Lanham, Fritz G. (Fritz Garland), 1880-1965

Frederick Garland "Fritz" Lanham, 1880-1965, attended the University of Texas where he served as the first editor of the Daily Texan. He went on to become a lawyer and U.S. Representative from Texas' 12th congressional district from 1919 to 1947.

Lawyer and United States representative Frederick Garland (Fritz) Lanham (1880–1965) was born to Sarah Beona (Meng) and Samuel Willis Tucker Lanham in Weatherford, Texas. He graduated from Weatherford College in 1897, attended Vanderbilt University (1897–98), and earned a B.A. from the University of Texas in 1900. In 1901, Lanham became secretary to his father, who was then in the United States House of Representatives. Lanham began studying law at the University of Texas in 1903, was admitted to the state bar in 1909, and established a law practice in Weatherford with Benjamin G. O'Neal. He married Beulah Rowe in 1908 and after her death in 1930 he married Hazel Head in 1931. After working as an assistant county attorney for Tarrant County, Lanham was elected as a Democrat to the U. S. House of Representatives to represent the Twelfth Congressional District. His notable legislative achievements included the National Housing for Defense Act, passed in October 1940, and the Lanham Community Facilities Act, passed in June 1941. After his retirement from Congress in 1947, Lanham remained in Washington to work as a lobbyist for the National Patent Council, the American Fair Trade Council, and the Trinity Improvement Association of Texas.

Source: Landis, Lawrence A. “Lanham, Frederick Garland.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed August 22, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fla33.