Joseph D. Beck

Summary

Joseph David Beck (March 14, 1866 – November 8, 1936) was an American politician. He was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin.

Joseph D. Beck
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 7th district
In office
March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1929
Preceded byJohn J. Esch
Succeeded byMerlin Hull
Personal details
Born(1866-03-14)March 14, 1866
Bloomingdale, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedNovember 8, 1936(1936-11-08) (aged 70)
Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican

Born near Bloomingdale, in Vernon County, Wisconsin, Beck graduated from Stevens Point Normal School and the University of Wisconsin. He worked in the Wisconsin Bureau of Statistics and was a farmer and livestock dealer. Beck was elected a Republican to the Sixty-seventh United States Congress and to the three succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1929). He was elected as the representative of Wisconsin's 7th congressional district. In 1928, he passed up running for another term in office to instead unsuccessfully run for the Republican nomination of Governor of Wisconsin. Later Beck worked with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture. He died in Madison, Wisconsin.[1]

Workers' compensation edit

Beck, along with John R. Commons of the University of Wisconsin, wrote and helped to pass Wisconsin's workers' compensation law, the first law of its type in the United States,(New York had passed a first Worker's Compensation Law, but that was nullified by the courts). The aim of the law was to protect business corporations from tort suits. Workers who had sustained a work injury that rendered them unemployable could be awarded permanent and total disability payments, but were not allowed to sue their employers.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Joseph D. Beck, Wisconsin Historical Society


External links edit

  • United States Congress. "Joseph D. Beck (id: B000291)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Wisconsin's 7th congressional district

March 4, 1921 - March 3, 1929
Succeeded by