History of New York State

A Brief Chronology

Part 2

Source

• Chronology & Documentary Handbook of the State of New York.

• Ellen Lloyd Trover, State Editor

• William F. Swindler, Series Editor

• Oceana Publications

• Dobbs Ferry, New York

• 1978

1857-1863• 1857 -- John A. King, 1st candidate of new

Republican party, elected governor.• 1859 – Cooper Union, educational and cultural

center for immigrant groups, opened.• 1860 – Population: 3,880,735.• 1861 – Matthew Vassar, NYC philanthropist,

establishes women’s college at Poughkeepsie.• 1862 – New York sends 120 regiments to fight for

the Unions during the Civil War.• 1863 – New York sends additional volunteers.

1863- 1867• July 11, 1863 – Widespread draft riots lasting 3

days in NYC cause approximately 100 deaths and destroyed millions of dollars worth of property before federal troops bring order.

• 1865 – Ezra Cornell, New York philanthropist, founded Cornell University in Ithaca.

• 1866 – Constitutional convention held, no proposals resulted.

• 1867 – Women’s suffrage movement results in speech before the state legislature by Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

1869 - 1873• 1869 – John T. Hoffman, candidate of “Boss”

William M. Tweed, elected governor.• 1870 – Population: 4,382,759• 1870 – St. John’s University founded in Jamaica.• 1871 – Syracuse University established.• July 1871 – New York Times publishes news

articles detailing the corruption of the political machine led by Boss Tweed in NYC.

• 1873 – Republican John Dix elected governor in reaction to Tweed corruption scandal.

1874- 1884

• 1874 – First Chautauqua Assembly met at Lake Chautauqua.

• 1879 – New State capitol in Albany dedicated.• 1880 – Population: 5,082,871• 1881 – Chester A. Arthur, protégé of “Boss

Roscoe Conkling, becomes president with the assassination of President James Garfield.

• 1884 – New York governor Grover Cleveland becomes President.

1887-1894

• 1887 – Pratt Institute founded in Brooklyn.• 1889 – Barnard College founded in Mahattan.• 1890 – Population: 6,003,174.• 1892 – Roswell P. Flower of Watertown is elected

governor as a Democrat.• 1894 – New York adopts 4th Constitution, initiating

reforms in judicial and electoral systems and establishing more equitable classifications of urban-rural areas.

1898 - 1901

• January 1, 1898 – Greater New York City is officially created by legislative enactment following two-year study.

• April 27, 1898 – Nassau County created.• 1899 – Theodore Roosevelt, a reform candidate

Republican wins election as governor.• 1900 – Population: 7,268,894.• 1901 – Theodore Roosevelt, elected Vice-

President in November 1900, becomes President when President McKinley is assassinated.

1905 - 1912

• 1905 – Juilliard School of Music established.• 1907 – Charles Evans Hughes, reform Republican

candidate and trust buster, elected governor.• 1910 – Population: 9,113,614• 1910 – Hughes appointed to the Supreme Court.• 1911 – John Alden Dix elected governor as a

reform Democrat.• April 19, 1912 – Bronx, the final state county, is

created as a borough of New York City.

1913- 1919

• October 17, 1913 – Governor William Sulzer, Democrat, is impeached for malpractices committed before is election as governor.

• Lieutenant Governor Martin H. Glynn, a member of the Murphy machine , becomes governor.

• 1915 – Republican district attorney Charles S. Whitman, becomes governor.

• 1919 – Alfred E. Smith, New York Tammany candidate, elected governor for first time.

1919 - 1924

• 1919 – Mary M. Lilly & Ida B. Sammis become first women members elected to state legislature.

• 1920 – Population: 10, 385, 227• 1921 – Republican Nathan Miller elected

governor in post WW 1 Harding landslide.• 1922 – Children’s Courts established.• 1922 – $20M allocated for highway construction.• 1923 – Al Smith elected governor for 2nd time.• 1924 – Fires destroy 15,000 acres in Catskills

and Adirondack mountains.

1925 - 1931

• 1925 – Al Smith elected to 2nd consecutive term as governor, 3rd term overall.

• 1927 – Al Smith elected to 4th two-year term.• September 12, 1927 – New York celebrates its

150th anniversary.• 1929 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes governor.• 1930 – Population: 12,588,066.• 1931 – 1 million cubic feet of rock collapses into

Niagara River at American side of Niagara Falls

1932- 1938

• 1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President, Herbert H. Lehman elected governor.

• 1935 – Lehman begins 2nd term as governor.• 1935 – New School of Social Research opens in

New York City.• 1936 – President Roosevelt re-elected; Governor

Lehman re-elected.• 1938 – State constitutional convention held, but

no proposals, are made.

1939-1942• 1939 – Governor Lehman begins 4th term, first

term to be extended to four years by constitutional amendment in 1938.

• April 30, 1939 – New York World’s Fair opens in Flushing Meadows.

• 1940 – Population: 13,379,662.• July 2, 1941 – New York County grand jury

returns indictments on extortion in milk industry.• January 4, 1942 – 500,000 volunteer to be part

of civil defense program during WW2.

1942- 1948

• 1942 – Crusading prosecutor, Thomas E. Dewey, elected governor as Republican, 1st since 1923.

• 1945 – Major labor strikes plague NYC in months following end of WW2.

• April 13, 1947 – NYC donates 5 parcels of land for construction of United Nations.

• 1947 – Dewey elected to 2nd term.• March 30, 1948 – More than 1,000 workers go on

strike at New York Stock Exchange.

1948 - 1951

• April 27, 1948 – NYC announces $1Billion budget.• 1949 – Water shortage in Manhattan leads to

water rationing. • 1950 – Population: 14,830,192.• March 21, 1950 – State officials authorize

construction of $500 million New York Thruway.• 1951 – Federal and state investigators charge

widespread racketeering in NYC, many resign.• 1951 – Thomas E. Dewey elected as governor to

3rd term.

1953 - 1955

• March 26, 1953 – NYC directed to turn over control of transit system to new transit authority.

• 1954 – Special NYC census sets population at 8,050,000; including 485,000 Latino, 840,000 non-white.

• September 21, 1955 – Loyalty investigations of 58,000 public employees results in 15 dismissals.

• 1955 – Averell Harriman, Democrat, elected governor; 1st Democrat in 12 years.

1956 -

• August 3, 1956 – Congress authorizes NJ-NY-Connecticut Interstate Sanitary Commission.

• 1957 – Lincoln Square development project,$205M cultural, educational, and housing project launched with $27M in federal support.

• 1959 – Republican Nelson A. Rockefeller elected governor.

• 1959 – NYC Council creates commission to study feasibility of statehood for metro region.

1959 - 1963

• May 14, 1959 – Groundbreaking ceremonies for $75M Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

• 1960 – Population: 16,596,507.• September 1, 1961 – Census reports indicates

NYC second largest city in the world.• 1962 – Proceedings begin to test constitutionality

of the states “Regents’ Prayer;” in 1965 it fails.• 1963 – Idylwild Airport renamed for slain

president John F. Kennedy.

1964 - 1965

• January 18, 1964 – NY Port Authority announces plans for twin 110 story towers to be called the World Trade Center; to cost $350M.

• April 22, 1964 – New York World’s Fair opens on the same site as the 1939 World’s Fair.

• November 1964 – Robert Kennedy defeats incumbent Kenneth Keating for Senate seat.

• November 9, 1965 – Massive power failure impacts 25M persons in US and Canada. It began in New York.

1966 - 1968

• September 21, 1966 – Protests over the quality of education for the poor in NYC led by Puerto Rican and African American activists.

• November 8, 1966 – Constitutional amendment approved which allows state lottery.

• 1967 – Proposed new constitution was rejected by the voters.

• June 7, 1968 – RFK assassinated in Los Angeles.

1969 - 1971• June 16, 1969 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds

Rep. Adam Clayton Powell’s claim that the House of Representatives wrongly denied him the right to take his seat in Congress.

• April 11, 1970 – Legislature passes liberal abortion law, permitting private decision by individuals within certain circumstances.

• 1970 – Population: 18,190,740.• October 26, 1971 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds

NY’s Taylor Law which docks striking teachers two days for every day they stay out on strike.

1972 - 1973

• January 24, 1972 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds ruling which voided 1-year residency law for receiving welfare.

• July 7, 1972 – NY’s highest court upholds liberalized abortion laws.

• July 19, 1972 – Three-day hunger strike by hundreds of inmates at Attica prison.

• 1973 – State legislature passes no-fault insurance plan to take effect Feb. 1, 1974.