Representative Alfred Noroton Phillips

Alfred Noroton Phillips Jr. (April 23, 1894 – January 18, 1970) was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from Connecticut’s 4th congressional district and a three-term mayor of Stamford, Connecticut. He served one term in Congress from 1937 to 1939, representing his constituents during a significant period in American history marked by the New Deal and the later years of the Great Depression. A member of the Democratic Party, he contributed to the legislative process as part of the Seventy-fifth Congress and participated actively in the democratic governance of both his city and his state.

Phillips was born in Darien, Fairfield County, Connecticut, on April 23, 1894. He attended the public schools of Darien before pursuing further studies at Betts Academy in Stamford, Connecticut, and at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. His early life in coastal Connecticut placed him in close proximity to the communities he would later represent in public office, and he became familiar with both local civic affairs and the region’s commercial life from a young age.

Phillips continued his education at Yale University, from which he graduated in 1917. While at Yale, he was an editor of the campus humor magazine The Yale Record, an experience that reflected both his literary interests and his early engagement with publishing and public communication. His time at Yale coincided with the United States’ entry into World War I, and his graduation year placed him among the cohort of young men who would move quickly from academic life into military service.

During the First World War, Phillips served in the United States Army as a first lieutenant in the Field Artillery in 1917 and 1918, including overseas duty. Following his wartime service, he moved to Stamford, Connecticut, in 1918. He remained active in veterans’ affairs and was elected commander of the American Legion of Connecticut in 1919, underscoring his leadership among former servicemembers in the immediate postwar period. He later continued his military association as a major in the Connecticut National Guard Reserve from 1928 to 1933.

Parallel to his early public and military service, Phillips developed a career in business and publishing. From early youth until 1923 he was employed with the Charles H. Phillips Chemical Co., a firm associated with his family name. Beginning in 1922, he also engaged in the newspaper business as a publisher in Darien, Connecticut, work he would return to after his time in Congress. These business and publishing activities provided him with experience in management, communications, and community affairs that informed his later political career.

Phillips’s formal political career began at the municipal level in Stamford. A Democrat, he served as mayor of Stamford in three distinct periods: from 1923 to 1924, from 1927 to 1928, and from 1935 to 1936. His repeated election to the mayoralty reflected sustained local support and positioned him as a prominent figure in Stamford’s civic life during a time of economic and social change. In addition to his municipal responsibilities, he was active in state party affairs as a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, helping shape Democratic strategy and organization in Connecticut.

Building on his local and state political experience, Phillips was elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-fifth Congress, representing Connecticut’s 4th congressional district. His term in the United States House of Representatives extended from January 3, 1937, to January 3, 1939. During this single term in office, he participated in the legislative process at the federal level and represented the interests of his constituents in southwestern Connecticut at a time when Congress was addressing the continuing effects of the Great Depression and the implementation of New Deal policies. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1938 to the Seventy-sixth Congress, ending his service in the House after one term.

After leaving Congress, Phillips resumed his earlier pursuits in business and agriculture. He returned to his publishing business in Darien, Connecticut, and also managed a dairy farm in Cecilton, Maryland, combining his interests in communications and farming. With the outbreak of World War II, he again entered military service. He was commissioned as a captain in the Military Police of the United States Army and served from July 17, 1942, to August 16, 1944, including service in North Africa. This World War II duty complemented his earlier World War I record and extended his military career across both world conflicts.

In his later years, Phillips divided his time between his Connecticut and Maryland interests. He remained associated with the communities where he had long lived and worked, particularly Stamford and Darien in Connecticut and Cecilton in Maryland. Alfred Noroton Phillips Jr. died in Stamford, Connecticut, on January 18, 1970. He was interred in St. Stephen’s Cemetery in Earleville, Maryland, near his Maryland farm, closing a life that combined military service, business and publishing, and a notable record of public office at the municipal and national levels.