24 Facts About James Groppi

James Edmund Groppi was an erstwhile Catholic priest and noted civil rights activist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

James Groppi became well known for leading numerous protests, many times being arrested during them.

James Groppi was born in the Bay View neighborhood on the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Italian immigrant parents.

Giocondo and Giorgina Groppi had twelve children, of which James was the eleventh.

Typical of boys in heavily Catholic south side Milwaukee, James attended a parochial grade school, but went on to the public high school in Bay View, where he was captain of the basketball team in his senior year.

James Groppi worked summers at a youth center in Milwaukee's inner core.

James Groppi was ordained to the priesthood in June 1959 after studying at St Francis Seminary.

At first assigned to St Veronica's Church in Milwaukee, in 1963 James Groppi was transferred to St Boniface, the latter parish having a predominantly African-American congregation.

James Groppi participated in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference voter registration project in the South, led by Martin Luther King Jr.

Later in 1965, James Groppi returned to Milwaukee, becoming the advisor to the Milwaukee chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council, organizing protests against the segregation of Milwaukee public schools.

James Groppi served as advisor to the Milwaukee NAACP Youth Council until 1968.

James Groppi became second vice president of Milwaukee United School Integration Committee.

In 1966 James Groppi acted on common knowledge in the Milwaukee area that most judges and elected officials belonged to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which at the time did not admit people of color to its membership.

James Groppi 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.

James Groppi organized pickets at the homes of some of the member judges, most notably Circuit Court Judge Robert Cannon, despite the fact that Cannon was a liberal and had voiced opposition to the Eagles' membership policies.

In 1968 James Groppi was awarded the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award by the Davenport Catholic Interracial Council.

On September 29,1969, James 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.

James 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.

James Groppi eventually resigned from the priesthood in 1976 and began studies at Antioch School of Law.

From 1975 to 1976, James Groppi worked for the Tri-County Voluntary Service Committee, where he was responsible for recruiting and supervising VISTA volunteers in Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties.

James Groppi rose again to public attention when he joined Marlon Brando to mediate the clash between the Menominee Indians and the Alexian Brothers at the Alexian Novitiate in Gresham, Wisconsin, in 1975.

James Groppi attended the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia, during the fall of 1978.

In 1977, James Groppi became a bus driver for the Milwaukee County Transit System.

James Groppi died the following year due to complications of the same cancer.