Ira Walton Drew (August 31, 1878 – February 12, 1972) was a Democratic member of the

U.S. House of Representatives 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 ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

and

osteopathic physician Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licen ...

Biography

Ira Drew was born in

Hardwick, Vermont Hardwick is a town in Caledonia County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,920 at the 2020 census. It contains the unincorporated villages of Hardwick, East Hardwick, and Mackville. The town is a commercial center for the region's farm ...

. He apprenticed as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

, becoming a journeyman in 1899. He was a newspaper reporter in Burlington, Vermont, from 1899 through 1906, and a reporter and news editor in Boston, Massachusetts from 1906 through 1908. He graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy (now the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine) in 1911 and began the practice of

osteopathic medicine Osteopathy () is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths. Osteopathic manipulation is the core set of techniques in ...

in Philadelphia the same year. He was member of the faculty of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy from 1912 through 1933. He was elected as a Democrat to the 75th Congress in 1936, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938. After his term in congress, he served as a member of the board of trustees of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathy. He is buried at Whitemarsh Memorial Park in Prospectville, Pennsylvania.

Sources

The Political Graveyard
1878 births 1972 deaths American osteopathic physicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine alumni Physicians from Pennsylvania People from Hardwick, Vermont {{Pennsylvania-Representative-stub