Towanda, Pennsylvania
Towanda is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in, and the county seat of, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, Bradford County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania and is located northwest of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylv ...
, Carmody attended
Elmira College
Elmira College is a private college in Elmira, New York, United States. Founded as a Timeline of women's colleges in the United States#First and oldest, college for women in 1855, it is the oldest existing college granting degrees to women that ...
Illinois Institute of Technology
The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...
), and the
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.Carmody, John at ''fdrlibrary.marist.edu.'' Accessed 26.01.2015.
In 1900, Carmody started his career in the
steel industry
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high elastic modulus, yield strength, fracture strength and low raw material cost, steel is one of the ...
, working as inspector for companies in Pennsylvania and Illinois, and abroad in
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
in Canada, and in
Havana
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.garment industry in Cleveland, Ohio for the H. Black Company, producer of produced WoolTex brand coats for women, and for the Printz-Biederman Company, another coat manufacturer. In 1921, he joined the Bituminous Coal Commission under US President
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...
, his first federal job. The work of the commission would eventually lead to the Guffey Coal Act of 1935. From 1922 to 1926, Carmody worked for the Davis's Davis Coal and Coke Company in Coketon, West Virginia.
In 1927, Carmody joined the McGraw-Hill Publishing company to become editor for the magazine ''Coal Age'', and from 1928 to 1929 for the '' Factory and Industrial Management'' magazine. From 1933 he held several government positions, starting as appointed chief engineer of the Civil Works Administration in 1933, member of the
National Mediation Board
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency of the United States government that coordinates labor-management relations within the U.S. railroads and airlines industries.
History
The board was established by the 1934 amendments t ...
in 1934/35, and in the
National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States that enforces United States labor law, U.S. labor law in relation to collect ...
in 1935. In 1937, he was appointed by
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
administrator of Rural Electrification Administration, and in 1939 head of the Federal Works Agency (FWA).
As administrator of the FWA, Carmody appeared before a Senate committee on July 13, 1939, where he promised to the "Senate Banking and Currency Committee that the new $350,000,000 public works program would not interfere with private industry. He pointed out that President Roosevelt's program made no specific provisions for federal loans to municipalities for acquisition of private utilities."
Carmody was also member of the United States Maritime Commission (1941–1946),Lane, Frederic Chapin. ''Ships for victory: A history of shipbuilding under the US Maritime Commission in World War II.'' JHU Press, 2001. the
War Assets Administration
The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive Or ...
until 1949, and the General Board of the United States Navy until 1951. In the 1950s, he continued to work as a consultant and labor arbitrator.
Carmody died in 1963 at the age of 82, due to complications from a broken hip. He was predeceased by his wife and survived by a daughter.
Selected publications
* Dunlap, John R., Arthur Van Vlissingen and John Michael Carmody (eds.). ''Factory and Industrial Management,'' New York, The Engineering Magazine Co., 1928-1929
* John M. Carmody, E. W. Clark. ''Wage Rate Laws on Public Works.''. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1939.
* Carmody, John Michael. ''The Reminiscences of John Carmody.'' Columbia University, Oral History Research Office, 1957.
Articles, a selection:
* John M. Carmody “Unemployment Solutions,” ''Factory and Industrial Management,'' LXXIX (June, 1930), 371
* Carmody, John M. "Rural Electrification in the United States." ''The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' (1939): 82–88.