In 1902, the famly moved to Milwaukee where Martin got a job at the Schlitz Brewery. He joined the Beer Bottlers' Union Local 213 and then later transferred to the Brewers' Union No. 9. He represented both unions as a delegate to the Federated Trades Council. He became active in the Polish School Society, an organization promoting the teaching of Polish in public schools. The underlying goal of this effort was to move children away from parochial schools and out from under the influence of the clergy. Not surprisingly, this effort was opposed by the Catholic clergy who wished to increase enrollment in the parochial schools by the exclusive instruction of Polish. The Polish School Society was backed by the Socialists (known in Milwaukee as the Social Democrats) and Martin used his leadership in the Society to recruit Poles to that party. He helped organize five branches of Polish Social Democrats in Milwaukee and to found the weekly Polish Socialist newspaper, Naprzod (Forward.)
By 1904, Martin was ready to run for public office. He ran as a Social Democrat for the Wisconsin Assembly, 14th Ward, but came in second behind Democrat John Szymarek. He tried again in 1906, but lost to Democrat Joseph Domachowski (Featured Profile #5) by less than 100 votes. Gorecki challenged Domachowski again in 1908, but in the interim Domachowski had solidified his hold on the seat, so Gorecki did not even get half the vote total of Domachowski.
However, by the time the next election rolled around in 1910, the situation had dramatically improved. Years of the corrupt administration of Mayor David S. Rose had left Milwaukeans disillusioned with the Democrats. Sensing this discontentment, the Socialists launched a major campaign to take the reins of the city. Gorecki switched his sights from the State Assembly to run for the City Council. When Milwaukeans went to the polls, they were ready for a change and that sentiment swept most of the Socialist candidates into public office. Socialists took 10 of the 16 county supervisor seats and two judgeships. They also took 21 of the 35 alderman positions, one of which was won by Martin Gorecki.
Gorecki served two years as alderman-at-large and then, 1912, ran again for State Assembly. This time he won, defeating runner-up Democrat Joseph Posanski by 400 votes. He became a member of the standing committees for insurance banking and public welfare. He served only one term in the State Assembly and did not seek re-election in 1914.
It is not clear what he did after his term in the State Assembly. He started The Cymbal, a Polish humorous newspaper in 1915, but it is not known how long this lasted. The 1920 census lists him as living on Mitchell Street with his wife, niece and twelve boarders, which makes it look like some group home. But, that's about all we know.
His wife in 1920 was his second wife, Mary Maternowski, sister of Stanley (Featured Profile #30) His first wife, Agnes, had died sometime after the 1910 census had been taken and Martin had remarried around April, 1913. We know this because he was serving in the State Assembly at that time, and one of his fellow legislators had offered the following resolution:
Relation to Nearest Featured Profile: (Stanley Maternowski, Featured Profile #30): Brother-in-law
Sources:
Gurda, John, The Making of Milwaukee, pgs. 202-211.
LeMay, Michael C., Transforming America: Perspectives on U.S. Immigration,
Martin Gorecki - in Wikipedia
Reese, William J., Power and Promise of School Reform: Grassroots Movements During the Progressive Era, p.117
State of Wisconsin Assembly Journal 1913, pp. 565
Wisconsin Blue Book for 1913, p. 675
