Representative Earl Chudoff

Earl Chudoff (November 15, 1907 – May 17, 1993) was an American lawyer, jurist, and Democratic politician who served five terms as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1949 to 1958. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he spent much of his life and built a career in law, public service, and the judiciary.

Chudoff pursued higher education in his native state, graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in economics in 1929. He continued his studies in law and earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1932. Following his admission to the bar, he entered the legal profession, laying the groundwork for his later roles in government and public office.

In the 1930s, Chudoff combined his legal training with public regulatory work. From 1936 to 1939, he served as a building and loan examiner for the Pennsylvania State Department of Banking, a position that involved oversight of financial institutions during a period of economic recovery following the Great Depression. His experience in state regulatory work complemented his growing involvement in public affairs and Democratic Party politics in Pennsylvania.

Chudoff’s political career began in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and served there from 1941 to 1948. His tenure in the state legislature coincided with World War II, during which he also undertook military service. From December 1942 to September 1945, he served in the United States Coast Guard Reserve, attaining the rank of chief boatswain’s mate. This combination of legislative service and wartime duty helped establish his credentials as both a lawmaker and a veteran.

Building on his state-level experience, Chudoff was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania in the 1948 election. He defeated incumbent Republican Congressman Franklin J. Maloney and took office in the Eighty-first Congress on January 3, 1949. He was subsequently re-elected to the four succeeding Congresses, serving continuously through the Eighty-second, Eighty-third, Eighty-fourth, and Eighty-fifth Congresses. His service in Congress, from 1949 to early 1958, spanned a significant period in American history marked by the early Cold War, postwar economic expansion, and the beginnings of the modern civil rights era. During these five terms, he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his Pennsylvania constituents as a member of the Democratic Party.

Chudoff’s congressional service concluded when he chose to pursue a judicial career. Having been elected judge of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas No. 1 in the 1957 election, in which he defeated the incumbent, Joseph L. Kun, he resigned his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 5, 1958. He then assumed his duties on the bench, serving as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. Chudoff remained in that judicial capacity until his resignation in 1974, presiding over a wide range of civil and criminal matters during more than a decade and a half on the court.

After leaving the bench, Chudoff lived in retirement in Philadelphia. Over the course of his career, he was recognized as part of the broader tradition of Jewish members of the United States Congress, reflecting the increasing diversity of American political life in the mid-twentieth century. He died in Philadelphia on May 17, 1993, closing a long life devoted to law, public service, and the representation of Pennsylvania at both the state and national levels.