Frank Murphy  
Michigan's 35th governor 
(1890-1949)

By Sidney Fine

Born on April 13, 1890, in Sand Beach (now Harbor Beach), Michigan, the third of four children of John F. and Mary Brennan Murphy, Frank Murphy was Michigan’s first Catholic governor. He was educated in the public schools of Harbor Beach and received a L.L.B. from the University of Michigan in 1914. After serving for thirty months as a member of a Detroit law firm and following the nation ’s entry into World War I, he enrolled for officer’s training in the Army, was commissioned a first lieutenant, and served briefly in France. After his discharge in August 1919, he became first assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, a position that he held until March 1922, when he returned to private law practice. Serving as a judge on Detroit’s Recorder’s Court from January 1924 until August 1930, he resigned to become a candidate for mayor following the recall of Mayor Charles Bowles. He defeated four opponents in the September election and easily won re-election in 1931. As mayor, Murphy received national attention for his determined and imaginative efforts to alleviate the plight of the unemployed in a city that had been very hard hit by the Great Depression.

Franklin D. Roosevelt rewarded Murphy for his support in the 1932 presidential election by appointing him to the post of governor-general of the Philippine Islands. When the Philippine Commonwealth was established in November 1935, Murphy became the American high commissioner. Roosevelt called Murphy back to Michigan in 1936 to seek the governorship and to help an unnecessarily concerned president in carrying the state in the presidential election. Murphy easily defeated George Welsh in the Democratic primary, but it was Roosevelt who carried Murphy to victory in the general election.

When Murphy took office, the great General Motors sit-down strike was already under way. He sent National Guard units into Flint on January 11, 1937, but since he wished to secure a peaceful resolution of the dispute, he refused to use the soldiers to eject the sit-downers even after they had defied an injunction to evacuate the plants that they occupied. He played the decisive mediatory role that brought the strike to and end on terms that constituted a victory for the United Automobile Workers and that paved the way for the union’s subsequent growth. Murphy received much acclaim for his peacemaking role, but when the settlement was followed by a wave of sit-down strikes in the state, especially in Detroit, he was several criticized for having failed to enforce the law promptly in Flint. He continued to enjoy success as a strike mediator, however, and settled many labor disputes during the remainder of his governorship.

The Murphy administration was responsible for one of the few successful little New Deals at the state level. It provided Michigan with a strengthened Department of Labor and Industry, an occupational disease law, and legislation to benefit a variety of craft unions. It was responsible for one of the most liberal unemployment insurance laws in the nation, and it liberalized Michigan’s old-age assistance law. It not only considerably expanded the disease-control activities of the Health Department, but it also helped to focus attention on the needs of the medically indigent and on ways of improving the delivery of health care. It launched a major hospital building program, stressed the prevention of mental illness, and provided Michigan with its first public child-guidance clinic. It established the first state Consumers’ Bureau in the nation and provided Michigan with a public utilities commission that brought savings to consumers. It was responsible for legislation that made it possible for Michigan cities to take advantage of available federal housing funds. It spurred the electrification of the state’s farms, provided uniform and standardized grading of fruits, vegetables, and poultry that benefited Michigan’s farmers, and laid the foundation for the 1939 Milk Act. During the recession of 1937-38, the Murphy administration made a determined effort to alleviate the plight of the unemployed both by state aid and by securing the assistance of the federal government.

Remembered primarily for its little New Deal and its friendship with organized labor, the Murphy administration was also noteworthy for its administrative reforms and its commitment to good government. The governor appointed able men to administrative posts and permitted them to discharge their responsibilities free from political interference. He played the decisive role in the enactment of Michigan’s civil service law in 1937, and he insisted on its vigorous and nonpartisan enforcement even though this a ntagonized party leaders. His administration eliminated favoritism in state purchasing, administered the liquor control system in a business-like manner, and converted a corrupt State Fair into an efficient and profit-making institution. The Murphy administration provided Michigan with one of the best correctional systems in the nation, centralized the administration of state institutions for the mentally ill, and introduced an effective budget and accounting system. The governor persuaded the legislature to rationalize the state’s chaotic welfare and relief structure, but the reorganization plan was rejected by the voters when submitted to a referendum. Murphy’s ambitious plans for additional structural and social reforms were thwarted by his failure to win reelection in 1938, hardly a surprising outcome in an off-year election in what was then a Republican state.

Following his electoral defeat, Murphy served as attorney general of the United States for one year and than as a member of the United States Supreme Court until his death on July 19, 1949. He is buried in Rock Falls Cemetery, just south of Harbor Beach.