,619 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is immediately east of the city of Appleton, Wisconsin and runs alo ...

for two years, and taught

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and history in West Allis Central High School from 1928 to 1933.

Public office

Busby served as the village attorney for West Milwaukee, then was elected to the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

in 1930 as a Republican. He was defeated in 1932 by Democrat Arthur Balzer (Balzer got 7,728 votes; Busby 5,234;

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Frank Puncer 3,757, and

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Grace Brown 165). He in turn defeated Balzer in 1934 running as a candidate of the newly organized

Wisconsin Progressive Party The Wisconsin Progressive Party (1934–1946) was a political third party that briefly held a major role in Wisconsin politics under the two sons of the late Robert M. La Follette. It was on the political left wing, and it sometimes cooperated wit ...

, with 4,793 votes to Balzer's 4,728, Puncer's 2,740, and Republican Bruce Randolph's 965. In 1936 he was elected to the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

's 8th district as a Progressive, with 22,209 votes to 19,180 for Democratic incumbent William Shenners Jr. and 11,632 for Republican Henry Weber. He served in the Senate, first as a Progressive and then as a Republican, until he chose not to run for re-election in 1972.

Personal life

Busby continued to work as an attorney, and was the landlord of rental property in the Milwaukee area. In 1979, he was accused of

racial discrimination Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their Race (human categorization), race, ancestry, ethnicity, ethnic or national origin, and/or Human skin color, skin color and Hair, hair texture. Individuals ...

in apartment rentals, but settled out of court on undisclosed terms. He was again accused of discrimination in 1981, but declared, "We have several coloreds in the building. It seems to me that he plaintiffsare just trying to make trouble."Suit accuses landlord of racial bias
. ''The Milwaukee Journal'' February 6, 1981, p. Accent 9, col. 1. He was married, and a

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Allen Politicians from Chicago People from West Milwaukee, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Educators from Wisconsin Wisconsin lawyers Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Progressive Party (1924) Wisconsin state senators 1900 births 1988 deaths University of Chicago Law School alumni 20th-century American lawyers Educators from Illinois 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature