Thomas Gallagher (November 20, 1883 – March 14, 1967)
[ served as ]Mayor of Pittsburgh
The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh.
Prior to the 1816 city charter, the Borough of Pittsburgh had its c ...
during the transition year of 1959.
Early life
Gallagher was born in Pittsburgh and started his career as a glassblower
Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a Blowpipe (tool), blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer'' ...
in the industrial plants of the region. He ran successfully as a Union representative during his blue collar
A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
days.
Pittsburgh politics
He started his public political career in the Commonwealth Assembly representing Pittsburgh neighborhoods in Harrisburg
Harrisburg ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat, seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50, ...
. In 1933 he came back to the city and was elected City Councilmember. He served in that city legislative post for over twenty years climbing to the leadership position of Council President, one step below Mayor. When David L. Lawrence resigned his post as the city's top executive to assume the governorship of Pennsylvania, Gallagher succeeded him as Mayor. He completed and provided the final push on several of the great Lawrence projects, presiding over the opening of the Fort Pitt Tunnel
The Fort Pitt Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under Mount Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It connects the West End region on the southwest side to the South Shore neighborhood on the northeast side. The adjoining Fort Pitt Bridge on th ...
among other things. He also dealt with a lengthy and contentious Steelworkers
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 m ...
strike that struck at the heart of the blue collar city.
In September 1959 Mayor Gallagher did what only a handful of American mayors have ever done. He welcomed Soviet
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Premier Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...
at the Pittsburgh International Airport
Pittsburgh International Airport —originally Greater Pittsburgh Airport and later Greater Pittsburgh International Airport—is a civil-military international airport in Findlay Township and Moon Township, Pennsylvania, United States. Abou ...
while the Premier was on his goodwill tour of the United States. Legend has it that the mayor had to explain that the onion domes along the Monongahela River
The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
valley that Khrushchev saw were not a Potemkin Village
In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (Russian: ) is a construction (literal or figurative) whose purpose is to provide an external façade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it actually is. The term ...
built to impress him but the hard labor and heritage of slavs and Russian immigrants.
Later life
After stepping down as Mayor he was again elected to a term on City Council, the body that he made his biggest political impact during his life. He died on March 14, 1967, and is buried in Pittsburgh's Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery.
Honors
An overlook on scenic Mt. Washington on Pittsburgh's southside is named for Mayor Gallagher.
See also
*List of mayors of Pittsburgh
The mayor of Pittsburgh is the chief executive of the government of the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, as stipulated by the Charter of the City of Pittsburgh.
Prior to the 1816 city charter, the Borough of Pittsburgh had its c ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Thomas
1883 births
1967 deaths
Burials at Calvary Catholic Cemetery (Pittsburgh)
Mayors of Pittsburgh
Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Pennsylvania city council members
20th-century mayors of places in Pennsylvania
20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly