Ambrose Jerome Kennedy (January 6, 1893 – August 29, 1950) was a

U.S. 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 c ...

from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Born in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Kennedy attended parochial schools,

Calvert Hall College Calvert Hall College High School (also known as "Calvert Hall" or "CHC") is a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys, located in Towson, Maryland, United States. The school's mission is to make its students "men of intellect, men of f ...

, and Polytechnic Institute. He was employed as a clerk for an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company from 1909 to 1924, and engaged in the brokerage and insurance business in 1924. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the

Maryland House of Delegates The Maryland House of Delegates is the lower house of the legislature of the State of Maryland. It consists of 141 delegates elected from 47 districts. The House of Delegates Chamber is in the Maryland State House on State Circle in Annapolis, ...

in 1918, and served as member of the

Baltimore City Council The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its more than 600,000 citizens. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The Council holds reg ...

from 1922 to 1926. He served in the

Maryland Senate The Maryland Senate, sometimes referred to as the Maryland State Senate, is the upper house of the General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. Composed of 47 senators elected from an equal number of constituent single- ...

in 1928 and 1929, and served as delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in 1928 and 1932. He was appointed

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

commissioner of Maryland in 1929 and served until elected to Congress. Kennedy was elected as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

to the

Seventy-second Congress The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1931 ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of

John Charles Linthicum John Charles Linthicum (November 26, 1867–October 5, 1932) was a U.S. Congressman from the 4th Congressional district of Maryland, serving from 1911 to 1932. Biography Linthicum was born on 26 November 1867 near Baltimore, Maryland, i ...

and on the same day was elected to the

Seventy-third Congress The 73rd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1933, ...

. He was reelected to the Seventy-fourth, Seventy-fifth, and Seventy-sixth Congresses and served from November 8, 1932, to January 3, 1941. In Congress, he served as chairman of the Committee on Claims (Seventy-fourth, Seventy-fifth, and Seventy-sixth Congresses), but was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1940. He resumed the brokerage and insurance business in Baltimore, as well as serving as a member of the State Unemployment Compensation Board from June 1943 to September 1945. In November 1943, he sought an appointment as the president of the Baltimore City Council but lost to C. Markland Kelly (a member of the Baltimore Park board) since 1935. By 1950, he was a senior vice-president of the insurance firm Poor, Bowen, Barlett and Kennedy. He died at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore at age 57, and is interred in the

New Cathedral Cemetery The New Cathedral Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery, with 125 acres, located on the westside of Baltimore, Maryland, at 4300 Old Frederick Road. It is the final resting place of 110,000 people, including numerous individuals who played import ...

. A Baltimore city park located at Valley Street and E. Chase Street is named in honor of Ambrose Kennedy, who lived nearby at 914 E. Biddle Street and attended the nearby St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church.

Ambrose J. Kennedy, Jr. (1918–1989)

Kennedy's son, Ambrose J. Kennedy, Jr. (1918–1989) followed his father into politics after helping with his father's Congressional campaigns. In 1946, Kennedy, Jr. joined the Baltimore City Council representing an area of midtown Baltimore bounded by Druid Hill Avenue, Preston Street, and Aisquith Street. During his two terms in office, Kennedy, Jr. chaired the Highway and Franchise Committee. After leaving office in the mid-1950s, he worked as a broker for the Poor, Bowen, Bartlett and Kennedy insurance company established by his father.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Ambrose Jerome 1893 births 1950 deaths Democratic Party Maryland state senators Baltimore City Council members Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland 20th-century American politicians