Henry Eduard Legler (June 22, 1861 – September 13, 1917) was an Italian American journalist, politician, and librarian. Born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, His birth name was given as Enrico, Legler emigrated with his parents to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1869 and then settled in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

in 1872. While in Wisconsin, Legler was a journalist. In 1889, Legler served in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and was a Republican. From 1890 to 1894, Legler served as secretary of the Milwaukee School Board. From 1904 to 1909, Legler served as secretary of the Wisconsin Library Commission. Then, from 1909 until his death in 1917, Legler served as librarian of the

Chicago Public Library The Chicago Public Library (CPL) is the public library system that serves the Chicago, City of Chicago in the U.S. state of Illinois. It consists of 81 locations, including a central library, three regional libraries, and branches distributed thr ...

. Legler also served as president of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

in 1912 and 1913. Legler also served as curator of the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of ...

and had written several books and articles about history. Legler died in Chicago, Illinois.'Death of Famous Librarian,' ''Grand Rapids Daily Leader'' (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin), September 14, 1917, pg. 1

Bibliography

Library Ideals
(Open Court Publishing, 1918)
Of much love and some knowledge of books
(Caxton Club, 1912)
Books for the People
(1908)
Leading Events of Wisconsin History: The Story of the State
(Sentinel Company, 1898)

References

External links

* * 1861 births 1917 deaths Italian emigrants to the United States Politicians from Chicago Politicians from Milwaukee Politicians from Palermo Journalists from Wisconsin Writers from Chicago Writers from Milwaukee Presidents of the American Library Association School board members in Wisconsin American librarians Chicago Public Library Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin Historical Society 19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-Republican-1860s-stub