Jump to content

Mitchell May

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Citation bot (talk | contribs) at 02:04, 15 December 2020 (Alter: url. URLs might have been internationalized/anonymized. Add: isbn. Upgrade ISBN10 to ISBN13. | You can use this bot yourself. Report bugs here. | Suggested by AManWithNoPlan | All pages linked from cached copy of User:AManWithNoPlan/sandbox2 | via #UCB_webform_linked 1342/1516). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mitchell May
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 6th district
In office
March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1901
Preceded byJames R. Howe
Succeeded byGeorge H. Lindsay
44th Secretary of State of New York
In office
January 1, 1913 – December 31, 1914
GovernorWilliam Sulzer
Martin H. Glynn
Preceded byEdward Lazansky
Succeeded byFrancis Hugo
Personal details
Born(1870-07-10)July 10, 1870
Brooklyn, New York City, New York
DiedMarch 24, 1961(1961-03-24) (aged 90)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Political partyRepublican

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

Life

He attended the public schools and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He graduated from Columbia University Law School in 1892, was admitted to the bar in 1893, and commenced practice in Brooklyn.

May was elected as a Democrat to the 56th United States Congress, 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. He was an Assistant District Attorney of Kings County from 1910 to 1911.

He was Secretary of State of New York from 1913 to 1914, elected in 1912, but defeated for re-election in 1914. He was county judge of Kings County from 1916 to 1921, and was a justice of the New York State Supreme Court from 1922 to 1940, when he retired after reaching the constitutional age limit. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law.

According to a biographer of Governor Al Smith, May played a role in desegregating a New York country club. As told by Hugh Carey, 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 course turned into a state park within a week. They played, and the club changed its membership policy.[1]

May was acquainted with several people involved in the entertainment industry, and presided over the ceremony for the second marriage of Frank Capra.[2]

He was buried at Staten Island's Valhalla Cemetery, also known as Ocean View.[3]

He was of Jewish faith.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Slayton, Robert A. (2001). Empire Statesman: The Rise and Redemption of Al Smith. Simon and Schuster. p. 176. ISBN 9780684863023.
  2. ^ McBride, Joseph (1992). Frank Capra: The Catastrophe of Success. University of Mississippi Press. p. 244. ISBN 9781604738391.
  3. ^ Mitchell May at Find a Grave
  4. ^ Stone, Kurt F. "The Jews of Capitol Hill: A Compendium of Jewish Congressional Members, (2011). Pages 71–73. ISBN 9780810857315.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from New York's 6th congressional district
1899–1901 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State of New York
1913–1914 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mitchell_May&oldid=994313647"