Mitchell May (July 10, 1870 – March 24, 1961) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. From 1899 to 1901, he served one term in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

Life

He attended the public schools and

Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United Sta ...

. He graduated from

Columbia University Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

in 1892, was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

in 1893, and commenced practice in Brooklyn.

Congress

May was elected as a Democrat to the

56th United States Congress The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1899 ...

, and served from March 4, 1899, to March 3, 1901. From 1906 to 1910, he was a member of the

New York City Board of Education The Panel for Educational Policy of the Department of Education of the City School District of the City of New York, abbreviated as the Panel for Educational Policy and also known as the New York City Board of Education, is the governing body of ...

. He was an Assistant District Attorney of Kings County from 1910 to 1911.

Later political career

He was

Secretary of State of New York The secretary of state of New York is a cabinet officer in the government of the U.S. state of New York who leads the Department of State (NYSDOS). The current secretary of state of New York is Robert J. Rodriguez, a Democrat. Duties The secret ...

from 1913 to 1914, elected in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ** German geophysicist Alfred ...

, but defeated for re-election in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It also saw the first airline to provide schedule ...

. He was county judge of Kings County from 1916 to 1921, and was a justice of the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

from 1922 to 1940, when he retired after reaching the constitutional age limit. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law.

Later career

According to a biographer of Governor

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a ...

, May played a role in desegregating a New York

country club A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offe ...

. As told by

Hugh Carey Hugh Leo Carey (April 11, 1919 – August 7, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He was a seven-term U.S. representative from 1961 to 1974 and the 51st governor of New York from 1975 to 1982. He was a member of the Democratic Part ...

, Smith and May were about to tee off when club officials attempted to stop them because of May's religion—the club did not admit Jewish members. Smith replied that either May would play the round with him, or Smith would have the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

course turned into a state park within a week. They played, and the club changed its membership policy.

Entertainment industry

May was acquainted with several people involved in the entertainment industry, and presided over the ceremony for the second marriage of

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-born American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s ...

Death and burial

He died on May 24, 1961, and was buried at

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

's Valhalla Cemetery, also known as Ocean View. May was the last surviving Representative to have served in the 19th century.

Religion

He was of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

faith.Stone, Kurt F. "''The Jews of Capitol Hill: A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members'', (2011).
Pages 71–73. .

References

External links

*
Mitchell May
' a
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:May, Mitchell 1870 births 1961 deaths Politicians from Brooklyn Columbia Law School alumni New York (state) lawyers New York (state) state court judges New York Supreme Court Justices Secretaries of State of New York (state) Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives Burials in New York (state)