The 143rd 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, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

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 7 to September 1920, during the second year of

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

's governorship, in Albany.

Background

Under the provisions of the New York Constitution of 1894, re-apportioned in 1917, 51 Senators and 150 assemblymen were elected in single-seat districts; senators for a two-year term, assemblymen for a one-year term. 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 Republican Party and the Democratic Party. The

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

also nominated tickets.

Elections

The 1919 New York state election was held on November 4. No statewide elective offices were up for election. Two women were elected to the State Assembly: Elizabeth V. Gillette (Dem.), a physician, of Schenectady; and Marguerite L. Smith (Rep.), an athletics teacher, of

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Sessions

The Legislature met for the regular session at the State Capitol in Albany on January 7, 1920. Thaddeus C. Sweet (R) was re-elected Speaker. At the beginning of the session, the five Socialist assemblymen were suspended by Speaker Sweet, pending a trial before the Assembly Committee on the Judiciary to determine whether they were fit to take their seats.

Charles Evans Hughes Charles Evans Hughes (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American politician, academic, and jurist who served as the 11th chief justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

(Rep.) and Governor

(Dem.) condemned Speaker Sweet and the Republican majority for taking this course of action. On March 30, a majority of 7 members of the 13-member Judiciary Committee recommended the expulsion the five Socialists. Minority reports recommended the seating of all or part of the Socialist assemblymen. In the early morning of April 1, the five Socialist assemblymen were expelled. The Legislature adjourned at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, April 25, after a session of 37 hours. During this last session, Marguerite L. Smith occupied for about half an hour the Speaker's chair. On August 12, Gov. Al Smith called a special session of the Legislature for September 20, and ordered special elections to be held on September 16 to fill the vacancies caused by the expulsion of the Socialist members. The session was called to consider the housing situation in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. On September 16, all five Socialists were re-elected to the Assembly. The Legislature met for a special session at the State Capitol in Albany on September 20, 1920. On September 21, Claessens, Solomon and Waldman were again expelled, while DeWitt and Orr were permitted by a majority vote to take their seats. However, DeWitt and Orr resigned their seats in protest against the ouster of their three comrades.

State Senate

Districts

Members

The asterisk (*) denotes members of the previous Legislature who continued in office as members of this Legislature.

Employees

* Clerk: Ernest A. Fay * Sergeant-at-Arms: * Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms: * Principal Doorkeeper: * First Assistant Doorkeeper: * Stenographer:

State Assembly

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

Assemblymen

Employees

* Clerk: Fred W. Hammond *Deputy Clerk: Wilson Messer * Sergeant-at-Arms: Harry W. Haines * Principal Doorkeeper: * First Assistant Doorkeeper: * Second Assistant Doorkeeper: * Stenographer: Edwin Van Cett *Postmaster: James H. Underwood

Notes

Sources

''New York Legislative Documents'' (143rd Session)
(1920; Vol. I, No. 1 to 5)
''SENATE DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER LEADER''
in NYT on January 7, 1920
''TWO CHAIRMANSHIPS FOR NEW YORK CITY''
in NYT on January 13, 1920 {{NYLegislatures 143 1920 in New York (state) 1920 U.S. legislative sessions