The 163rd New York State Legislature, consisting of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

and the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

, met from January 8, 1941, to April 24, 1942, during the ninth and tenth years of Herbert H. Lehman's

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the

New York Constitution The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitut ...

of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, and amended in 1937, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts for two-year terms. The senatorial districts consisted either of one or more entire counties; or a contiguous area within a single county. The counties which were divided into more than one senatorial district were New York (nine districts), Kings (eight), Bronx (three), Erie (three), Monroe (two), Queens (two) and Westchester (two). The Assembly districts were made up of contiguous area, all within the same county. At this time there were two major political parties: the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and the Republican Party. The

American Labor Party The American Labor Party (ALP) was a political party in the United States established in 1936 that was active almost exclusively in the state of New York. The organization was founded by labor leaders and former members of the Socialist Party of A ...

endorsed the whole Democratic ticket, which included one Republican judge of the Court of Appeals. The Prohibition Party also nominated a ticket.

Elections

The New York state election, 1940, was held on November 5. All six statewide elective offices were carried by the nominees on the Democratic-American Labor fusion ticket. The approximate party strength at this election, as gathered from the results, was: Democrats 2,843,000; Republicans 2,837,000; American Labor 365,000; and Prohibition 5,000. All three women legislators—State Senator

Rhoda Fox Graves Rhoda Fox Graves (July 2, 1877 – January 25, 1950) was a suffragist, women's rights activist, and early female Republican party politician from St. Lawrence County, New York in the United States. Graves was the first woman to serve in the Ne ...

(Rep.), of Gouverneur; and Assemblywomen Jane H. Todd (Rep.), of

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hu ...

, and Edith C. Cheney (Rep.), of Corning—were re-elected. The New York state election, 1941, was held on November 4. Two vacancies in the State Senate and two vacancies in the State Assembly were filled. On March 10, 1942,

Mary A. Gillen Mary A. Gillen (October 8, 1894 – September 14, 1963) was an American politician from New York (state), New York. Life She was born Mary Agnes Burke on October 8, 1894, the daughter of Michael Burke (1856–1912) and Anne Bridget (O'Gara) Burke ...

, the widow of Assemblyman Michael J. Gillen, was elected to the seat previously held by her husband.

Sessions

The Legislature met for the first regular session (the 164th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 8, 1941; and adjourned at 2.30 a.m. on April 4. Oswald D. Heck (Rep.) was re-elected

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

. Joe R. Hanley (Rep.) was re-elected Temporary President of the State Senate. On December 7, 1941, happened the

Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

, and the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Subsequently, some legislators resigned their seats to join the armed forces, among them

Robert F. Wagner, Jr. The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

Phelps Phelps Phelps Phelps (May 4, 1897 – June 10, 1981), born Phelps von Rottenburg, was an American politician who held a number of offices in New York (state), New York before becoming the governor of American Samoa and the United States Ambassador t ...

Francis E. Dorn Francis Edwin Dorn (April 18, 1911 – September 17, 1987) was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. He was the last Republican to represent the district. Life He was born on April 18, 1911, in Brooklyn. He ...

and Henry J. Latham. The Legislature met for the second regular session (the 165th) at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1942;''LEHMAN PLEDGES STATE TAX SLASH, ASKS PRICE LIMITS''
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on January 8, 1942 (subscription required) and adjourned on April 24.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature. Francis J. McCaffrey Jr and Charles O. Burney Jr changed from the Assembly to the Senate at the beginning of this Legislature. Assemblymen Carmine J. Marasco and William Kirnan were elected to fill vacancies in the Senate. Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk: William S. King * Assistant Clerk: Fred J. Slater * Sergeant-at-Arms: Harold W. Cole * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: Henry Whitbeck * Principal Doorkeeper: Lynn Corman * Assistant Doorkeeper: Irving Hoag * Stenographer: John K. Marshall

State Assembly

Assemblymen

Note: For brevity, the chairmanships omit the words "...the Committee on (the)..."

Employees

* Clerk:

Ansley B. Borkowski Ansley Bernard Borkowski (January 15, 1898 – December 1, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. Life He was born on January 15, 1898, in Buffalo, New York. He attended Canisius High School and Canisius Coll ...

* Sergeant-at-Arms: Richard Schnor * First Assistant Doorkeeper: Joseph G. Bates * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: M. C. Mansolillo * Stenographer: Walter F. Berry

Notes

Sources

''Your Representatives in the Legislature and in Congress; Legislature for 1941–1942''
in ''The State Employee'' (November 1940, Vol. 9, No. 8, pg. 264f)

at Political Graveyard

at Political Graveyard
''GOP LEGISLATORS RETAIN LEADERS''
in the ''Daily Sentinel'', of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, on January 8, 1941 {{NYLegislatures

163 Year 163 ( CLXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Laelianus and Pastor (or, less frequently, year 916 '' Ab urbe con ...

1941 in New York (state) 1942 in New York (state) 1941 U.S. legislative sessions 1942 U.S. legislative sessions