Paul Fornshell Schenck (April 19, 1899 – November 30, 1968) was an American educator and politician who served seven terms as 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

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 1951 to 1965.

Early life and education

Born in

Miamisburg, Ohio Miamisburg ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio. The population was 20,181 at the time of the 2010 census. A suburb of Dayton. It is part of the Dayton metropolitan area. Miamisburg is known for its large industry (mainly for its nuclea ...

, his family moved to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

in 1908 where he graduated from Steele High School in 1917. He received two years of college training, and was a student teacher at Steele from 1917 to 1919. He then worked in the automotive service business from 1919 to 1923. After that practical training, he became an automotive training teacher and faculty manager of athletics at Roosevelt High School in Dayton from 1923 to 1929.

Political career

He was the director of recreation for the city of Dayton from 1929 to 1935. In September 1935, during the Great Depression, he established his own real estate, mortgage loan, and insurance business. He began his public service career when he was elected to the Dayton Board of Education, serving from 1941 to 1950 and president for seven years. He was vice chairman of the Dayton Safety Council in 1946 and 1947 and president of the Dayton Real Estate Board from 1947 to 1949..

Congress

He was nominated by the Republican party to run for Congress from Ohio's third congressional district in 1950, but was defeated by incumbent Edward G. Breen. Breen resigned in 1951 due to health concerns, and Schenck was subsequently elected in a special election to the 82nd Congress to fill the vacancy. He was reelected to the 83rd and to the five succeeding Congresses (November 6, 1951 – January 3, 1965) but was defeated in 1964 for reelection to the 89th Congress.

Tenure

Schenck, a member of the

Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more tha ...

, introduced a bill in 1957 that would have prohibited the sale of vehicles discharging

hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or e ...

in levels found dangerous by the Surgeon General. The bill never made it through Congress in that form. Still, it was a prescient statement at the time about the growing national concern over auto

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

. In 1959,

President Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

signed a modified Schenck Act. That law directed the Surgeon General to study the relationship between auto pollution and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. Schenck voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957,

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

, and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

Death

Paul F. Schenck was a Freemason

Knight Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

and member of the

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

(Antioch Temple). He died in Dayton, Ohio in 1968 and is interred in

Woodland Cemetery Woodland Cemetery may refer to: * Woodland cemetery, a type of cemetery or it may refer to specific places: in Sweden * Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) in Stockholm, Sweden in the United States (by state) * Woodland Cemetery (Quincy, I ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schenck, Paul F. 1899 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American politicians People from Miamisburg, Ohio Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio School board members in Ohio