Representative Mitchell May

Mitchell May (July 10, 1870 – March 24, 1961) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from New York who served one term as a United States Representative from 1899 to 1901. Over the course of his long life, he was active in the legal profession and public affairs during a period of significant political and social change in the United States.

Born on July 10, 1870, May came of age in the post–Civil War era, a time when New York was rapidly expanding in population, commerce, and political influence. Details of his early family life and upbringing are sparse in the historical record, but his subsequent legal and political career indicates that he received a solid preparatory education that enabled him to enter the legal profession and participate in public life at a relatively young age.

May pursued legal studies and qualified for admission to the bar, establishing himself as an attorney in New York. As an American lawyer, he practiced during a transformative period in the state’s legal and commercial development, when questions of industrial regulation, urban growth, and immigration increasingly came before the courts and legislatures. His work as a lawyer provided the professional foundation and public visibility that facilitated his entry into elective office.

A member of the Democratic Party, May was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New York and served in the Fifty-sixth Congress from 1899 to 1901. His single term in Congress coincided with a significant period in American history, following the Spanish–American War and during the nation’s emergence as an imperial and industrial power. As a member of the House of Representatives, Mitchell May participated in the legislative process, took part in debates of the era, and represented the interests of his New York constituents in the federal government. During this time, he contributed to the democratic process by engaging in the consideration of national policy at the turn of the twentieth century.

After leaving Congress in 1901, May returned to private life and continued his work as a lawyer and public figure in New York. Although he did not again serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, his legal career and experience in national office kept him connected to civic and political affairs in the state. He lived through both World Wars, the Great Depression, and major shifts in American political life, remaining part of a generation that bridged the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Mitchell May died on March 24, 1961, closing a life that spanned more than ninety years and encompassed service as an attorney, Democratic Party officeholder, and one-term Representative from New York in the United States Congress.