Michael J. Kirwan
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromOhio's19th district
In office January 3, 1937 – July 27, 1970
Preceded by	John G. Cooper
Succeeded by	Charles J. Carney
Personal details
Born	Michael Joseph Kirwan (1886-12-02)December 2, 1886 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	July 27, 1970(1970-07-27) (aged 83) Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place	Calvary Cemetery Youngstown, Ohio, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Alice Kane
Children	3

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Michael Joseph Kirwan (December 2, 1886 – July 27, 1970) was an AmericanWorld War I veteran andDemocratic politician fromOhio who served 17 terms as arepresentative to theUnited States Congress for the19th electoral district of Ohio from 1937 until his death in 1970 inBethesda, Maryland.

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 toconservation.^[1]

Mike Kirwan was born inWilkes-Barre,Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, a manufacturing town in northeasternPennsylvania.^[2] In 1907, he relocated toYoungstown, Ohio, a center of steel production located just west of the Pennsylvania border.

During theFirst 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.^[2]

Kirwan was married to Alice Kane. They had three children, John, Michael and Mary Alice.

Upon his return to Youngstown, Kirwan established himself as an outspoken proponent of a plan to construct aLake Erie toOhio River canal – a proposal for which he would lobby tirelessly as Congressman from the 19th Congressional District of Ohio.^[3] Despite his later occupancy of important committee positions, however, Kirwan was unsuccessful in his efforts to achieve his most cherished goal as a lawmaker.^[3] Kirwan served on the Youngstown City Council from 1932 to 1936.^[2]

In 1936, he ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, winning the first of 17 consecutive terms.

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 majorhousing project, Westlakes Housing Village (later known as Westlakes Terrace), which was situated west of downtown Youngstown.^[4] 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.^[4]

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 ofpublic transportation, the advent ofsuburbanization, 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 theU.S. Congress came in 1948, when he was unanimously elected chairman of theDemocratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the first time a Northern Democrat had been named to that important post.^[5] In 1954, Kirwan was widely credited among Democratic Congressional leaders as the architect of the party's success in the November congressional elections.^[6] Despite his advancing years, he announced on December 3, 1957 (his 71st birthday) that he would seek a 12th term in Congress.^[7] The following year, Kirwan was among scores ofMahoning 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.^[8]

Among the highlights of Kirwan's later career was an event held in his honor in 1959 at Youngstown'sIdora Park Ballroom. The keynote speaker at that event was U.S. SenatorJohn F. Kennedy, who would run successfully as the Democratic presidential nominee the following year.^[8] In 1968, after winning his 17th term as a congressman, Kirwan announced that he would retire from public office at the close of the term in 1970.^[9] In 1969, he was injured in a fall at the University Club inWashington, D.C., and was confined toBethesda Naval Hospital.^[10]

Kirwan experienced failing health for the next several months and died in Bethesda in 1970.^[11] His funeral was attended by more than 600 people, including a delegation of 50 members of Congress.^[11] He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, in Youngstown, Ohio.^[2]

While aspects of Kirwan's legacy have proved durable, the constituency he served was adversely affected bydeindustrialization, which swept through much of northeastern Ohio starting in the late 1970s.

The primaryeducational television station inAmerican Samoa bears Kirwan's name.^[12]

Kirwan was often an outspoken critic of the expansion of the Gettysburg National Military Park by way ofU.S. Interior Department spending. He was once quoted as saying, "We have enough land at Gettysburg. There is no use taking any more."^[13]

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 theMahoning River inPortage County, Ohio.^[14]

• List of members of the United States Congress who died in office (1950–1999)
• Ohio's 19th congressional district

• 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.

• United States Congress."Michael J. Kirwan (id: K000244)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Kirwan Interview Notes
• Michael J. Kirwan Dam and Reservoir

• 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 in the United States
• Accidental deaths in Maryland
• Democratic Party United States representatives from Ohio
• 20th-century United States representatives
• Chairs of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

• Articles with short description
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• Commons category link from Wikidata