The George Wahr Sallade papers, although limited in quantity (five linear feet), are of interest to the researcher of Michigan politics in the post-World War II era. They can be used to gather information on the "Young Turks," a group that in the 1950s foreshadowed the more moderate nature of the Michigan Republican party of the 1960s and 1970s. They provide insight into issues that were of concern to the Washtenaw County and Second Congressional District Democratic parties - including Vietnam, race, party reform, and the economy - in the troubled years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The ideological positions of the two local parties, relative to the state party as a whole, can be determined by comparing the resolutions they passed with those of the state party and its platform. Finally Sallade's campaign files can be used to determine the issues of concern to the local electorate in the years in which he ran for public office. His 1968-1972 campaigns are fairly well documented from an issue standpoint (particularly his 1972 race for county prosecutor), and, therefore, can be used to determine whether and to what extent national events affected the conduct of state and county races. Sallade's papers should be supplemented by use of the Detroit News - Lansing Bureau index; the papers of Governor G. Mennen Williams; and those of the state central committees of the Michigan Democratic and Republican parties. All of these are at the Michigan Historical Collections. The Collections also has a complete run of both Good Morning Michigan and "Michigan Around and About."
The Sallade papers have been arranged in three series: Personal; Political: and Photographs.
George Wahl Sallade, longtime Ann Arbor political activist, was born on November 16, 1922. He was educated at the University of Michigan and received an undergraduate degree in political science in 1943, and a law degree in 1961. A year later he became a practicing attorney in Ann Arbor.
Although Sallade was active in Michigan politics prior to 1950, it was in that year that he ran for and was elected to his first public office - that of Ann Arbor city councilman on the Republican ticket. He was elected city council president in 1953, and a year and a half later made a bid for higher office. He ran successfully and was elected state representative for the first district. He remained in the state legislature for six years, where he was known as a leader of the "Young Turks," a group of Republican legislators who tried to steer the party in a more liberal direction and often opposed party conservatives on matters relating to taxation and social programs.
Several years after he left the legislature, Sallade changed party affiliation and became active in the state Democratic party. He served as chairman of the Washtenaw County Democratic party from 1965-1969, and chairman of the Second Congressional District Democratic party, 1971-1975 and 1982-1983. Despite unsuccessful bids for the state senate in 1966 and 1970, the county prosecutor's seat in 1972 and 1984, and the United State Congress in 1982, Sallade remained (and remains) an active and influential party member. In 1984 he served as co-chairman of the Gary Hart presidential campaign in Michigan.
Outside of politics, Sallade has long been involved in the publishing business. In the 1950s he was general manager of Wahr's Bookstore in Ann Arbor, and he has been president of the George Wahr Publishing Company for many years. In the mid-1970s he published a short-lived, local morning newspaper, Good Morning Michigan, and in 1985 began to publish his own political newsletter, "Michigan Around and About."
