Donald Ewan Montgomery (1896–1957) was an American economist who served in the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

(USDA) during the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

, and later was a labor activist for the United Automobile Workers (UAW).

Early life and education

Montgomery was born on October 16, 1896. In 1918, he earned a BA from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He pursued graduate study at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Career

Montgomery served as Director of the Registration Division of the

United States Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC). In September 1935, he resigned from the SEC to become "Consumer Counsel" at USDA. During 1942, Montgomery appeared on ''Labor for Victory'', a 15-minute weekly radio show on NBC, created by the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

and CIO. The episode also included the CIO's director of publicity,

Len De Caux Len De Caux (aka Leonard De Caux) (1899–1991) was a 20th-century labor activist in the United States of America who served as publicity director for the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) and worked to stop passage of the Taft-Hartley ...

. In December 1942, he left USDA. Walter P Reuther

In February 1943, he again became "Consumer Counsel," this time for the UAW. Walter Reuther was recruiting professionals for various UAW branch offices and included Montgomery, a liberal economist and professional in New Deal laws and regulations. He served as UAW representative on the Policy Committee of Price Administration. In 1947, when the UAW's Washington Office Policy Committee reorganized, Reuther appointed Montgomery as director. He served in that capacity until his death. Historian Irving Richter calls Montgomery a "close advisor" of Reuther's, who even ghost-wrote matters for the UAW president.

Personal life

Montgomery served as an ensign in the U.S. Navy during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1920, he married Sarah Victorine Adamson (1898–1987) of

Cedartown, Georgia Cedartown is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 10,190. Cedartown is the principal city of and is included in the Cedartown, Georgia Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is i ...

. They had three children, Donald Jr., Charles and Margaret, and were living in Washington, D.C. in 1940. The couple divorced in 1951.

Death

On October 11, 1957, Montgomery died from

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

. Newspapers reported the cause of death as suicide: "He killed himself at home yesterday after telephoning police."

References

External sources

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ILWU Dispatcher
image of Montgomery (1943) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Donald E. 1896 births 1957 deaths Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel 20th-century American economists University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 1957 suicides Suicides by firearm in Pennsylvania