Charles McCarthy (American football)
| Charles McCarthy | |
|---|---|
McCarthy pictured in The Pandora 1898, Georgia yearbook
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| Born |
June 29, 1873 Brockton, Massachusetts |
| Died | March 26, 1921 (aged 47) Prescott, Arizona |
| Organization | Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau |
Charles McCarthy (June 29, 1873 – March 26, 1921) was a political scientist, public administrator, Progressive reformer, and briefly, an American football coach. He is credited with founding the first legislative reference library in the United States. McCarthy was active in policy formation, with special interests in agricultural cooperatives and adult and vocational education. He authored The Wisconsin Idea, a summary of Progressive philosophy and thinking.
McCarthy was born in Brockton, Massachusetts to a shoemaker and his wife, who kept a boarding house. He was the only one of their three children to survive childhood. After an education in the public schools in Brockton, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. When this did not interest him, he ran away to become a cabin boy on a sailing schooner. While at sea, he read the books available in the ship's library, obtaining the equivalent of a high school education.
Eager to obtain more education, he tried to enter Brown University, but was denied admission. After appealing directly to the president of the university, his entrance to the school was arranged. McCarthy lacked the funds to pay for school, so he financed his education by working as a scene shifter and painter in theaters in Providence. He also played for the Brown football team, earning All-America honors. He graduated from Brown in 1896, with a bachelor of philosophy degree.
When the Spanish–American War broke out, McCarthy tried to enlist, but was turned down for physical reasons. Despite this, he headed to Florida, and was aboard a troop transport, when he was discovered and put ashore. He became ill with malaria caught in camp, and by the time he recovered, the war was over. McCarthy then entered law school at the University of Georgia. To pay for school, he took a job as the school's football coach. During his two seasons, 1897 and 1898, McCarthy's team compiled a record 6–3.
Interested in the economics of Richard T. Ely, McCarthy enrolled at the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin–Madison), where he studied history, politics, and economics. He received a Ph.D. in 1901. His thesis, which was on the Anti-Masonic Party, was awarded the Justin Winsor Prize by the American Historical Association.
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