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 womens 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 Womens 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. Johns 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, protg 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 VicePresident 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 Childrens 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 Worlds 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-NYConnecticut 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 Worlds Fair opens on
the same site as the 1939 Worlds 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 Powells 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
NYs 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 NYs 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.