educator, lawyer, b. Deerfield, N.H. He moved with his parents to Wisconsin in 1850, settling on a farm in Fulton, Rock County. He graduated from Milton College (A.B., 1872; M.A., 1876). He was principal of Mazomanie high school (1873-1875), and in 1875 moved to Sheboygan where he was principal of the high school (1875-1880) and city superintendent of schools (1880-1885). In Sheboygan he also read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1880. In 1885 he moved to Oshkosh to become conductor of institutes and professor of political economy at the state normal school (1885-1892), and from 1892 to 1898 was president of the state normal school at Milwaukee. A Republican, he was elected state superintendent of public instruction in 1898 and served two terms (1899-1903). After being defeated for renomination in 1902, he moved to Menomonie where he served as superintendent of the public school system (1903-1908). From 1908 until his death he was president of Stout Institute at Menomonie. Harvey was a member of the National Education Association, and served as president of its library department (1897-1898), president of its department of superintendence (1900), and association president (1908-1909). He was president of the Wisconsin Teachers' Association (1890-1891). One of the leaders in the movement for industrial education in the public schools, Harvey urged that county schools be established to give instruction in agriculture, domestic economy, and manual training, and also advocated the teaching of these subjects in the district schools. E. B. Usher, Wis. (8 vols., Chicago, 1914); Jour. Natl. Educ. Assoc., 11 (1922); C. E. Patzer, Public Educ. in Wis. (Madison, 1924); Wis. Blue Book (1901); L. D. Harvey Papers.

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Lorenzo D. Harvey Papers for details.

View newspaper clippings at Wisconsin Local History and Biography Articles.

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[Source: Blue book]