Found 6 collections related to New York (State) -- Politics and government -- 1865-1950

The Straus family of New York City were the descendants of Lazarus Straus (1809-1898) and Sara Straus (1823-1876) who emigrated from Otterberg, Germany in the early 1850s with their four children: Isidor (1845-1912), Hermine (1846-1922), Nathan (1848-1931), and Oscar (1850-1926). They settled in Talbotton, Georgia where Lazarus opened a dry goods store. In 1865 the Strauses relocated to New York City and Isidor and Nathan joined their father in establishing L. Straus and Sons, a glass and chinaware store. They became partners with R.H. Macy's & Company in 1888 and by 1892 were also partners in the Brooklyn N.Y. retail company Abraham & Straus. Isidor Straus represented New York City's fifteenth district in the U.S. Congress, 1893-1894; and was founder and president of the Educational Alliance, an organization for immigrants living in New York. He and his wife were among the passengers who lost their lives in the sinking of the Titanic. Oscar Straus served as U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 1887 to 1900 and 1909, Secretary of Commerce and Labor from 1906 to 1908, and advisor to Woodrow Wilson during the first World War. Collection contains correspondence, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, and other items concerning Lazarus, Oscar and Isidor Straus, and Isidor's sons and grandsons. Family papers include genealogical charts and family history. Oscar and Isidor Straus papers consist of one box of materials concerning Oscar Straus's 1912 campaign for governor of New York and other political and family matters; the remaining eleven boxes are papers of Isidor Straus and include family and business correspondence, speeches and writings, notebooks, scrapbooks, materials related to his political career and to his death on the Titanic, and biographical information. Papers of Isidor Straus's sons consist of personal and business papers with correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, and clippings. L. Straus & Sons records concern the operations of the partnership. Also, photographs of Jack Straus (son of Jesse Straus) and members of his family, framed documents and other materials that belonged to Jack Straus. less

Louis Waldman (1892-1982), a prominent labor lawyer of New York City, was born in the Ukraine. Following his emigration to America in 1909 he became a garment cutter, attended evening school and earned a civil engineering degree from Cooper Union and a law degree from New York Law School. Elected as a Socialist to the New York State Assembly, he was illegally expelled (1920) by a Republican majority. While in the Assembly he sponsored a social insurance bill which foreshadowed the social welfare legislation of the 1930s. He served as state chairman (1930-1936) of the Socialist Party and was three times (1928, 1930, 1932) its candidate for governor. In 1936 he broke with the Party over the issue of communist infiltration and became state chairman of its right-wing offshoot, the Social Democratic Federation, and founder of the American Labor Party. During this period Waldman became known as an indomitable fighter for social welfare legislation and civic reform. As a lawyer in private practice he acquired great distinction as counsel for many powerful trade unions including the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, the United Hatters, Cap and Millinery International, and the International Longshoremen's Association. He was also known as an able defense attorney in criminal cases. In what was characterized as the "American Dreyfus case" he secured the acquittal of Cpl. Robert Osman. Waldman's autobiography, Labor Lawyer, was published in 1944. Papers reflect Waldman's career as labor lawyer, politician, civic reformer, lecturer and author. Approximately one-third of the collection consists of correspondence and collateral papers relating to Waldman's civic, political, and professional interests including municipal reform, city charter revision, labor relations, and city and state politics. Included is his correspondnce as state chairman of the Socialist Party and as chairman of the Social Democratic Federation, and papers reflecting the gubernatorial campaigns of 1928, 1930, and 1932. Included are addresses and speeches made before bar associations, union conventions, and legislative committees, and papers reflecting his membership in bar associations including his chairmanship of the committee on American citizenship of the American Bar Association. Records of legal cases include correspondence and court papers, papers relating to U.S. v. Osman and other cases involving civil liberties and immigration matters including the case of Walter G. Krivitsky, a former official of Soviet military intelligence who was allegedly assassinated by Stalin's secret police. Also, scrapbooks of press clippings providing extensive documentation of his career. less

Seabury Cone Mastick (1871-1969) was a New York state legislator. Collection consists of correspondence, scrapbooks and family papers of Mastick. General correspondence concerns New York state politics, especially Mastick's work as chairman of the New York State Commission on Old Age Security and the New York State Commission for the Revision of the Tax Laws. Family papers include memorabilia and scrapbooks of press clippings, programs, invitations, and other items relating to Mastick's political career, his service as a naval officer during World War I, and his work with the United Service Organizations and the Army and Navy Department Committee of the National Council of Young Men's Christian Associations during World War II. Correspondents include Herbert H. Lehman and Franklin D. Roosevelt. less

Henry J. Raymond was a New York politician and the first editor of the New York Times. He founded the New-York Daily Times in 1851 with George Jones and Edward B. Wesley. The collection consists of correspondence, legal documents, articles, and speeches. The correspondence consists mainly of letters written to Henry J. Raymond from notable people of the time regarding politics. less