1949–1950 Massachusetts legislature

The 156th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1949 and 1950 during the governorship of Paul A. Dever. Chester A. Dolan Jr. and Harris S. Richardson served as presidents of the Senate. Thomas P. O'Neill served as speaker of the House.^[4]

156th Massachusetts General Court
← 155th 157th →
Overview
Legislative body	General Court
Term	January 5, 1949 (1949-01-05) – August 19, 1950 (1950-08-19) [1]
Senate
Members	40 [2]
President	Chester A. Dolan Jr., Harris S. Richardson
Party control	20-20 Republican/Democrat[2]
House
Members	240 [3]
Speaker	Thomas P. O'Neill
Party control	Democrat[3]

Chester Dolan, Senate president.

Harris Richardson, Senate president.

Tip O'Neill, House speaker.

Leaders of the Massachusetts General Court, 1949-1950.

In 1949, after 90 years of Republican control of the House, Democrats gained a majority.^[5] In 1950, the General Court passed a bill prohibiting racial discrimination or segregation in housing.^[6]

Senators

portrait	name [4]	date of birth [7]	district [7]
	Philip Griggs Bowker	April 17, 1899
	Ralph Vester Clampit	March 28, 1896	1st Hampden
	John W. Coddaire Jr.
	Michael H. Condron
	James J. Corbett	November 27, 1896
	Leslie Bradley Cutler	March 24, 1890
	Chester A. Dolan Jr.	September 20, 1907
	George Jelly Evans	February 4, 1909
	Michael A. Flanagan	February 21, 1890
	William Daniel Fleming	April 14, 1907
	Richard I. Furbush	January 4, 1904
	William C. Geary	October 29, 1899
	Joseph Francis Gibney	January 9, 1911
	Cornelius F. Haley	July 15, 1875
	Charles V. Hogan	April 12, 1897
	Newland H. Holmes	August 30, 1891
	Charles John Innes	June 1, 1901
	William Joseph Keenan
	Richard Henry Lee	December 20, 1901
	Ralph Lerche	August 19, 1899
	Michael LoPresti	June 25, 1908
	John D. Mackay	April 7, 1872
	Ralph Collins Mahar	January 4, 1912
	Harry P. McAllister	April 25, 1880
	Joseph A. Melley	March 1, 1902
	Charles Gardner Miles	December 2, 1879
	William E. Nolen
	Daniel Francis O'Brien
	Francis J. O'Neil
	Charles William Olson	August 24, 1889
	Edward C. Peirce	March 7, 1895
	Christopher H. Phillips	December 6, 1920
	John E. Powers	November 10, 1910
	Harris S. Richardson	January 10, 1887
	George W. Stanton
	Edward William Staves	May 9, 1887
	Edward C. Stone	June 29, 1878
	Charles I. Taylor	November 25, 1899
	William Emmet White	June 1, 1900
	Sumner G. Whittier	July 4, 1911

Representatives

portrait	name [4]	date of birth [7]	district [7]
	Frank Haskell Allen	October 12, 1877	7th Worcester
	Richard James Allen	June 22, 1909
	Horace Thurber Aplington
	John A. Armstrong	June 12, 1901
	Charles J. Artesani
	John George Asiaf	June 30, 1900
	Joseph A. Aspero
	Josiah Babcock Jr.	May 21, 1880
	Everett Breed Bacheller	August 24, 1895
	Earle S. Bagley	January 20, 1905
	Cyrus Barnes	August 23, 1889
	Michael J. Batal	September 8, 1898
	James C. Bayley	October 28, 1908
	Raymond H. Beach	August 11, 1888
	Angelo Vincent Berlandi
	G. Leo Bessette	September 23, 1906
	Rodolphe G. Bessette	September 14, 1911
	Charles A. Bisbee Jr.	June 8, 1918
	Fred Arthur Blake	January 13, 1895
	Belden Bly	September 29, 1914
	Frank Edwin Boot	November 8, 1905
	Everett Murray Bowker	September 17, 1901
	Gerald Timothy Bowler
	Gordon Dickson Boynton	August 9, 1901
	Manassah E. Bradley	September 15, 1900
	Jeremiah Francis Brennan
	Daniel Joseph Bresnahan	September 30, 1888
	John Cornelius Bresnahan	November 14, 1919
	Clarence B. Brown	December 22, 1877
	Frank Eben Brown	January 14, 1890
	John D. Brown	January 30, 1900
	John Brox	November 16, 1910
	James J. Bruin	October 31, 1898
	James A. Burke (Massachusetts politician)	March 30, 1910
	Harland Burke	April 22, 1888
	Philip Courtland Burr
	Oscar Josiah Cahoon	April 29, 1912
	Colin James Cameron	August 24, 1879
	Eldridge Earl Campbell
	Harold Wilson Canavan	May 13, 1915
	William F. Carr	August 4, 1910
	Daniel Casey	May 7, 1890
	Francis X. Casey
	Michael Catino	February 21, 1904
	Harrison Chadwick	February 25, 1903
	Wendell Phillips Chamberlain	October 28, 1911
	Philip Aloysius Chapman
	Thomas Francis Coady Jr.	May 8, 1905
	John F. Collins	July 20, 1919	10th Suffolk
	Dana S. Collins
	J. Everett Collins	April 27, 1894
	James Francis Condon	February 4, 1899
	Joseph T. Conley
	Louis Benedict Connors
	T. Edward Corbett
	Leo Joseph Cournoyer	December 11, 1905
	George Chauncey Cousens	September 20, 1905
	William A. Cowing	January 6, 1878
	James J. Craven, Jr.	March 24, 1919
	Walter A. Cuffe	January 29, 1898
	Joseph Henry Cullen
	John G. Curley
	Sidney Curtiss	September 4, 1917
	George Walter Dean
	Ernest DeRoy	July 13, 1889
	Edward DeSaulnier	January 8, 1921
	Cornelius Desmond	October 4, 1893
	Logan Rockwell Dickie	May 4, 1890
	Vincent B. Dignam	February 22, 1896
	William T. Dillon Jr.
	Edmund Dinis	October 4, 1924
	William P. Di Vitto
	Thomas J. Doherty	August 25, 1919
	Francis Clifton Dolan
	Maurice A. Donahue	September 12, 1918
	Edmond J. Donlan	December 19, 1899
	Anthony R. Doyle	August 8, 1895
	Charles D. Driscoll	June 18, 1888
	Henry M. Duggan	October 5, 1896
	Ernest W. Dullea	January 14, 1891
	Philip J. Durkin	October 21, 1903
	Thomas Edward Enright	August 1, 1881
	Andrew E. Faulkner	September 23, 1913
	Michael Paul Feeney	March 26, 1907
	Charles E. Ferguson	January 30, 1894
	John Charles Fiore
	Maurice Edward Fitzgerald
	Peter F. Fitzgerald	February 16, 1889
	John J. Fitzpatrick
	Norman Eugene Folsom	December 23, 1903
	Stephen L. French	March 9, 1892
	George Fuller	July 24, 1893
	Francis Thomas Gallagher
	John L. Gallant
	Peter B. Gay	July 13, 1915
	Charles Gibbons	July 21, 1901
	Frank S. Giles	June 15, 1915
	Avery W. Gilkerson	June 5, 1899
	Louis Harry Glaser	June 15, 1910
	William A. Glynn
	Hollis M. Gott	May 25, 1885
	Joseph Patrick Graham	August 22, 1902
	Thomas T. Gray	July 22, 1892
	George Greene	March 7, 1897
	Frederick C. Haigis	May 10, 1903
	Frederick Clement Hailer Jr.
	James Edward Hannon
	Francis Appleton Harding	1908
	Fred C. Harrington	April 21, 1902
	William E. Hays	November 28, 1903
	Charles W. Hedges	March 27, 1901
	James Alan Hodder
	Charles F. Holman	June 21, 1892
	J. Philip Howard	February 16, 1907
	Richard Lester Hull	November 30, 1917
	Nathaniel M. Hurwitz	March 24, 1893
	Fred A. Hutchinson	April 5, 1881
	William Whittem Jenness	April 3, 1904
	Adolph Johnson	July 20, 1885
	Ernest A. Johnson	March 13, 1897
	Stanley Everett Johnson	October 4, 1911
	Allan Francis Jones	June 29, 1921
	Peter John Jordan	July 23, 1910
	Francis Xavier Joyce
	Charles Kaplan	September 26, 1895
	Clarence Karelitz
	Warren Charles Karner
	Henry E. Keenan
	Alfred B. Keith	November 26, 1893
	Francis Joseph Kelley	March 21, 1890
	Thomas E. Key
	Cornelius F. Kiernan	August 15, 1917
	Philip Kimball	June 6, 1918
	Bernard M. Lally
	Edmund Vincent Lane	August 31, 1893
	Joseph F. Leahy
	Francis W. Lindstrom	December 18, 1898
	Louis Lobel	August 10, 1911
	Gerald P. Lombard	January 4, 1916
	William Longworth	August 17, 1914
	Raymond Joseph Lord
	C. Gerald Lucey	September 8, 1913
	John F. Lynch	January 26, 1890
	John Pierce Lynch	April 19, 1924
	Arthur Ulton Mahan	June 18, 1900
	Vincent Ambrose Mannering	July 11, 1912
	Philip M. Markley	March 28, 1897
	George Francis Martin Jr.
	Michael J. McCarthy (politician)	October 23, 1890
	Frank D. McCarthy
	Paul Andrew McCarthy	December 23, 1902
	Joseph F. McEvoy Jr.	April 27, 1918
	Timothy J. McInerney
	Francis H. McNamara
	William E. McNamara
	Joseph A. Milano	April 8, 1883
	Sherman Miles	December 5, 1882
	Arthur William Milne	March 28, 1908
	Wilfred S. Mirsky	September 14, 1906
	Charles A. Mullaly Jr.	September 28, 1910
	Edward J. Mulligan	February 8, 1907
	Robert F. Murphy (politician)	January 24, 1899
	Cornelius Joseph Murray	August 19, 1890
	Harold Clinton Nagle	July 27, 1917
	Louis K. Nathanson
	James Anthony O'Brien	October 27, 1886
	William Thomas O'Brien	December 2, 1889
	John Henry O'Connor Jr.	December 9, 1917
	James O'Dea Jr.	August 25, 1922
	George Henry O'Farrell	November 15, 1910
	Louis F. O'Keefe	June 12, 1895
	Tip O'Neill	December 9, 1912
	John J. O'Rourke	June 26, 1916
	Frank B. Oliveira
	Harold A. Palmer	October 15, 1906
	Raymond P. Palmer	December 27, 1895
	Anthony Parenzo
	Eben Parsons
	Clark Brownson Partridge	August 26, 1878
	Charles Louis Patrone	March 17, 1914
	Antone Perreira
	Michael P. Pessolano
	Henry W. Pickford
	Gabriel Piemonte	January 28, 1909
	Patrick Francis Plunkett	March 21, 1917
	George William Porter	November 6, 1885
	Harvey Armand Pothier	September 6, 1901
	Meyer Pressman	February 11, 1907
	Harold Putnam (Massachusetts politician)	February 15, 1916
	Andrew P. Quigley	January 13, 1926
	Philip Andrew Quinn	February 21, 1910
	George E. Rawson	December 6, 1886
	Thomas Francis Reilly	August 12, 1903
	Hibbard Richter	April 12, 1899
	Joseph N. Roach	March 22, 1883
	Albert E. Roberts	November 22, 1875
	Daniel Rudsten
	Richard August Ruether	August 28, 1896
	Howard S. Russell	July 28, 1887
	Kendall Ainsworth Sanderson
	William Henry Sears Jr.	July 14, 1875
	A. John Serino	March 13, 1906
	John M. Shea	December 8, 1902
	Arthur Joseph Sheehan	March 16, 1897
	Robert T. Sisson	February 21, 1881
	Michael F. Skerry	January 3, 1909
	Charles J. Skladzien
	Roy C. Smith	January 28, 1890
	H. Edward Snow	April 25, 1914
	Margaret Spear	August 10, 1882
	Jeremiah Joseph Sullivan	March 9, 1905
	Ralph Warren Sullivan
	William F. Sullivan	August 26, 1905
	Joseph A. Sylvia Jr.	September 16, 1903
	Edmond Talbot Jr.	June 1, 1898
	Clarence F. Telford
	John F. Thompson (politician)	May 20, 1920
	Nathaniel Tilden	November 3, 1903
	Robert Xavier Tivnan	June 9, 1924
	Harold Tompkins	August 23, 1887
	John Joseph Toomey	March 25, 1909
	James Joseph Twohig Jr.	May 2, 1908
	Earle Stanley Tyler	December 18, 1896
	Mario Umana	May 5, 1914
	Theodore Jack Vaitses	May 8, 1901
	John W. Vaughan	March 20, 1878
	William X. Wall	July 1, 1904
	Joseph Francis Walsh	February 9, 1907
	Joseph D. Ward	March 26, 1914
	John Cummings Webster Jr.
	Norman F. Wellen
	Malcolm Stuart White
	Howard J. Whitmore Jr.	May 9, 1905
	John S. Whittemore
	Henry D. Winslow	September 24, 1910
	Stanislaus George Wondolowski	August 20, 1909
	Albert E. Wood
	Lawrence Theodore Woolfenden
	Alton Hamilton Worrall	April 20, 1893
	Arthur Eaton Young

See also

• 81st United States Congress
• List of Massachusetts General Courts

References

1. "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
2. "Composition of the Massachusetts State Senate", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
3. "Composition of the State of Massachusetts House of Representatives", Resources on Massachusetts Political Figures in the State Library, Mass.gov, archived from the original on June 6, 2020
4. 1949–1950 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1949 – via Internet Archive.
5. John F. Parker (1985), "Evolution of Massachusetts Party Government (1630's-1980's)", Legislative Life, Its Realities, Facts, Wit & Humor, New Legislators' Orientation, State House, Boston
6. Vale, Lawrence J. (2000). From the Puritans to the Projects: Public Housing and Public Neighbors. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 301–302. ISBN 978-0674025752.
7. "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts, 1949" (PDF), Journal of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts – via State Library of Massachusetts

Further reading

• Court, Massachusetts General (1949). Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. hdl:2452/40789.

External links

• Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1949, hdl:2452/219471
• Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1949, hdl:2452/54342
• Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1950, hdl:2452/238754
• Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1950, hdl:2452/50975