Carl Zeidler: Difference between revisions

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|birth_name=Carl Frederick Zeidler
|birth_name=Carl Frederick Zeidler
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1908|01|04}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1908|01|04}}
| birth_place = [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]]
| birth_place = [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1942|12|11|1908|01|04}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|1942|12|11|1908|01|04}}
| death_place = SS ''La Salle'', off [[South Africa]]
| death_place = SS ''La Salle'', off [[South Africa]]
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Serving as an assistant city attorney for Milwaukee (1936–1940), Zeidler stunned the city when he upset six-term [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] mayor [[Daniel Hoan]] to become mayor of Milwaukee in 1940. Hoan had served as mayor for the past 24 years.
Serving as an assistant city attorney for Milwaukee (1936–1940), Zeidler stunned the city when he upset six-term [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] mayor [[Daniel Hoan]] to become mayor of Milwaukee in 1940. Hoan had served as mayor for the past 24 years.


His rise to power was orchestrated by young writers [[Robert Bloch]] (later the author of ''[[Psycho (novel)|Psycho]]'') and [[Harold Gauer]], who created elaborate campaign shows. In Bloch's autobiography, ''[[Once Around the Bloch]]'', he gives an inside account of the campaign, and the innovations he and Gauer came up with ... for instance, the original "releasing-balloons-from-the-ceiling" ''schtick''. He comments bitterly on how, after Zeidler's election, they were ignored and not even paid their promised salaries, while credit was taken by local establishment figures like [[Milton Rice Polland]] instead.
His rise to power was orchestrated by young writers [[Robert Bloch]] (later the author of ''[[Psycho (novel)|Psycho]]'') and [[Harold Gauer]], who created elaborate campaign shows. In Bloch's autobiography, ''[[Once Around the Bloch]]'', he gives an inside account of the campaign, and the innovations he and Gauer came up with, such as the original "releasing-balloons-from-the-ceiling" ''schtick''. He comments bitterly on how, after Zeidler's election, they were ignored and not even paid their promised salaries, while credit was taken by local establishment figures like [[Milton Rice Polland]] instead.


Bloch ends the account with a philosophical point:
Bloch ends the account with a philosophical point:
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[[File:Carl Zeidler.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Gravesite [[cenotaph]] in Forest Home Cemetery]]
[[File:Carl Zeidler.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Gravesite [[cenotaph]] in Forest Home Cemetery]]


Zeidler's election was attracting attention on the national political scene<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Singing Mayor from Marquette Law School – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog|url=https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2010/09/the-singing-mayor-from-marquette-law-school/|access-date=2021-09-20|language=en-US}}</ref> as [[World War II]] broke out. After a year in office, Zeidler came to believe he could best help the war effort by enlisting; he resigned his position as mayor and accepted a [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] [[commissioned officer|commission]] on April 8, 1942. He asked for the most dangerous job on ship and became officer in charge of a gun battery on board the [[United States Merchant Marine|merchant ship]] [[SS La Salle|SS ''La Salle'']].
Zeidler's election was attracting attention on the national political scene<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Singing Mayor from Marquette Law School – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog|date=23 August 2010 |url=https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2010/09/the-singing-mayor-from-marquette-law-school/|access-date=2021-09-20|language=en-US}}</ref> as [[World War II]] broke out. After a year in office, Zeidler came to believe he could best help the war effort by enlisting; he resigned his position as mayor and accepted a [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] [[commissioned officer|commission]] on April 8, 1942. He asked for the most dangerous job on ship and became officer in charge of a gun battery on board the [[United States Merchant Marine|merchant ship]] [[SS La Salle|SS ''La Salle'']].


The ship and all hands were reported missing off the coast of [[South Africa]] on December 11, 1942, sunk by a German U-boat [[German submarine U-159 (1941)|U-159]] torpedo attack.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-01-11|title=Highlights at the Wisconsin Historical Society|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2006/07/the_last_americ.asp|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111212215/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2006/07/the_last_americ.asp|archive-date=2007-01-11}}</ref> Zeidler was officially presumed dead November 7, 1944. A gravestone cenotaph marks his plot at [[Forest Home Cemetery]] in Milwaukee.
The ship and all hands were reported missing off the coast of [[South Africa]] on November 7, 1942, sunk by a German U-boat [[German submarine U-159 (1941)|U-159]] torpedo attack.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-01-11|title=Highlights at the Wisconsin Historical Society|url=http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2006/07/the_last_americ.asp|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111212215/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2006/07/the_last_americ.asp|archive-date=2007-01-11}}</ref> Zeidler was officially presumed dead December 11, 1944. A gravestone cenotaph marks his plot at [[Forest Home Cemetery]] in Milwaukee.


Carl's brother, socialist [[Frank P. Zeidler]] later became mayor of Milwaukee and served in that position from 1948 to 1960. Carl's personal and mayoral papers are archived at [[Milwaukee Public Library]] alongside those of his brother Frank.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mpl.org/content/pdfs/352_Zeidler_finding_aid.pdf |title=Carl A. and Frank P. Zeidler Papers, 1918-1981 |access-date=2016-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202003939/http://www.mpl.org/content/pdfs/352_Zeidler_finding_aid.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Carl's brother, socialist [[Frank P. Zeidler]], later became mayor of Milwaukee and served in that position from 1948 to 1960. Carl's mayoral papers are archived at [[Milwaukee Public Library]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zeidler |first=Carl F. |title=Carl F. Zeidler Mayoral Records, 1936-1943 |url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.mwpl-cmac0044 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2023-07-29}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|World War II}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[Frank Zeidler|Frank P. Zeidler]]
* [[Frank Zeidler|Frank P. Zeidler]]
* [[List of mayors of Milwaukee]]
* [[List of mayors of Milwaukee]]

Latest revision as of 00:18, 12 May 2024

Carl Zeidler
Pinback button from Carl Zeidler's 1940 mayoral campaign.
Mayor of Milwaukee
In office
April 15, 1940 – April 8, 1942
Preceded byDan Hoan
Succeeded byJohn Bohn
Personal details
Born
Carl Frederick Zeidler

(1908-01-04)January 4, 1908
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedDecember 11, 1942(1942-12-11) (aged 34)
SS La Salle, off South Africa
Cause of deathKilled in action
Political partyDemocratic
ProfessionAssistant city attorney, politician

Carl Frederick Zeidler (January 4, 1908 – December 11, 1942) was an American politician and the mayor of the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1940 to 1942, winning election by unseating six-term Socialist mayor Dan Hoan. After just two years in office Zeidler resigned his position as mayor to enlist in the United States Navy Reserve to fight in World War II. His merchant marine ship and all hands were lost off the coast of South Africa in December 1942.

Biography[edit]

Early years[edit]

Zeidler was born January 4, 1908, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to parents of German ancestry. He graduated from Marquette University in 1929 and received a J.D. in 1931.

Political career[edit]

Serving as an assistant city attorney for Milwaukee (1936–1940), Zeidler stunned the city when he upset six-term Socialist mayor Daniel Hoan to become mayor of Milwaukee in 1940. Hoan had served as mayor for the past 24 years.

His rise to power was orchestrated by young writers Robert Bloch (later the author of Psycho) and Harold Gauer, who created elaborate campaign shows. In Bloch's autobiography, Once Around the Bloch, he gives an inside account of the campaign, and the innovations he and Gauer came up with, such as the original "releasing-balloons-from-the-ceiling" schtick. He comments bitterly on how, after Zeidler's election, they were ignored and not even paid their promised salaries, while credit was taken by local establishment figures like Milton Rice Polland instead.

Bloch ends the account with a philosophical point:

If Carl Zeidler had not asked Jim Doolittle to manage his campaign, Doolittle would never have contacted me about it. And the only reason Doolittle knew me to begin with was because he read my yarn ("The Cloak") in Unknown. Rattling this chain of circumstances, one may stretch it a bit further. If I had not written a little vampire story called "The Cloak", Carl Zeidler might never have become mayor of Milwaukee.[1]

Death and legacy[edit]

Gravesite cenotaph in Forest Home Cemetery

Zeidler's election was attracting attention on the national political scene[2] as World War II broke out. After a year in office, Zeidler came to believe he could best help the war effort by enlisting; he resigned his position as mayor and accepted a Naval Reserve commission on April 8, 1942. He asked for the most dangerous job on ship and became officer in charge of a gun battery on board the merchant ship SS La Salle.

The ship and all hands were reported missing off the coast of South Africa on November 7, 1942, sunk by a German U-boat U-159 torpedo attack.[3] Zeidler was officially presumed dead December 11, 1944. A gravestone cenotaph marks his plot at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

Carl's brother, socialist Frank P. Zeidler, later became mayor of Milwaukee and served in that position from 1948 to 1960. Carl's mayoral papers are archived at Milwaukee Public Library.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bloch, Robert. Once Around the Bloch: An Unauthorized Autobiography New York: Tor Books, 1993.
  2. ^ "The Singing Mayor from Marquette Law School – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog". 23 August 2010. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  3. ^ "Highlights at the Wisconsin Historical Society". 2007-01-11. Archived from the original on 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  4. ^ Zeidler, Carl F. "Carl F. Zeidler Mayoral Records, 1936-1943". Retrieved 2023-07-29.
Political offices
Preceded by Mayor of Milwaukee
1940–1942 		Succeeded by
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