Paul Joseph Kilday (March 29, 1900 – October 12, 1968) 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

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Sabinal, Texas Sabinal is a city in Uvalde County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2010 census. Geography Sabinal is located at (29.320678, –99.468887). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.2 ...

, Kilday was the sixth child of Patrick Kilday, an immigrant from Ireland who was established as a merchant, and his Texas-born wife, Mary Tallant Kilday. Kilday moved with his parents and siblings to

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

in 1904. He attended public and parochial schools there, graduating in 1918, and then went on to St. Mary's University in the same city. While attending law school, Kilday was employed as a clerk for the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 1918 to 1921 and as a law clerk for United States Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, in 1921 and 1922. He graduated with an LL.B. degree from the law department of

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, Washington, D.C., in 1922. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the same year and commenced practice in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. At one point, he went into practice with Harry Howard, who later became a judge and president of the San Antonio Bar Association. Kilday himself served as first assistant district attorney of

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio–New Bra ...

from 1935 to 1938. He was elected by the Twentieth District of Texas 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-sixth and to the eleven succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1939, until his resignation September 24, 1961, having been appointed a judge of the

United States Court of Military Appeals United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. He served in this capacity until his death, in

He was succeeded in Congress by Henry Barbosa Gonzalez. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

. He was one of the majority of the Texan delegation to decline to sign the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

opposing the desegregation of public schools ordered by the Supreme Court in ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregat ...

''. Kilday voted against the

Civil Rights Act of 1957 The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was the first federal civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress since the Civil Rights Act of 1875. The bill was passed by the 85th United States Congress and signed into law by President Dwigh ...

but in favor of the

Civil Rights Act of 1960 The Civil Rights Act of 1960 () is a United States federal law that established federal inspection of local voter registration polls and introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register to vote. It dealt primarily wi ...

Family

Kilday wed Cecile Newton on August 9, 1932.Paul Joseph Kilday
at PoliticalGraveyard.Com. Accessed March 7, 2009. He died on October 12, 1968 at

Washington Hospital Center MedStar Washington Hospital Center is the largest private hospital in Washington, D.C. A member of MedStar Health, the not-for-profit Hospital Center is licensed for 926 beds. Health services in primary, secondary and tertiary care are offered to ...

, apparently of a heart attack. His widow survived him, as did two daughters, Mary Catherine Kilday and Betty Ann Kilday Drogula, and two granddaughters, Cynthia L. Drogula and Jennifer M. Drogula. Two additional grandchildren followed his death, Fred K. Drogula and Elizabeth A. Drogula.

Sources

Footnotes

General resource

External links

A Guide to the Paul Kilday Papers, 1938–1961
at the Center for American History of the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilday, Paul J. 1900 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American politicians Politicians from San Antonio Georgetown University Law Center alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces United States federal judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas People from Sabinal, Texas Lawyers from San Antonio