Lawlor was born 1917 in
The Bronx. He professed his vows in the
Augustinian Order in 1938 and was
ordained as a
priest in 1945. He taught at
St. Rita of Cascia High School in
Chicago from 1946 until 1968. At the time, the school was located in
Marquette Park, a then-racially segregated, all-white neighborhood. Lawlor came to prominence as the head of a coalition of white block clubs that fought against Black Chicagoans moving west of Ashland Avenue. Lawlor would later claim his efforts were to prevent
white flight. His advocacy brought him into conflict with Archbishop of Chicago
John Cody. In the 1971 Chicago City Council election, Lawlor defeated Paul Sheridan, the incumbent 16th ward Alderman who had moved from the majority-black 16th ward to the majority-white 15th ward. Lawlor succeeded the late Joseph Kriska. The 15th ward at the time included all or parts of Marquette Park,
West Englewood, and
Ashburn. Lawlor joined the anti-Daley voting bloc once on the City Council. He left after a single term to challenge Democratic candidate
John G. Fary for
Illinois's 5th congressional district in the
1975 special election. Lawlor, as the
Republican candidate, lost to Fary. After his term on the
Chicago City Council, he served as the Pro-life Director for the
Diocese of Rockford from 1976 to 1984 and Director of Moral Decency in Media from 1984 to 1992. He resided in semi-retirement in
St. Louis from 1994 to 2005. ==References==