Emil Seidel | |
|---|---|
 Seidelc. 1910–1912 | |
| 36thMayor of Milwaukee | |
| In office April 19, 1910 – April 17, 1912 | |
| Preceded by | David Rose |
| Succeeded by | Gerhard A. Bading |
| Member of theMilwaukee Common Council | |
| In office April 1909 – April 1910 | |
| In office April 1904 – April 1908 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1864-12-13)December 13, 1864 Ashland, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 24, 1947(1947-06-24) (aged 82) |
| Political party | Socialist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Woodworker, patternmaker |
Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947) was an American woodworker, patternmaker and politician. Seidel was themayor ofMilwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The firstSocialist mayor of a major city in theUnited States, Seidel became thevice presidential candidate for theSocialist Party of America in the1912 presidential election.
Seidel was born December 13, 1864, in the town ofAshland inSchuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the son of ethnicGerman emigrants fromPomerania.[1][2][3] His family moved toWisconsin in 1867, living first inPrairie du Chien before moving to the state capital ofMadison.[1] Seidel's father, Otto Seidel, was a carpenter, and his mother, Henrietta Knoll Seidel, was a homemaker.[1]
Seidel attended public school up to the age of 13, when he dropped out to become a woodcarver.[1] He continued to study after leaving school, reading extensively.[1] At the age of 19 he started atrade union of local woodworkers, becoming the organization's first secretary.[1]
At the age of 22, Seidel went abroad to refine his skills as a woodcarver.[3] He lived for six years inBerlin, working at his trade during the day and attending school at night.[3] It was in this period that Seidel first became an active socialist.[4]
In 1895, Seidel married Lucy Geissel.[3] They had one son, Lucius, who died in infancy, and one daughter, Viola. The pair would ultimately divorce in 1924.[5]
When Seidel returned to the United States in 1892 he joined theSocialist Labor Party of America.[6] Seidel was a charter member of the first SLP branch in Milwaukee.[3] He also became an active member of the Pattern Makers Union.[3]
Seidel later joined theSocial Democracy of America (established 1897), theSocial Democratic Party of America (established 1898), and theSocialist Party of America (established 1901) in turn. He resided briefly inWashington state, serving as the first secretary of LocalRedmond SPA in the fall of 1901.[7]
In 1904 Seidel was one of nine Socialists to win electoral victory as Milwaukee cityaldermen, elected in the city's 20th ward.[3] He served two terms in that position before making his first mayoral run in1908.[4] He was returned as a city alderman at large in the election of 1909.[4]
In1910, Seidel was elected mayor of Milwaukee, becoming the first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States.[4] During his administration the first public works department was established, the first fire and police commission was organized, and a city park system came into being. Seidel cleaned up the town with strict regulation of bars and the closing ofbrothels and sporting parlors (modern-daycasinos). During his administration Seidel employed the noted American poet and authorCarl Sandburg as his personal secretary.[8] Seidel's socialist inclinations had attracted Sandburg to Milwaukee.
In his Spring1912 bid for re-election, Seidel faced thecombined forces of theDemocratic andRepublican parties, who ran a single candidate in order to defeat Seidel and the Socialists.[9] Despite winning more votes in 1912 than in 1910, Seidel was defeated byGerhard Bading, local doctor, professor of surgery, and commissioner of health, on afusion Democratic-Republican ticket.[9]
Freed of his mayoral duties by electoral defeat, Seidel became a logical choice as the Socialist Party's nominee forVice President of the United States on the ticket withEugene V. Debs. The pair won 901,551 votes in the 1912 presidential election, 6% of the total vote.
Seidel tried to win re-election as mayor of Milwaukee in1914, but was soundly defeated.[5] He was returned to the city council as an alderman at large in the city election of 1916.[5] He won re-election in 1918, remaining at the post until 1920.[5]
Seidel, an opponent ofWorld War I, voted against Milwaukee's purchase ofLiberty bonds to help finance the war effort.[10] He also was an outspoken opponent of a proposed Milwaukee "loyalty ordinance".[10] In the superheated wartime political climate, marked by political repression of the anti-war movement, Seidel ran afoul of the law when he was arrested on November 12, 1917, inHoricon, Wisconsin following a speech he made there.[10] Charged with "tending to provoke an assault or breach of peace during an address", he was fined $50.[5]
In 1932, Seidel ran for a seat in theUnited States Senate from Wisconsin, winning 6% of the vote. He served a final four-year stint as a Milwaukee city alderman from 1932 until 1936.[11]
Seidel retired from political life in the mid-1930s. He remained a resident of Milwaukee, living on the northwest side of the city, passing his time painting, composing music, creating poetry, and writing his autobiography.[10]
Seidel died in Milwaukee on June 24, 1947, following an illness of several months' duration related to complications from a heart condition.[10] He was 82 years old.
Seidel's unpublished memoirs reside in Madison at theWisconsin Historical Society, where they are available to scholars on microfilm.
Media related toEmil Seidel at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Mayor of Milwaukee 1910–1912 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Socialist nominee forVice President of the United States 1912 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |