Wisconsin's Progressive McCarthy

The plaque honoring Charles McCarthy in the State Capitol contains the McCarthy quote: "The kindly people of the State stretched out welcoming hands to me and gave me a man's work to do."

The McCarthy for whom Wisconsin has become most associated is the conservative Joseph McCathy of the 1950s.  However, another McCarthy, Charles McCarthy, was a leader in the Progressive Era of our country.  He was the Head of the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library which began as the Documents Department of the Wisconsin Free Library Commission and eventually became the independent Legislative Reference Bureau. The Legislative Reference Library was the first of its kind in the nation and served as the model for the Congressional Reference Service of the Library of Congress. McCarthy is credited with advancing "The Wisconsin Idea". McCarthy's leadership of the Legislative Reference Library was so well thought of by the State Legislature that a memorial plaque of  McCarthy was placed in the Assembly Chambers of the State Capitol. When McCarthy died in 1921 his body lay in state in the State Capitol where thousands of people passed his bier.  Some links to more information about McCarthy are provided below.

http://www.libraryhistorybuff.com/mccarthy.htm

http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=967

http://www.library.wisc.edu/etext/WIReader/Contents/Idea.html