The Illinois Congressional delegation that voted unanimously to approve President Franklin D. Roosevelt's declaration of war against Japan on December 8, 1941 included the only African-American in the House of Representatives, one woman, a future leader of the U.S. Senate, and a future governor of the state of Illinois.
The Illinois delegation to the 77th Congress (1941-1943) consisted of 29 officials - two U.S. Senators, representatives from 25 House districts, and two at-large members of the House. (The number of at-large seats was reduced to one in 1943 and eliminated entirely in 1949. Republican William Stratton, a future Illinois governor, served as the state's last at-large representative.)
Four members of the delegation stand out as noteworthy. They are Democrat Arthur Mitchell, and Republicans Everett Dirksen, Jessie Sumner and Stratton.
Democrat Arthur W. Mitchell represented the state's 1st Congressional District in 1941. The district included Chicago's southeast side. Mitchell was the first African-American elected to Congress as a Democrat and was the only African-American in Congress from 1935 to 1943. Mitchell entered politics as a Republican, but became a Democrat to support FDR's New Deal programs. During his time in Congress, Mitchell remained a loyal Roosevelt ally. Mitchell was the plaintiff in Mitchell v. United States et al, a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled black passengers on interstate trains had the right to the same accommodations enjoyed by whites. The ruling was considered a major step in the steady dismantling of Jim Crow statutes.
The delegation also included Republican Jessie Sumner, the delegation's only female and arguably one of it's most interesting members. Sumner represented the state's 18th Congressional District (Iroquois County) and was one of 10 females in the 77th Congress. Sumner was a most remarkable woman for her time. She earned a law degree at the University of Chicago and later attended Oxford. She was an executive at Chase Bank in the 1920s, was an elected state's attorney and successfully prosecuted a variety of criminals. Sumner also served as a county judge before being elected to Congress in 1938 (taking office in 1939). Sumner opposed FDR's New Deal policies. She also opposed policies she believed compromised U.S. neutralit. She joined other Republicans in voting against FDR's Lend-Lease program with Great Britain. Sumner's complete opposition to FDR's foreign policies ended with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Sumner voted in favor of the declaration of war against Japan (and subsequently for the declaration of war against Germany and Italy). However, she remained a critic of US war policy and opposed many of FDR's ideas for America's role in a post-war world. Sumner chose not to seek reelection to Congress in the late 1940s and returned home to manage the family-owned bank, which was established by her father.
William Stratton, a Republican, represesented Illinois as an at-large member of the delegation. Stratton took office in January 1941. He later served as Illinois state treasurer and served two consecutive terms as governor during the 1950s.
The delegation also included Everett Dirksen, a Pekin native and World War I veteran. Dirksen was first elected to represent the 16th Congressional District in 1932. He supported many of Roosevelt's New Deal economic programs during the 1930s, but opposed FDR's activist foreign policies. Dirksen was elected to the US Senate in 1950 and was consistently re-elected. He served in the Senate until his death in 1969.
Dirksen became an internationalist while serving in the Senate and was an outspoken supporter of the U.S. War in Vietnam. He became minority leader in the Senate and supported of the Civil Rights Movement throughout his Senate career. Dirksen was instrumental in writing and securing approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (working to break the Democrat filibuster of the legislation), and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
Here's a list of the other members of the delegation that voted for war (Note: Federal archives have little information about some of the individuals presented here):
2nd District: Raymond S. McKeough, (D), (1988-1979) - He served in Congress from 1935 to 1943.
3rd District: Edward A. Kelly, (D), (1892-1969) - He served in Congress from 1931 to 1947. Kelly was a World War I veteran and had played professional baseball for four seasons.
4th District: Harry P. Beam, (D), (1892-1967) - He served in Congress from 1931 to 1942, and then served as a judge in Cook County.
5th District: Adolph Sabath, (D), (1886-1952) - He served in Congress from 1907 to 1952. An interesting side note about Sabath: He was a delegate to every Democratic national convention from 1896 to 1944.
6th District: Anton F. Maciejewski, (D), (1893-1949) - He served in Congress from 1939 to 1942. He worked in the in coal industry and returned to the private sector after leaving Congress.
7th District: Leonard W. Schuetz, (D), (1887 to 1944) - He served in Congress from 1931 to 1944.
9th District: Charles S. Dewey, (R), (1880-1980) - Served in Congress from 1941 to 1945. He served in the Navy during World War I and was a cousin to Admiral George Dewey. Little information is available about his time in Congress, but he had a significant role in the banking world and had senior positions in the American Red Cross and government. Dewey led a committee that standardized the portraits and dimensions of American currency; the dimensions are still in use today.
10th District: George A. Paddock, (R), (1895-1964) - He served in the Army during World War I. Paddock served in Congress from 1941 to 1943. He resided in Winnetka.
11th District: Chauncey W. Reed, (R), (1890-1956) - He served in Congress from 1935 to 1956. Reed was born in West Chicago, he earned a law degree and practiced in Naperville. He served in the Army during World War I and was elected DuPage County State's Attorney before being elected to Congress.
12th District: Noah M. Mason, (R), (1882-1965) - He served in Congress from 1937 to 1963. Before entering politics, Mason was a teacher and principal of schools in Ogelsby, Illinois.
13th District: Leo E. Allen, (R), (1898-1973) - He served in Congress from 1933 to 1961. Allen served in the Army during WW I. Prior to serving in Congress, Allen was a teacher in Galena. He returned to Galena after leaving Congress and remained there until his death.
14th District: Anton J. Johnson, (R), (1878-1958) - He served in Congress from 1939 to 1949. After leaving Congress, Johnson served as mayor of Macomb, Illinois.
15th District: Robert B. Chiperfield, (R), (1899-1971) - He served in the Army during World War I, and served in Congress from 1939 to 1963. He was chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
17th District: Leslie C. Arends, (R), (1895-1985) He served in the Navy during World War I. Arends was a farmer and a banker before entering politics. He served in Congress from 1935 to 1974, and during his career served as minority whip and majority whip.
19th District: William H. Wheat, (R), (1879-1944) - He served in Congress from 1939 to 1944. Wheat worked in the private sector prior to serving in Congress, in banking and agriculture in the Rantoul area, and returned to that work after leaving Congress.
20th District: James M. Barnes, (D), (1899-1958) - He served in Congress from 1939 to 1943. He then served as an aide to FDR until 1945. A Harvard-educated attorney, Barnes stayed in Washington, D.C. and returned to private practice.
21st District: George Evan Howell, (R), (1905-1980), He served in Congress from 1941 to 1947, when he resigned to become a judge. He later served a two-year stint as chairman of the Illinois Toll Highway Commission.
22nd District: Edwin M. Schaefer, (D), (1887-1950) - He served in Congress from 1933 to 1943. He was active in business and local government in St. Louis and Belleville.
23rd District: Laurence F. Arnold, (D), (1891-1966) - He served in Congress from 1937 to 1943. Arnold was involved in banking and agriculture-related business before and after his time in Congress.
24th District: James V. Heidinger (R), (1882-1945) - He served in Congress from January 1941 until his death in 1945.
25th District: C.W. (Cecil William) 'Runt" Bishop, (R), (1890-1971) - He served in Congress from January 1941 to 1955. Prior to representing the district, Bishop had played professional baseball and football, worked as a coal miner, and was a local postmaster.
At Large: Stephen Albion Day, (R), (1892-1950) - He served in Congress from January 1941 to1945. Day, an attorney, returned to private practice in Evanston after leaving Congress.
U.S. Senators in 1941
Scott W. Lucas, (D), (1892-1968) - He was an attorney and served as an enlisted man in the Army during World War I. Lucas served in the House before being elected to the Senate, where he served from 1939 to 1951. He was the majority leader from 1949 to 1950.
Charles W. Brooks, (R), (1897–1957) - He served as a lieutenant in the Marines during World War I and was wounded several times. He earned a law degree from Northwestern University. He served in the Senate from 1940 to 1949.
Additional sources:
The 77th Congress included 10 women
Naval History and Heritage and Command resources about the Pearl Harbor raid
KB
