When I was living and going to school in Milwaukee back in the early 1970s, Uihlein was one of those names that seemed always to be in the atmosphere, in which, I might add, it shared space with yeast and hops and the sweet, enveloping aroma of the Ambrosia Chocolate Company. On hot summer days, the air was a riot of industrial bouquets, and none of them was perfumed (the component parts of beer smell even worse than beer does when it’s run through a human being. I’m just saying).
Anyway, the Uihlein name was all over the place, like Schroeder or Pabst. It was most prominently featured on the city’s Uihlein Center For The Performing Arts (since 1994, it’s been the Marcus Center For The Performing Arts, but there’s still a Uihlein Hall inside). The Uihleins have bankrolled more than theaters, however. Even before the Supreme Court’s ill-starred decision in Citizens United v. SEC, the Uihleins—and their money—were deeply involved in conservative politics.
