Charles McCarthy

Charles McCarthy (June 29, 1873 – March 26, 1921) was a political scientist, public administrator, Progressive reformer, and briefly, an American football coach. He is credited with founding the first legislative reference library in the United States. McCarthy was active in policy formation, with special interests in agricultural cooperatives and adult and vocational education. He authored The Wisconsin Idea, a summary of Progressive philosophy and thinking. McCarthy was born in Brockton, Massachusetts to a shoemaker and his wife, who kept a boarding house. He was the only one of their three children to survive childhood. After an education in the public schools in Brockton, he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. When this did not interest...