Joseph A. Gavagan
Joseph Andrew Gavagan was an American politician, lawyer and World War I veteran who served seven terms as a United States representative 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 World War I, he enlisted as a private and later was promoted to second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and served from August 20, 1917, to October 13, 1919. He served at: Fort Totten, New York; Camp Alfred Vail, New Jersey; and Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida. 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, he was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928 and 1929.Congressman
Gavagan was elected to the 71st United States Congress 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 and Committee on War Claims.Gavagan tried for years to pass an anti-lynching law; having grown up in New York's Hell's Kitchen, 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. In 1937 a bill passed the House of Representatives but was blocked in the Senate by Southern Senators.