Joseph J. Kowalski (1911-1967) was a Democratic politician from Michigan who served as Speaker of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

. Involved in labor since 1936, Kowalski was elected to the House in 1948 representing part of Wayne County, and remained in the House Kowalski entered labor in 1936 as an organizer in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. He also served on the advisory committee on workers' education to the U. S. Secretary of Labor and in several other labor roles, including international representative of the UAW-CIO.Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University: The Joseph J. Kowalski Collection
After a defeat in 1946, Kowalski was elected to the House of Representatives in 1948. He was elected Speaker for the 73rd Legislature, the first Democratic speaker since 1938. During his tenure, the Legislature worked to implement the new state constitution which was adopted in 1964. Kowalski was an alternate delegate to the Democratic National Convention in both

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 * Ja ...

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 Patriarch ...

.The Political Graveyard: Kowalski, Joseph J.
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1911 births 1967 deaths Speakers of the Michigan House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives American trade unionists People from East Chicago, Indiana People from Wayne County, Michigan Valparaiso University alumni 20th-century American legislators American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees people {{Michigan-politician-stub