Joseph Andrew Gavagan (August 20, 1892 – October 18, 1968) was an American

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 ...

veteran, lawyer, and politician who served seven terms as a

United States 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 ...

from New York from 1929 to 1943.

Early life

Born in New York City on August 20, 1892, he attended the public and parochial schools and graduated from the law department of Fordham University in 1920.

World War I

During

, he enlisted as a private and later was promoted to second lieutenant in the

Quartermaster Corps Following is a list of Quartermaster Corps, military units, active and defunct, with logistics duties: * Egyptian Army Quartermaster Corps - see Structure of the Egyptian Army * Hellenic Army Quartermaster Corps (''Σώμα Φροντιστών ...

and served from August 20, 1917, to October 13, 1919. He served at: Fort Totten, New York; Camp Alfred Vail,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

; and Camp Gordon Johnston,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He was a first lieutenant in the Quartermaster Reserve Corps from 1920 to 1925.

Political career

Gavagan was admitted to the bar in 1920, and practiced law in New York City. 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 ...

, he was a member of the New York State Assembly (New York Co., 22nd D.) in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China holds ...

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Itali ...

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of Viet ...

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhan ...

and

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Congressman

Gavagan was elected to the

71st United States Congress The 71st United States Congress was a meeting of the legislature of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1929, to Ma ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Royal H. Weller; he was re-elected to the 72nd and to the six succeeding Congresses and held office from November 5, 1929, to December 30, 1943, when he resigned. While in the House of Representatives, he was chairman of the Committee on Elections No. 2 (Seventy-second through Seventy-sixth Congresses) and Committee on War Claims (Seventy-seventh and Seventy-eighth Congresses). Gavagan tried for years to pass an anti- lynching law; having grown up in New York's

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

, he saw discrimination against the Irish, African Americans, and other ethnic and racial minorities. Gavagan's argument for equal and fair treatment was that lynching meant mob rule, and mob rule meant that the rule of law was not respected. The Gavagan bill was never passed because southern Democrats were able to block it. From the 1960s to the 1980s,

Claude Pepper Claude Denson Pepper (September 8, 1900 – May 30, 1989) was an American politician of the Democratic Party, and a spokesman for left-liberalism and the elderly. He represented Florida in the United States Senate from 1936 to 1951, and the Mi ...

served as a Congressman; he had been a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

in the 1930s and 1940s. As an elder statesman in the House, Pepper admitted that the major regret of his career was that he had not supported the Gavagan Anti-Lynching Law.

Later life

Gavagan was resigned from Congress after winning election as a justice of the New York Supreme Court; he was re-elected in 1957, and was scheduled to retire on December 31, 1968.

Death and burial

He maintained a summer house in

Manchester, Vermont Manchester is a town in, and one of two shire towns (county seats) of, Bennington County, Vermont. The population was 4,484 at the 2020 census. Manchester Village, an incorporated village, and Manchester Center are settlement centers within t ...

, and died at Putnam Memorial Hospital in

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester. As of the 2020 US Census, the population was 15,333. Bennington is the most populous t ...

on October 18, 1968. He was interred at

Gate of Heaven Cemetery Gate of Heaven Cemetery, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of New York City, was established in 1917 at 10 West Stevens Ave. in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, as a Roman Catholic burial site. Among its famous residents is ...

Hawthorne, New York Hawthorne is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 4,586 at the 2010 census. History The village was originally known as Hammond's Mill ...

Family

In November 1933, Gavagan married Dorothy Whitehead, who had been his secretary in his Washington Congressional office. They were the parents of a son, Joseph Jr., and a daughter, Joan, who was the wife of Thomas G. Gorman.

References

Sources

Newspapers

* *

Internet

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavagan, Joseph A 1892 births 1968 deaths People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Fordham University School of Law alumni United States Army officers Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York Supreme Court Justices Quartermasters Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Burials at Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) American anti-lynching activists 20th-century American judges Activists from New York (state) 20th-century American politicians