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 comp ...

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 Ass ...

, met from January 8, 1941, to April 24, 1942, during the ninth and tenth years of

Herbert H. Lehman Herbert Henry Lehman (March 28, 1878 – December 5, 1963) was an American Democratic Party politician from New York. He served from 1933 until 1942 as the 45th governor of New York and represented New York State in the U.S. Senate from 1949 ...

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 and the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *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 The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

also nominated a ticket.

Elections

The

New York state election, 1940 The 1940 New York state election was held on November 5, 1940, to elect three judges of the New York Court of Appeals, a U.S. Senator and two U.S Representatives-at-large, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York Stat ...

, 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 New ...

(Rep.), of Gouverneur; and Assemblywomen Jane H. Todd (Rep.), of Tarrytown, 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, 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 Oswald David Heck (February 13, 1902 – May 21, 1959) was an American lawyer and politician. To date he has been the longest-serving Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and he was the last Speaker from Upstate New York. Life He was born on F ...

(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: ** In ...

. 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 ...

, 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Subsequently, some legislators resigned their seats to join the armed forces, among them Robert F. Wagner, Jr.,

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 before becoming the governor of American Samoa and the United States Ambassador to the Dominican Re ...

, Francis E. Dorn and

Henry J. Latham Henry Jepson Latham (December 10, 1908 – June 26, 2002) was an American attorney, politician, and jurist from New York. Early life and education He was born on December 10, 1908, in Brooklyn. He graduated from Richmond Hill High School and c ...

. 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 William Smith King (December 16, 1828 – February 24, 1900) was a Republican U.S. Representative for Minnesota from March 4, 1875 to March 3, 1877. He was a journalist and businessman. He is best known for allegations of political corrup ...

* 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 * 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

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, 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 condi ...

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