John Stephen Monagan (December 23, 1911 – October 23, 2005) was a

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

politician, lawyer, and author. Monagan graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1933, where he majored in French literature and was the editor of the ''

Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern ''The Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern'' (also known as ''the Jacko'') is a college humor magazine, founded at Dartmouth College in 1908. History One of the magazine's oldest traditions is "Stockman's Dogs". In the October 1934 issue, F.C. Stockman ...

''. He was a Brother of the Dartmouth Chapter of the

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (; commonly known as Alpha Delt, AD, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP) is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in ...

. After attending

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

law school, he served on the Board of Aldermen in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

and became Mayor of Waterbury in 1943, serving until 1948. In 1958, he was elected Congressman from a district including Waterbury and served in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1959 until 1973, leaving after being defeated for re-election in 1972. After leaving Congress, Monagan practiced as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and was active in amateur music and in charitable causes. Monagan wrote several books including his memoirs and a biography of Justice

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (March 8, 1841 – March 6, 1935) was an American jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...

, titled ''The Grand Panjandrum: Mellow Years of Justice Holmes'' (1988). He also maintained a decades-long correspondence with the British novelist

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work '' A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell ...

. He died in October 2005 after a long illness, at the age of 93. He continued to be active into his nineties as a writer and book reviewer; a month before his death, he spoke at a symposium honoring

's centenary at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. His son-in-law was playwright and theater performer Trav S.D., who was married to his daughter Susan.
The Papers of John S. Monagan
at Dartmouth College Library

References

, - 1911 births 2005 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Connecticut Connecticut lawyers Dartmouth College alumni Harvard Law School alumni Mayors of Waterbury, Connecticut Writers from Waterbury, Connecticut Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives {{Connecticut-mayor-stub