Emil Seidel
| Emil Seidel | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 36th Mayor of Milwaukee | |
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In office 1910–1912 |
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| Preceded by | David Stuart Rose |
| Succeeded by | Gerhard Adolph Bading |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 13, 1864 Ashland, Pennsylvania |
| Died | June 24, 1947 (aged 82) Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Political party | Socialist Party of America |
Emil Seidel (December 13, 1864 – June 24, 1947) was a prominent German-American politician. Seidel was the mayor of Milwaukee from 1910 to 1912. The first Socialist mayor of a major city in the United States, Seidel became the Vice Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America in the 1912 presidential election.
Seidel was born December 13, 1864 in the town of Ashland in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, the son of ethnic German emigrants from Pomerania. His family moved to Wisconsin in 1867, living first in Prairie du Chien before moving to the state capital of Madison. Seidel's father, Otto Seidel, was a carpenter, and his mother, Henrietta Knoll Seidel, was a homemaker.
Seidel attended public school up to the age of 13, when he dropped out to become a woodcarver. He continued to study after leaving school, reading extensively. At the age of 19 he started a trade union of local woodworkers, becoming the organization's first secretary.
At the age of 22, Seidel went abroad to refine his skills as a woodcarver. He lived for six years in Berlin, working at his trade during the day and attending school at night. It was in this period that Seidel first became an active socialist.
In 1895, Seidel married the former Lucy Greissel. The pair would ultimately divorce in 1924.
When Seidel returned to the United States in 1892 he joined the Socialist Labor Party of America. Seidel was a charter member of the first SLP branch in Milwaukee. He also became an active member of the Pattern Makers Union.
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