Charles L. Gerlach Explained

Charles L. Gerlach
Image Name:	CharlesLGerlach.jpg
Caption:	Gerlach in September 1939
State:	Pennsylvania
Constituency:	(1939–1945) (1945–1947)
Term Start:	January 3, 1939
Term End:	May 5, 1947
Preceded:	Oliver W. Frey
Succeeded:	Franklin H. Lichtenwalter
Birth Date:	14 September 1895
Birth Place:	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Place:	Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Party:	Republican

Charles Lewis Gerlach (September 14, 1895 – May 5, 1947) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.^[1]

Biography

Gerlach was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on September 14, 1895. In 1914, he moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he became the organizer, and later president, of a fuel and heating supply company.^[2]

A Republican State committeeman in 1936 and 1937, he was elected to the 76th Congress in 1938, and served until his 1947 death in Allentown.^[3]

A confidential 1943 analysis of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Isaiah Berlin for the British Foreign Office described Gerlach as:^[4]

Death

On May 5, 1947, while still serving in Congress, Gerlach died in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at age 51. He was interred in Greenwood Cemetery in Allentown.

See also

• List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49)

Notes and References

1. "Gerlach, Charles Lewis" (G000135), in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: Offices of the Historians of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, March 18, 2023.
2. "Gerlach, Charles Lewis," in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
3. "Gerlach, Charles Lewis," in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
4. American Profiles on Capitol Hill: A Confidential Study for the British Foreign Office in 1943 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131021185357/http://berlin.wolf.ox.ac.uk/published_works/singles/bib139a/bib139a.pdf . 2013-10-21 . Hachey, Thomas E. . Wisconsin Magazine of History . Winter 1973–1974 . 57 . 2 . 141–153 . 4634869.