Henry B. Steagall

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Henry Bascom Steagall (1873-1943) was a United States Representative from Alabama. He lent his name to the Glass-Steagall Act, and the Wagner-Steagall National Housing Act of September 1937 which created the United States Housing Authority.

Born in Clopton, Alabama, May 19, 1873, he studied law and became a Democratic member of the Alabama state House of Representatives, 1906-07 and a U.S. Representative from the Alabama 3rd District, 1915-43; he died in office in 1943.

Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest 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. Our friends up there persist in stressing the first syllable and rhyming the name with 'eagle'." (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)