Richard Bartholdt was a German-born American journalist, editor, and politician who served as a Republican U.S. Representative from Missouri from 1893 to 1915. Born in Schleiz, Germany, Bartholdt immigrated to the United States in 1872, settling first in Brooklyn, New York, where he learned the printing trade. He later relocated to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1877, embarking on a successful career in journalism. He worked as a reporter, legislative correspondent, and editor, eventually rising to become the editor-in-chief of the St. Louis Tribune.
Bartholdt's political career began with his service on the St. Louis Board of Education, which he presided over from 1890 to 1892. Following his election to the Fifty-third Congress, he became a prominent legislative figure, chairing several committees, including the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization and the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. In 1911, President William Howard Taft appointed him as a special envoy to present a statue of Baron von Steuben to the German Emperor on behalf of Congress and the American people.
Beyond his legislative duties, Bartholdt was a passionate advocate for international peace and arbitration. He founded the arbitration group in Congress in 1903 and was elected president of the Interparliamentary Union in 1904, where he proposed an early concept for a "League of Peace" to federate nations. An Esperantist, he also advocated for teaching the constructed language in American schools. In his later years, Bartholdt detailed his journey from an immigrant youth to a prominent American statesman in his autobiography, From Steerage to Congress, published in 1930.
