Robert Gray Allen (August 24, 1902 – August 9, 1963) was an American businessman and a two-term Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1937 to 1941.

Robert Gray Allen
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 28th district
In office
January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1941
Preceded byWilliam M. Berlin
Succeeded byAugustine B. Kelley
Personal details
Born(1902-08-24)August 24, 1902
Winchester, Massachusetts, US
DiedAugust 9, 1963(1963-08-09) (aged 60)
Keene, Virginia, US
Political partyDemocratic
Alma materHarvard College
Military service
AllegianceUnited States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1942 – 1945
RankMajor
Battles/warsWorld War II

Early life and education

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Allen was born in Winchester, Massachusetts on August 24, 1902.[1] In 1906 he moved to Minneapolis. He was graduated from Phillips Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1922 and later attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1] He moved to Greensburg, Pennsylvania in 1929 and was a salesman and sales manager for a valve and fittings manufacturing business until 1937.

Political and military career

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Allen in Congress

He was district administrator of the Works Progress Administration in 1935 and 1936.

Allen was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-sixth Congresses. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1940. He became president of the Duff-Norton Manufacturing Company in Pittsburgh, from 1940 to 1943. He was commissioned a major in the United States Army Ordnance Corps in July 1942 and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in February 1943. He served until his discharge in January 1945.[1]

After his time in Congress and the Army, he served in a variety of business positions:

He retired from business activities in 1962 and moved from Milwaukee, to Keene, Virginia, where he died.

Family and personal life

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Allen married Katharine Hancock Wilson on January 17, 1925. Together, they had three children.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Marquis Who's Who, Inc. Who Was Who in American History, the Military. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1975. Page 8 ISBN 0837932017 OCLC 657162692
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Pennsylvania's 28th congressional district

1937–1941
Succeeded by