William George Bruce

William George Bruce (March 17, 1856 – August 13, 1949) was a Milwaukee author, publisher of educational, historical and religious books, and founder of the American School Board Journal. He was a noted civic leader for the Milwaukee School Board, the Milwaukee harbor and the Milwaukee Auditorium, and active in Milwaukee and state politics.

William George Bruce was born March 17, 1856, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first of ten children of Augustus F. Bruce and Apollonia Becker. His father was a ship's carpenter, helping build vessels to sail the Great Lakes.

William's early education was at home due to illness, although he attended St. Mary's parish school when he was eleven. His early jobs including cigar making. He attended night school for a time in Milwaukee and also later in Louisville, Kentucky, where he worked in a picture frame factory. On his return to Milwaukee, he studied at the Spencerian Business College.

His career in the publishing field began in 1874 when he was hired as a clerk of the Milwaukee Daily News. Then in 1880 he was hired as a cashier for the Milwaukee Sentinel and also served as assistant business manager. The Sentinel had started in 1837 as a weekly, published by Solomon Juneau, one of Milwaukee's three founders, and became a daily in the 1840s. The paper is now part of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

In 1891, Bruce set out on his own, launching the American School Board Journal. He had discovered a need for practical information for members of school boards while serving on the Milwaukee school board from 1889 to 1894, representing the Fifth Ward. This need led to Bruce's establishment of the Bruce Publishing Company, which published other journals as well as books in education, history, religion and technical topics. In time, Bruce brought his sons, William Conrad Bruce and Frank Milton Bruce, into the publishing company in operational and leadership roles. Nonetheless, he maintained the title of president until his death.

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