Anthony J. Maggiore, Jr., was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 22, 1936, and died
on June 17, 2004. He was a life-long Milwaukee resident. As a UWM student, he participated
in the Third Ward Action Committee and worked for the Milwaukee Boys' Club. After graduating
from UWM in 1960, Maggiore continued his education at St. Louis University. While pursuing a
masters of social work degree at St. Louis University, he received an award from the St.
Louis Metropolitan Youth Commission for "Outstanding Contribution to Development of Youth
Services." In addition to his job as a social worker, Maggiore was also involved in student
government and was elected Chair of the Student-University Public Relations Committee in
1962. After obtaining his masters degree in 1963, Maggiore returned to Milwaukee as a
caseworker for Catholic Social Services. From 1965 to 1969, he spearheaded the Inner City
Development Project in Milwaukee. This position led to his appointment as the associate
director for Community Action Programs at the Community Relations-Social Development
Commission (SDC). Maggiore remained with SDC for over twenty years, until his retirement in
1990.
According to his obituary in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel,
"Tony's entire career was as a tireless crusader for the rights of the disenfranchised.
Although a quiet man, he was a warrior when fighting for the rights of others." His position
at SDC afforded him many opportunities to advocate for the underprivileged on a regional and
national scale, primarily in the areas of low-income energy assistance and crime. In 1976,
Maggiore helped found and then led the National Center for Appropriate Technology. This
organization served as a mediator between the government and low-income people on the issue
of energy use and conservation. From 1978 to 1980, Maggiore served the Department of Energy
by participating on their Fuel Oil Marketing Advisory Committee. The committee's final
report led the federal government to create what is now called the Low-Income Home Energy
Assistance Program. Under this program's auspices, Maggiore continued his involvement with
this issue by testifying to Congress about the energy needs of low-income people, meeting
with President Carter regarding rural energy issues, and organizing the implementation of
the program on a state level in Wisconsin.
In addition to these important programs, Maggiore was active in numerous local and national
committees, advisory groups, and associations throughout his career, including the City of
Milwaukee Mayor's Task Force on Recreation, the Community Services Administration Energy
Planning Committee, the National Committee on Crime and the Elderly, the State of Wisconsin
Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act State Advisory Group, the Public
Interest Caucus of the Energy Center of Wisconsin, and the Consumer Energy Council of
America. After retiring in 1990, Maggiore became an adjunct instructor at UWM's School of
Social Welfare.
Though much of his work at SDC focused on low-income energy use and assistance, Maggiore
was also concerned about crime, particularly crimes committed against the youth and elderly.
With Dr. Harold Rose of UWM's Department of Geography, Maggiore applied for and received a
federal grant to study homicide in Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Homicide Project completed its
study in 2000. Following this project, Maggiore accepted an invitation to participate in a
federal group studying Disproportionate Minority Confinement. Maggiore not only participated
on a national level, but also worked to institute a parallel committee through the state of
Wisconsin government.
