Gordon Rosenmeier

Gordon Rosenmeier (July 1, 1907–January 17, 1989) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the Minnesota Senate from 1941 until 1971. He represented the 53rd district, which at the time consisted of Morrison and Crow Wing counties.

Gordon Rosenmeier
Member of the Minnesota Senate
from the 53rd district
In office
January 7, 1941 – January 4, 1971
Preceded byFrederick Joseph Miller
Succeeded byWin Borden
Personal details
Born(1907-07-01)July 1, 1907
Royalton, Minnesota
DiedJanuary 17, 1989(1989-01-17) (aged 81)
St. Cloud, Minnesota
FatherChristian Rosenmeier
ResidenceLittle Falls, Minnesota
Alma materUniversity of Minnesota (B.S.)
Stanford Law School
ProfessionLawyer
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/serviceUnited States Navy
Battles/warsWorld War II (Asiatic-Pacific Theater)

His legislation was responsible for the creation of the Minnesota State Planning Agency and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. He was also a founding member of the Metropolitan Council. At 10,995 service days in the Senate, he is tied for twelfth in terms of all-time service length by a Minnesota state senator.

During his tenure, he was considered a leading figure of the Conservative caucus[lower-alpha 1] in the legislature, with some members saying he was the most able and influential senator in the body's history.

Outside of the Senate, Rosenmeier was a prominent lawyer who led his firm from 1932 until his death in 1989.

Early life
The Burton-Rosenmeier House, where Rosenmeier grew up and lived for the majority of his life

Rosenmeier was born on July 1, 1907, in Royalton, Minnesota. At the time, his father, Christian, was working as a lawyer and his mother, Linda (née Bakken), was a primary school teacher.[1] The family then moved to neighboring Little Falls upon Christian's appointment as Morrison county attorney in 1914. Christian resigned his post there in 1920, to become vice president of a bank in Little Falls. The following year, the Rosenmeiers purchased the Burton-Rosenmeier House from prominent local businessman Barney Burton. Later that year, Christian was elected to the Minnesota State Senate.[2]

Rosenmeier attended and graduated from Little Falls Community High School. He then attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in 1928. He then traveled west to Stanford Law School and earned a law degree there, passing the California Bar exam in the process.[3] Around the time of his graduation from law school, Rosenmeier's father fell ill with heart, kidney, and blood conditions. Rosenmeier was with his mother and two siblings, Margaret (born 1909)[4] and Donald (born 1915),[5] when he passed.

He had inherited his interest in law from his father, once saying that he didn't know of a time he didn't think he would be a lawyer. However, he did not possess an interest in politics at that time, though at one point he had met governor Floyd B. Olson on the steps of the State Capitol while his father worked there.[3]

Early law career and first Senate campaign

Prior to his father's death, Rosenmeier had joined his law practice. When he passed, Rosenmeier took control of the firm. He was also persuaded by family friends to run for his father's Senate seat. One of his opponents had filed a lawsuit against him during his campaign, falsely arguing that Rosenmeier was not a citizen of Minnesota because he recently took the California Bar exam.[3] Rosenmeier was defeated by Franklin E. Ebner, a Brainerd attorney, in the special election. He had received 8,123 votes compared to Ebner's 8,566, a margin of nearly 2.65%.[6]

Following his loss, he resumed his law practice. This period of time was marked by the Great Depression and businesses like his were struggling to survive. Rosenmeier himself had remarked:[3]

“Oh, those were grim days... We got $1 for making a deed, $5 for defending a man in Justice Court and, at the outside, $25 for District Court. I would only charge $5 for an abstract. So you had to work like hell to get enough money to pay the rent.”

Senate career

Early legislation
Official portrait of Rosenmeier for the 1941-42 legislative session

Rosenmeier ran in yet another special election in 1940, this time following the death of Frederick J. Miller. His opponent was Brainerd city council member Vic Quanstrom.[3] Rosenmeier won quite handily, receiving 14,031 votes to Quanstrom's 7,231, a near two-to-one margin.[7]

Rosenmeier served in the United States Navy during World War II, and won the 1942 general election in absentia, though he ran unopposed. He served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater until at least 1944.[3][8][9] Rosenmeier was named chairman of the military affairs committee upon the start of the 54th Senate session, though once again, his military service interfered with his role in the Senate and an acting chairman was called upon to fill his spot.[10]

Rosenmeier cosponsored Luther Youngdahl's fair employment practices bill, which aimed to eliminate workplace discrimination based on race, religion, or national origin. Measures like these were introduced in state legislatures throughout the union at the time, though the proposal was especially noteworthy as it would establish an interracial council for educational purposes to help eliminate workplace discrimination, with $5,000 being allotted for the annual payment of a councilmember.[11] The bill was hotly debated in the Senate, but failed by a vote of 34–29. Six years later, the measure passed with Rosenmeier's support.[3]

Rosenmeier also sponsored legislation that would establish a state mental hospital in Brainerd. Minnesota had seen a shortage of adequate mental hospital facilities, with a waiting list present for patients and crowded conditions in the ones that were available.[12] The hospital opened in June 1958 and continued to expand, becoming one of the three state facilities for the mentally disabled and epileptic in 1967.[13]

Camp Ripley, a Minnesota National Guard facility that Rosenmeier's father helped create, expanded northward, thanks to legislation sponsored by Rosenmeier.[3] The last of these expansions occurred in 1961, with the base measuring at 53,000 acres.[14]

Rise to power

Rosenmeier had become one of the leading figures in the Senate, in large part to his position as the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee. He was widely considered the leader of the Conservatives.[3][15]

When the Mississippi River oil spill occurred in 1962 and 1963, Rosenmeier introduced legislation that gave the state's Water Pollution Control Commission power to enforce rules to prevent the contamination of groundwater. It gave the commission the ability to order the abatement of sewage and industrial wastes, and if a municipality refused to comply, the state would take over the municipality's sewage treatment function. It would design facilities, levy taxes and assessments, acquire land, and supervise the construction of adequate sewage treatment facilities. This legislation, called the Rosenmeier Act, became law on May 22, 1963. Later an amendment would be added which prohibited storing waste where it could enter state waters. The Rosenmeier Act had sparked additional legislation for environmental protection in the state. It also led to the formation of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in 1967. Rosenmeier found that the commission was inefficient in enforcing the rules set forth in his legislation, and had decided to create the agency to better keep the laws enforced. With the creation of the agency, it became the first state agency to consider pollution an ethical concern.[16][17]

The state planning agency was created in 1965, with Rosenmeier sponsoring legislation for its creation.[18] The agency was responsible for allocating state resources and coordinated activities between governmental bodies. The agency existed in this form until 1991, becoming the Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning, which was abolished in 2003.[19]

Rosenmeier was a key figure in the establishment of the Metropolitan Council as well. When the idea was first proposed following a 1967 Citizens League report, Rosenmeier questioned the need for such a body. He later changed his stance, saying he supported the creation of the council, though he argued for a less powerful body than what was imagined by some. Bill Frenzel and Harmon Ogdahl proposed an elected council with a broad range of authority. Rosenmeier and Howard Albertson countered their proposal with a planning and coordinating body whose members were appointed by the governor and whose authority was limited to select regional services. The Rosenmeier-Albertson proposal prevailed in both houses.[3]

In 1969, he was instrumental in securing funding to develop the Lindbergh House and Museum. The site would later be transferred to the Minnesota Historical Society. It is likely that soon after, the house received the state historic site designation.[20][21]

Later legislation and defeat

Rosenmeier, as chair of the judiciary committee, granted a hearing on Kelly Gage's bill to relax the state's ban on abortion in 1969. The bill would later be passed, permitting abortions performed for medical reasons. This decision was made before Roe v. Wade. Rosenmeier had voted for the bill in the committee, though he claimed that it was so it could reach the Senate floor so it could be debated further.[3]

In the 1970 general election, Rosenmeier had a serious opponent for only the second time in his career. The first saw Rosenmeier defeat future House representative Howard E. Smith by a relatively wide margin.[22] Rosenmeier's opponent, 26-year old Win Borden, had planned on running against him for years. He used Rosenmeier's vote on the abortion bill against him and employed modern strategies like canvassing, the printing of brochures and other forms of advertising. Rosenmeier was noted as not performing well in the debates and his campaign could not compete with Borden's. Borden later said of Rosenmeier:[3]

“He was just not used to being challenged, he was a fine legislator—did many wonderful things. But the political thicket in the street wasn’t something he was used to.”

The resulting election saw Borden win by a 14-point margin, which was considered by many as an upset.[23] Borden, an attorney from Brainerd, would win reelections in 1972 and 1976 before resigning to take a leadership position with a forerunner of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce.[24]

Upon his defeat, Rosenmeier ranked seventh in terms of all state Senators in terms of service length. At present, he is tied for twelfth all-time.[25]

Later life and death
Church of Our Savior, where Rosenmeier's funeral was held

Rosenmeier continued to work at his law firm after his defeat. John E. Simonett, a Minnesota Supreme Court justice, joined the firm after graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1951. The two would remain partners until Simonett's appointment to the Supreme Court in 1980. Douglas Anderson, a district court judge in Minnesota, had mentioned in an article about Simonett that the pair were perhaps the most talented firm in all of Outstate Minnesota.[26][27]

Rosenmeier was a public member of the Minnesota News Council when it was founded in 1971. Among other notable members were Malcolm Moos, Warren Spannaus, and James L. Hetland Jr.[28] He was also a board member for the Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota Zoological Garden Foundation[1] and was listed as a "friend" of The Hastings Center.[29]

While he still lived there, on March 13, 1986, the Burton-Rosenmeier House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Both he and his sister, Margaret, were listed as owners of the property.[30]

Rosenmeier died on January 17, 1989, following a heart attack. He was in a St. Cloud hospital with pneumonia at the time.[1] His funeral took place at the historic Church of Our Savior in Little Falls, while a public memorial service took place at the auditorium of the Little Falls Community High School.[31]

Legacy

References to Rosenmeier exist throughout Minnesota. Central Lakes College has a building called the Rosenmeier Center for State and Local Government on campus. The building was established in 1989 to recognize Rosenmeier's service as a legislator.[32] The Charles A. Weyerhauser Memorial Museum in Little Falls has a room named after Rosenmeier, which serves as a room for researching.[33] Two portraits of Rosenmeier can be found in the Minnesota Capitol building. He was one of only five non-Governors to have a portrait in the Capitol, and the only non-Governor to have more than one portrait.[34]

Lore about him circulated within state legislative circles that he was the most able and influential state Senator in history.[35] He earned the nickname "Little Giant from Little Falls," perhaps due to the large impact he had and because of his reputation of being an intimidating figure in the Senate. In addition, Governor Harold LeVander once said, in jest, that:[3]

"[He happened] to be one of eight governors who served under him.”

Notes
  1. At the time, the Minnesota Legislature was nonpartisan, though members often were a part of either the Liberal or Conservative Caucus. See Minnesota Legislature#The non-partisan era

References
  1. "Christian and Gordon Rosenmeier: An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  2. Hanson, Krista Finstad (2007). Minnesota Open House: A Guide to Historic House Museums. Minnesota Historical Society. ISBN 9780873517430. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  3. Dornfeld, Steven (Winter 2014–15). "Gordon Rosenmeier: The Little Giant from Little Falls" (PDF). Minnesota History: 148–157. Retrieved January 27, 2021.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  4. "Margaret R. Rosenmeier". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  5. "Donald Rosenmeier in the 1940 Census". Ancestry.com. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  6. Ostermeier, Eric J. "State Senate, District 53, 1932 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  7. Ostermeier, Eric J. "State Senate, District 53, 1940 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  8. Ostermeier, Eric J. "State Senate, District 53, 1942 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  9. Halloran, M. W. (March 1, 1944). "War Puts Gaps in Special Session Lineup". The Minneapolis Star. Retrieved January 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Elston, Wilbur (January 2, 1945). "Wilbur to Head State Senate Opening 54th Session Tonight". Minneapolis Morning Tribune. Retrieved January 30, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Aronson, Arnold (1950). "Employment". American Jewish Year Book. 51: 99–110. Retrieved January 30, 2021 – via JSTOR.
  12. "Brainerd Favored As Hospital Site". The Winona Republican-Herald. March 15, 1951. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  13. "State Hospitals: Historical Patient Records: Brainerd". Gale Family Library. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  14. Johnson, Jack K. "A Brief History of Camp Ripley". Minnesota Military Museum. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  15. Premack, Frank (November 10, 1966). "Conservatives Will Control Both Houses of Legislature". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. Manulik, Joseph. "Mississippi River Oil Spill, 1962–1963". MNopedia. Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  17. Lee, Stephen J. (Summer 2002). "Operation Save a Duck and the Legacy of Minnesota's 1962-63 Oil Spills". Minnesota History. 58 (2): 105–123. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via JSTOR.
  18. Dornfeld, Steven (September 26, 2011). "Tough economic times — and no state planning agency". MinnPost. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  19. "Planning Agency". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Minnesota Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  20. "Spooky Coincidences All Too Common". Morrison County Historical Society. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  21. "Historic Sites". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  22. Ostermeier, Eric J. "State Senate, District 53, 1958 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  23. Ostermeier, Eric J. "State Senate, District 53, 1970 Election". Minnesota Historical Election Archive. University of Minnesota. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  24. O'Rourke, Mike (January 21, 2014). "Former lawmaker Win Borden remembered". Brainerd Dispatch. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  25. "Length of Service - All Senate Members". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Minnesota Legislature. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  26. Anderson, Douglas P. (2013). "Boss, Mentor, and Friend". William Mitchell Law Review. 39 (3). Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  27. Hermanson, Louise Williams (Spring 1993). "The Minnesota News Council: The Story behind the Creation". The Oral History Review. 21 (1): 23–47. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  28. "Back Matter". Hastings Center Report. 16 (5). October 1986. Retrieved February 2, 2021 – via JSTOR.
  29. Jenkinson, Thomas L.; Roberts, Norene. "Barney Burton - Christian Rosenmeier House". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  30. Flahaven, Patrick E. "Funeral arrangements for Senator Gordon Rosenmeier" (PDF). Minnesota Legislature. Secretary of the Minnesota Senate. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  31. "Chris Farrell to speak at the Rosenmeier Center virtual forum Jan. 28". Brainerd Dispatch. January 24, 2021. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  32. "#Weymu40 – Where the Rooms All Have Names". Morrison County Historical Society. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  33. "Inventory of Art in the Minnesota State Capitol" (PDF). Government of Minnesota. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  34. Brandl, John E. (Summer 2000). "Policy and Politics in Minnesota". Dædalus. 129 (3): 191–220. Retrieved January 28, 2021 – via JSTOR.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.