Roy Gerald Fitzgerald (August 25, 1875 – November 16, 1962) was an attorney,

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' deri ...

preservationist Preservationist is generally understood to mean ''historic preservationist'': one who advocates to preserve architecturally or historically significant buildings, structures, objects, or sites from demolition or degradation. Historic preservation us ...

, and a member of the

United States House of Representatives 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

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Birth and early life

He was born in

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in, and the county seat of, Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by th ...

and moved to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County, Ohio, Greene County. The 2020 United S ...

with his parents, Michael Gerald and Cornelia Maria ( Avery) Fitzgerald, in 1890 when his father's employer, the Davis Sewing Machine Company, was purchased by

George P. Huffman George Phillips Huffman (September 6, 1862 – December 31, 1897) was an American businessman. His Davis Sewing Machine Company, which began producing bicycles in the late 19th century, was the precursor to the Huffman Manufacturing Company (later ...

and relocated from Watertown to Dayton. He attended the public schools,

read law Reading law was the method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship under t ...

in the office of John M. Sprigg and was admitted to the bar in 1896. He commenced practice in Dayton as a partner in the law firm of Sprigg & Fitzgerald that later became Fitzgerald & Sprigg.

Personal life

In 1900, Fitzgerald married Caroline L. Wetecamp of

Greenville, Ohio Greenville is a city in and the county seat of Darke County, Ohio, United States, located near the western edge of Ohio about 33 miles northwest of Dayton. The population was 13,227 at the 2010 census. History Historic Native American tribes in ...

with whom he had two daughters and a son. Their son, Roy Jr., was a

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, survived the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

but died five months after

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

. Caroline Fitzgerald was a sickly woman, in the later years of her husband's Congressional service. She died in 1935. Fitzgerald married, secondly, to Alverda J. Sinks of Miami County, Ohio.

Military service

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, he enlisted in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and was later commissioned a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

and was the commanding officer of Headquarters Company, 329th Infantry Regiment,

American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He was commissioned

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

of Infantry, United States Army Reserve Corps, in 1928.

Congressional service

Fitzgerald was elected as a Republican from Ohio's Third District to the

Sixty-seventh Congress The 67th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch 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, 192 ...

and to the four succeeding Congresses. He was chairman of the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Commerce in the

Sixty-eighth Congress The 68th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch 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, 1923, ...

. He served on the Committee on Revision of the Laws in the Seventieth and Seventy-first Congresses, during which time he authored a cumulative codification system for

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

law of the United States and the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle (Washington, D.C.), Logan Circle, Jefferson Memoria ...

. He was defeated for reelection in 1930 to the

Seventy-second Congress The 72nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch 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, 1931 ...

. During his decade in Congress, Fitzgerald fought for a number of causes that dismayed his more conservative colleagues, including

child labor Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such e ...

laws, reorganization of the U. S. Army Air Corps as an independent body and Federal care of the needy aged. The latter anticipated

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. In 1922, Fitzgerald introduced a

constitutional amendment A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, ...

to allow Congress to control the labor and working hours of children under 18 which was passed by Congress in 1924. By 1938, only 28 states had ratified it when Congress passed the

Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and " time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppr ...

29 U.S. Code Chapter 8
, incorporating many of the child labor provisions of the amendment. Joe Cannon & Roy S

Fitzgerald and flight

A licensed pilot and early advocate of flying, Fitzgerald was acquainted with Wright brothers. Rep. Fitzgerald was called an "aerial

daredevil Daredevil may refer to: * A stunt performer Arts and media Comics * Daredevil (Lev Gleason Publications), a fictional 1940s superhero popularized by writer-artist Charles Biro * Daredevil (Marvel Comics character), a Marvel comic book superhero ...

" of Congress by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' for flying the 500-odd miles from Dayton to Washington for the reconvening of the lame duck session of Congress in 1922 (though that flight was piloted by someone else). In Dayton, he secured the location of Wright Field (now part of

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wr ...

). His interest in flying led him, in 1927, to urge that the Air Force be reorganized as an independent department of the national defense. "The recent oceanic flights", he said at the time, "coupled with the preliminary tests of heavy bombing planes, have startled the world with the tremendous power of aviation. Aircraft have generally appeared to be the cheapest instruments of defense. Now they prove themselves to be one of the most powerful."

Later life

After his Congressional service, he resumed the independent practice of law in Dayton, with partners Thomas H. Ford, and Wayne F. Lee. From 1927 to 1930, he was a delegate to the Carnegie Foundation's

Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

, and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to study methods of classifying

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. An active man, Roy Fitzgerald climbed

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a ...

in 1925 and four years later swam the

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

in a cold rain. The swim took him 30 minutes. In June 1934, Congressman Fitzgerald purchased a Dayton-area farm from Frederick B. Patterson, president of National Cash Register Corp. The farm was located on Rural Road 11, one and a half miles south of Alexandersville, and three miles (5 km) east of Miamisburg. Fitzgerald was a director of the Merchants National Bank & Trust Company in Dayton for more than 50 years, and president of the Montgomery County Historical Society for 22 years. Although he was not a Dayton native, he enthusiastically led in helping to preserve many Dayton landmarks, notably

Newcom Tavern Newcom Tavern, also known as the "Old Cabin", is an historic structure in Dayton, Ohio and is the city's oldest existing building. It was built in 1796 for Colonel George Newcom and his wife Mary, who ran it as a tavern and hostel. The building p ...

and the Old Court House. During his presidency, a six million dollar bond was issued to build a new Court House with the condition that the Old Court House building be kept intact. The Court House later became the headquarters of the Historical Society. He oversaw the conservation of the Tavern and began deliberations about its relocation to

Carillon Historical Park Carillon Historical Park is a 65-acre (26.3 ha) park and museum in Dayton, Ohio, which contains historic buildings and exhibits concerning the history of technology and the history of Dayton and its residents from 1796 to the present. As a part o ...

. Roy Gerald Fitzgerald died in Dayton in 1962 after a long illness and is interred with his family at Woodland Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.

References

Primary sources

* "Roy Fitzgerald, Legislator, Dies." New York Times, 17 November 1962, page 25. * Bambakidis, Elli. Dayton Collection, Manuscripts Section Dayton & Montgomery County Public Library. Box 4: Newcom Tavern - Old Court House - Correspondence 1921-1958, Legal documents 1933-1954, Record of relics 1902-1942, Newspaper clippings 1894-1969, Financial statement 1933-1956, and miscellaneous material. Inventory compiled 1994. * Roy G. Fitzgerald Collection (MS-008). Dayton Metro Library, Dayton, Ohio.

External links

Newcom Tavern at Carillon Historical Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzgerald, Roy G. 1875 births 1962 deaths Politicians from Watertown, New York Politicians from Dayton, Ohio Burials at Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum United States Army personnel of World War I Aviators from New York (state) Ohio lawyers American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio