Carl F. Zeidler | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Carl F. Zeidler

Carl F. Zeidler | Wisconsin Historical Society

300 block of W. Michigan St. Milwaukee born and educated, lawyer Carl F. Zeidler became Milwaukee's 33rd mayor in April 1940, when he defeated Daniel W. Hoan, Socialist mayor since 1916. In April 1942, Zeidler left office to enter service as a U.S. Navy Lieutenant (J.G.). On the night of November 7, 1942, the merchant ship La Salle, on which he commanded a gunnery crew, was torpedoed off Cape Town, South Africa, with the loss of all hands.

Learn More

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]