John Michael Carmody (November 1, 1881 – November 11, 1963) was an American administrator, noted as editor of ''

Factory and Industrial Management ''Engineering Magazine'' was an American illustrated monthly magazine devoted to industrial progress, first published in 1891. The periodical was published under this title until October 1916. Sequentially from Nov. 1916 to 1927 it was published a ...

,'' and as administrator of the

Rural Electrification Administration The United States Rural Utilities Service (RUS) administers programs that provide infrastructure or infrastructure improvements to rural communities. These include water and waste treatment, electric power, and telecommunications services. it is ...

and the Federal Works Agency in the 1930s.

Biography

Born in Towanda, Pennsylvania, Carmody attended Elmira College, the

Lewis Institute Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

in Chicago (later merged with Armour Institute of Technology to become Illinois Institute of Technology), and the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

.Carmody, John
at ''fdrlibrary.marist.edu.'' Accessed 26.01.2015. In 1900, Carmody started his career in the steel industry, working as inspector for companies in Pennsylvania and Illinois, and abroad in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

in Canada, and in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in Cuba. From 1914 to 1922, he worked in the garment industry in Cleveland, Ohio for the H. Black Company, producer of produced WoolTex brand coats for women, and for the Printz-Biederman Company, another coat manufacturer. In 1921, he joined the Bituminous Coal Commission under US President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

, his first federal job. The work of the commission would eventually lead to the

Guffey Coal Act The Guffey-Snyder Coal Act was a law, officially known as the Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935, passed in the United States in 1935 under Franklin D. Roosevelt as part of his New Deal. It created the Bituminous Coal Commission to set the ...

of 1935. From 1922 to 1926, Carmody worked for the Davis's Davis Coal and Coke Company in

Coketon, West Virginia Coketon is an unincorporated community and coal town in Tucker County, West Virginia, United States. Coketon lies at the confluence of Snyder Run and the North Fork Blackwater River, south of the town of Thomas. Coal and coke production The to ...

. In 1927, Carmody joined the

McGraw-Hill Publishing company McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

to become editor for the magazine ''Coal Age'', and from 1928 to 1929 for the ''

'' magazine. From 1933 he held several government positions, starting as appointed chief engineer of the

Civil Works Administration The Civil Works Administration (CWA) was a short-lived job creation program established by the New Deal during the Great Depression in the United States to rapidly create mostly manual-labor jobs for millions of unemployed workers. The jobs were ...

in 1933, member of the National Mediation Board in 1934/35, and in the

National Labor Relations Board The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States with responsibilities for enforcing U.S. labor law in relation to collective bargaining and unfair labor practices. Under the Natio ...

in 1935. In 1937, he was appointed by

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

administrator of

, and in 1939 head of the Federal Works Agency (FWA). John M

As administrator of the FWA, Carmody appeared before a Senate committee on July 13, 1939, where he promised to the "Senate Banking and Currency Committee that the new $350,000,000 public works program would not interfere with private industry. He pointed out that President Roosevelt's program made no specific provisions for federal loans to municipalities for acquisition of private utilities." Carmody was also member of the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

(1941–1946),Lane, Frederic Chapin. ''Ships for victory: A history of shipbuilding under the US Maritime Commission in World War II.'' JHU Press, 2001. the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Ord ...

until 1949, and the General Board of the United States Navy until 1951. In the 1950s, he continued to work as a consultant and labor arbitrator. Carmody died in 1963 at the age of 82, due to complications from a broken hip. He was predeceased by his wife and survived by a daughter.

Selected publications

* Dunlap, John R.,

Arthur Van Vlissingen Arthur Van Vlissingen Jr. (November 22, 1894 - October 20, 1986) was an American writer and bureau chief for '' Business Week'' and ''Newsweek,'' noted as editor of the ''Factory and Industrial Management'' journal."Writer Arthur Van Vlissingen : He ...

and John Michael Carmody (eds.). ''Factory and Industrial Management,'' New York, The Engineering Magazine Co., 1928-1929 * John M. Carmody, E. W. Clark. ''Wage Rate Laws on Public Works.''. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939. * Carmody, John Michael. ''The Reminiscences of John Carmody.'' Columbia University, Oral History Research Office, 1957. Articles, a selection: * John M. Carmody “Unemployment Solutions,” ''Factory and Industrial Management,'' LXXIX (June, 1930), 371 * Carmody, John M. "Rural Electrification in the United States." ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' (1939): 82–88.

Notes

References

External links

John M. Carmody
- Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum

- New Deal {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmody, John Michael 1881 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American editors Elmira College alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Columbia University alumni People from Towanda, Pennsylvania Franklin D. Roosevelt administration personnel National Labor Relations Board officials