Nearly 75,000 people turned out to pay tribute to Congressman Henry Allen Cooper (1850-1931) when he died. Known as the "Dean of the House," among his colleagues, Cooper was described by President Theodore Roosevelt in his autobiography as one of the five House members whom the President regularly consulted. For over thirty years Cooper applied his talents to such things as securing construction of the Lincoln Memorial for the nation’s capital, as well as the naming of Constitution Avenue.

Cooper worked with Wisconsin’s Robert LaFollette to form the Progressive program advocating direct election of U. S. Senators. Though booed at the 1908 Republican Convention, that concept became part of the U. S. Constitution some six years later. Other Progressive causes supported by Cooper included woman suffrage, direct primaries, referendum and recall, and the graduated income tax. For his own district, cooper secured Racine’s first breakwater and the downtown post office, built in 1931.

While serving as state senator, Cooper had influenced Wisconsin to adopt the Australian (secret) ballot, making it the first state to do so. As Racine County’s district attorney, Cooper successfully prosecuted the would-be assassin of then Mayor M. M. Secor.

For many years, the Coopers maintained a residence in Racine at 913 South Main Street. But it was in Washington, D. C., on March1, 1931, that Cooper, returning from a lively night session of Congress, collapsed and died, falling into the arms of his beloved wife, Sarah Cooper (1871-1941), whom he called "Sally." She is buried next to him.

Submitted by Deborah Crowell