Jerry
O'Connell
was
born in Butte, Montana, on 14th June, 1909. After attending Butte
Central High School and Carroll College he graduated from Georgetown
University in 1934.
A lawyer, O'Connell served
on the Montana Public Service Commission (1934-36). A member of the
Democratic
Party, O'Connell
was elected to the 75th Congress (3rd
January, 1937 - 3rd January, 1939). Over
the next few years he played a leading role in the campaign to free
Tom
Mooney and
Warren Billings.
In 1937 O'Connell and James E. Murray
introduced a resolution in the Senate calling on Governor Frank
Merriam to pardon Mooney and Billings.
O'Connell and John
Bernard were
the only Congressmen to visit the International
Brigades during the Spanish
Civil War. O'Connell
failed to be elected for the 76th Congress. He returned to Butte to
practice law. He joined the Progressive
Party but failed
to be elected to Congress in 1948.
In 1950 O'Connell moved
to Great Falls where he died on 16th January, 1956.
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