Michael J. Kirwan
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Michael Joseph Kirwan (December 2, 1886 – July 27, 1970) was an American Democratic politician from Ohio who served as a Representative to the United States Congress for the 19th electoral district of Ohio from 1937 until his death in 1970 in Bethesda, Maryland, which resulted from complications related to a fall. At the peak of his long congressional career, Kirwan was hailed as one of the most influential Democratic members of Congress, particularly on matters related to conservation.


Early years

Mike Kirwan was born in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing town in northeastern Pennsylvania. In 1907, he relocated to Youngstown, Ohio, a center of steel production located just west of the Pennsylvania border. During the First World War Kirwan served overseas as a sergeant in the Three Hundred and Forty-eighth Machine Gun Company with the Sixty-fourth Artillery, United States Army. Records indicate he served between 1917 and 1919. Kirwan was married to Alice Kane. They had three children, John, Michael and Mary Alice.


Political career

Upon his return to Youngstown, Kirwan established himself as an outspoken proponent of a plan to construct a Lake Erie to
Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
canal – a proposal for which he would lobby tirelessly as Congressman from the 19th Congressional District of Ohio.Aley (1975), p. 218. Despite his later occupancy of important committee positions, however, Kirwan was unsuccessful in his efforts to achieve his most cherished goal as a lawmaker. Kirwin served on the Youngstown City Council from 1932 to 1936. Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s, Kirwan was successful in garnering substantial federal support for a variety of public works projects including dams, reservoirs, public swimming pools, and public park facilities. In 1940, he also helped to secure government funding for the nation's first major
housing project Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...
, Westlakes Housing Village (later known as Westlakes Terrace), which was situated west of downtown Youngstown.Aley (1975), p. 372. The housing project comprised 618 units capable of sheltering 2,500 people. Erected under government financing, the project received 90 percent of its funding ($2,862,000) on a 60-year loan basis. Upon its completion, Kirwan lauded the housing project as a welcome alternative to what had been a dilapidated residential district, and further declared that it would serve as a model for the nation. In later years, Westlakes Terrace, like other low-income housing projects, yielded mixed results. The provision of cheap housing proved to be inadequate compensation for the loss of thousands of urban jobs, the decline of public transportation, the advent of suburbanization, and a host of other trends that adversely affected urban dwellers. Westlakes Terrace was recently converted to other purposes. Powerful testimony to Kirwan's growing influence in the U.S. Congress came in 1948, when he was unanimously elected chairman of the National Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the first time a Northern Democrat had been named to that important post. In 1954, Kirwan was widely credited among Democratic Congressional leaders as the architect of the party's success in the November congressional elections. Despite his advancing years, he announced on December 3, 1957 (his 71st birthday) that he would seek a 12th term in Congress. The following year, Kirwan was among scores of Mahoning Valley Democratic candidates who secured sweeping victories; and in 1959, he was elected to his seventh term as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.Aley (1975), p. 449.


Final years

Among the highlights of Kirwan's later career was an event held in his honor at Youngstown's
Idora Park Idora Park was a Victorian era trolley park in north Oakland, California constructed in 1904 on the site of an informal park setting called Ayala Park on the north banks of Temescal Creek. It was leased by the Ingersoll Pleasure and Amusement P ...
Ballroom. The keynote speaker at that event was U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, who would run successfully as the Democratic presidential candidate the following year. In 1968, after being elected to his 17th term as a congressman, Kirwan announced that he would retire from public office at the close of his term. The following year, he was injured in a fall at the University Club at Washington, D.C., and was confined to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Kirwan experienced failing health for the next several months and died in Bethesda in 1970.Aley (1975), p. 506. His funeral was attended by more than 600 people, including a delegation of 50 members of Congress. He is buried at
Calvary Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...
Cemetery, in Youngstown, Ohio.


Legacy

While aspects of Kirwan's legacy have proved durable, the constituency he served was adversely affected by
deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpre ...
, which swept through much of northeastern Ohio starting in the late 1970s. The primary educational television station in American Samoa bears Kirwan's name. Kirwan was often an outspoken critic of the expansion of the Gettysburg National Military Park by way of U.S. Interior Department spending. He was once quoted as saying, "We have enough land at Gettysburg. There is no use taking any more." Kirwan's papers are archived at Youngstown State University's Maag Library Archives and Special Collections. The Michael J. Kirwan Reservoir impounds the west branch of the Mahoning River in
Portage County, Ohio Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,791. Located in Northeast Ohio, Portage County is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cleveland–Akr ...
.


Election results


Notes


See also

*
List of United States Congress members who died in office (1950–99) There are several lists of United States Congress members who died in office. These include: * List of United States Congress members who died in office (1790–1899) *List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–1949) *List o ...


References

* Aley, Howard C. (1975). ''A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.'' Youngstown, OH: The Bicentennial Commission of Youngstown and Mahoning County.


External links

*
Kirwan Interview Notes


* Election Results, U.S. Representative from Ohio, 19th District {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirwan, Michael J. 1886 births 1970 deaths Ohio city council members Politicians from Youngstown, Ohio Politicians from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania United States Army soldiers United States Army personnel of World War I Military personnel from Pennsylvania Military personnel from Ohio Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Maryland 20th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio