John Robert MURDOCK, Congress, AZ (1885-1972)
MURDOCK, John Robert, a Representative from Arizona; born in Homestead near Lewistown, Lewis County, Mo., April 20, 1885; attended the public schools; was graduated from State Teachersâ College, Kirksville, Mo., in 1912 and from the State University of Iowa at Iowa City in 1925; took graduate work at the University of Arizona at Tucson and at the University of California at Berkeley; taught elementary school in Missouri 1904-1908; served as principal of the high school at Lewistown, Mo., 1908-1910 and at Ridgeway, Mo., 1912-1914; instructor in the Normal School at Tempe, Ariz., 1914-1932; dean of the Arizona State Teachersâ College at Tempe 1933-1937; author of textbooks on history and government; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth and to the seven succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1937-January 3, 1953); chairman, Committee on Memorials (Seventy-eighth Congress), Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation (Seventy-ninth Congress), Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs (Eighty-second Congress); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1952 to the Eighty-third Congress; retired and resided in Scottsdale, Ariz.; died in Phoenix, Ariz., February 14, 1972; interment in Double Butte Cemetery, Tempe, Ariz.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
