Frank P. Walsh

Francis Patrick "Frank" Walsh (July 20, 1864 – May 2, 1939) was an American lawyer. Walsh was noted for his advocacy of progressive causes, including Georgist land value tax, improved working conditions, better pay for workers, and equal employment opportunities for all, including women. He was appointed to several high-profile committees to investigate and report on working conditions. He was also active in championing independence for Ireland.

Frank P. Walsh was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 20, 1864, into humble circumstances. At age 10 he dropped out of public school and worked as a telegraph boy in St. Louis. He taught himself stenography, and was considered expert in that craft when he was admitted to the bar in 1889.

Walsh was employed as a clerk in lawyers' offices. In 1885 he moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and began working in the office of noted KC lawyer Gardiner Lathrop (who is famous for co-founding the Kansas City Country Club, among other things). He gained sufficient experience in legal matters in that employment that he passed the bar exam in 1889 and immediately began to practice law in KC.

In 1891 Walsh married Katherine O'Flaherty of Kansas City. They eventually had nine children, seven of whom lived to adulthood: Katherine Marie, Sarah Louise, Cecilia,Virginia, Jerome Karnes, James, and John Frederick.

Walsh was active in KC municipal improvement projects, and was a member of the Commercial Club in 1913 when he was nominated by President Woodrow Wilson to head the newly formed Commission on Industrial Relations. Walsh investigated labor-management clashes from 1913 to 1918, and in 1918 was named co-chairman (with ex-President William Howard Taft) of the National War Labor Board.

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