Henry Bascom Steagall (May 19, 1873 – November 22, 1943) was a

United States representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. He was chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency and in 1933, he co-sponsored the Glass–Steagall Act with

Carter Glass Carter Glass (January 4, 1858 – May 28, 1946) was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician from Lynchburg, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both houses of Congress and served as the United States Secretary of the Treasu ...

, an act that introduced banking reforms and established the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

(FDIC). With Senator Robert F. Wagner, he co-sponsored the Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act of September 1937 which created the

United States Housing Authority The United States Housing Authority, or USHA, was a federal agency created during 1937 within the United States Department of the Interior by the Housing Act of 1937 as part of the New Deal. It was designed to lend money to the states or commu ...

Life

Steagall was born in Clopton,

, on May 19, 1873. His paternal grandfather came to America from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Steagall attended the Southeast Alabama Agricultural School at

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and graduated from the law department of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

at Tuscaloosa in 1893. He served as the county solicitor of Dale County from 1902 to 1908 and was a Democratic member of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama State House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with each constituency contai ...

from 1906 to 1907. Steagall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Alabama's 3rd District in 1915 and served until 1943. He voted in favor of the 1941 Lend Lease act to provide military aid to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in World War II. He died while in office on November 22, 1943, in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He was inducted into the Alabama Lawyers' Hall of Fame in 2002.

Pronunciation

Asked how to say his name, he told ''The

Literary Digest ''The Literary Digest'' was an influential American general interest weekly magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls. Founded by Isaac Kaufmann Funk in 1890, it eventually merged with two similar weekly magazines, ''Public Opinion'' and '' Current ...

'' that it was ''stee-gall'' (like the words ''tea'' and ''gall''), with equal stress on each syllable. He added, "This pronunciation is generally used throughout the South, and rarely used in the North. American northerners persist in stressing the first syllable and rhyming the name with 'eagle'." He was known by African-Americans in Alabama as "Marse Henry."

Life

Pronunciation

See also

References

Further reading