Melvin Fitzgerald (1904 - 1976)

Melvin's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Fitzgerald family tree.

Melvin's Family

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We currently do not have photos of Melvin Fitzgerald. Below are potential family photos that share Melvin's last name or surname. Pictures really do say a thousand words. Add photos of Melvin during various points of his life

Margaret Fitzgerald

Christopher Henry Fitzgerald

Agnes Patricia (Bracken) Mann and Minnie (Fitzgerald) Bracken

Alene Fitzgerald

Alene Fitzgerald

Alene Fitzgerald

Milo O'Shea, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Michael O'Keefe

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe

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Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Melvin's lifetime

In 1904, in the year that Melvin Fitzgerald was born, the World's Fair, officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was held in St. Louis, Missouri. Attended by nearly 19.7 million people (and later the subject of a Judy Garland film), the Fair was funded by federal, state and local sources to the tune of $15 million. As the name suggests, the Fair was suggested as a way to celebrate the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. In the past, World's Fairs were a way of bringing new technology to the attention of the masses and this fair was no exception - the use of electricity (the public feared it at the time), personal cars, airplanes, and the electric streetcar were all highlighted.

In 1934, Melvin was 30 years old when on November 11th 1933, an extremely strong dust storm hit South Dakota, stripping topsoil. Other strong dust storms had occurred during 1933. Severe droughts continued to hit the Great Plains and the dust storms devastated agricultural production as well as people's' lives for several years. The Roosevelt administration and scientists eventually determined that farming practices had caused the conditions that led to the dust storms and the changes they implemented in farming stopped the Dust Bowl.

In 1945, at the age of 41 years old, Melvin was alive when on August 15th, Imperial Japan announced its surrender. On September 2nd, a formal agreement of surrender was signed. Japan and nine other states signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender in Tokyo Bay, calling for the return of all Allied prisoners of war and subordinating the authority of the emperor and the Japanese government to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers. VJ (Victory in Japan) Day was celebrated in the United States on August 14th and 15th. World War II was over.

In 1954, by the time he was 50 years old, from April 22 through June 17th, the Army v. McCarthy hearings were held. The U.S. Army accused Roy Cohn (chief counsel to Senator McCarthy and later trusted mentor of Donald Trump) of blackmail. McCarthy and Cohn accused the U.S. Army of harboring communists. The Army allegations were found to be true. The U.S. Senate later censured McCarthy.

In 1976, in the year of Melvin Fitzgerald's passing, on August 4th, a mysterious illness struck an American Legion convention in Philadelphia. Within a week, 25 people had died and 130 people had been hospitalized. It was the first known instance of what came to be called "Legionnaires Disease."