Representative Arthur Daniel Healey

Arthur Daniel Healey (December 29, 1889 – September 16, 1948) was a Democratic United States Representative from Massachusetts from 1933 to 1942 and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Over the course of five terms in the United States House of Representatives, he contributed to the legislative process during a significant period in American history, and later served on the federal bench until his death.

Healey was born in Somerville, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on December 29, 1889. He was educated in the Somerville public schools and graduated from Somerville Latin School in 1908. He pursued further studies at Dartmouth College, attending in 1909 and 1910, before turning to the study of law. Healey received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Boston University School of Law in 1913. The following year, in 1914, he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in Boston, Massachusetts.

From 1914 to 1917, Healey engaged in private legal practice in Boston. With the entry of the United States into World War I, he enlisted in the United States Army on August 9, 1917. Serving in the Quartermaster Corps, he rose through the ranks to the grade of second lieutenant. Healey was discharged from military service on March 6, 1919, and returned to Massachusetts, where he resumed his law practice in Boston. He continued in private practice from 1919 until his election to Congress in 1933, building a professional reputation that helped launch his political career.

Healey entered national politics as a member of the Democratic Party at a time when the country was grappling with the Great Depression. He was elected to an open seat representing Massachusetts’s 8th congressional district in the 73rd United States Congress and took office on March 4, 1933. He was subsequently reelected to the four succeeding Congresses, serving continuously in the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1943. As a member of the House, Healey participated actively in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents during the New Deal era and the early years of World War II.

During his congressional service, Healey’s name became associated with one of the notable pieces of New Deal labor legislation, the Walsh–Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936, commonly known as the Walsh–Healey Act. This law established standards for wages, hours, and working conditions for employees working on federal government contracts, reflecting the broader New Deal effort to regulate labor conditions and protect workers. In 1938, Healey was appointed as one of the initial members of the newly created House Un-American Activities Committee, which was tasked with investigating alleged subversive activities and concerns about foreign influence in the United States during a period of growing international tension.

Healey’s congressional tenure overlapped with his transition to the federal judiciary. On December 1, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated him to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, filling the vacancy created by the departure of Judge Elisha Hume Brewster. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination on December 16, 1941, and he received his commission on December 19, 1941. Although commissioned as a federal judge in December 1941, Healey remained in Congress and continued to serve his district until he resigned his seat on August 3, 1942, thereby concluding his five terms in the House.

After leaving Congress, Healey devoted himself fully to his judicial duties on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He served on the federal bench from 1942 until his death, presiding over a range of civil and criminal matters during the wartime and immediate postwar years. His judicial service extended his long public career, which had begun in local education and law and progressed through military service and a decade in the national legislature.

Arthur Daniel Healey died in his native Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 16, 1948, while still an active federal judge. He was interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in Medford, Massachusetts. His legacy in his home community is commemorated by the Arthur D. Healey School in Somerville, a public elementary school named in his honor, reflecting the lasting recognition of his service as a lawyer, legislator, and judge.