SCHURZ, CARL

born March 2, 1829, Liblar, near Cologne, Prussia

died May 14, 1906, New York, N.Y., U.S.

German-U.S. politician and journalist.

After participating in the abortive German revolution of 1848, he fled to the U.S. in 1852. He settled in Wisconsin, where he became active in the antislavery movement and the Republican Party. In the American Civil War he was appointed brigadier general of volunteers and saw action in several battles. After the war he became a newspaper editor in St. Louis (1867–69), where he won election to the U.S. Senate (1869–75). As U.S. secretary of the interior (1877–81), he promoted civil-service reform and an improved Indian policy. He later edited the New York Evening Post and the Nation (1881–83) and wrote editorials for Harper's Weekly (1892–98). Pursuing his reform interests, he joined the Mugwump s (1884) and headed the National Civil Service Reform League (1892–1901).

Schurz

By courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.