1955–1956 Massachusetts legislature

159th
Massachusetts General Court
159th; Massachusetts General Court
Overview
Legislative body	General Court
Term	January 5, 1955 – October 6, 1956
Senate
Members	40
President	Richard I. Furbush
Party control	Republican
House
Members	240
Speaker	Michael F. Skerry
Party control	Democrat

Last updated January 22, 2024

Richard Furbush, Senate president.

Michael Skerry, House speaker.

Leaders of the Massachusetts General Court, 1955-1956.

The 159th Massachusetts General Court, consisting of the Massachusetts Senate and the Massachusetts House of Representatives, met in 1955 and 1956 during the governorship of Christian Herter. Richard I. Furbush served as president of the Senate and Michael F. Skerry served as speaker of the House.^[4]

Senators

name ^[4]	date of birth ^[6]	district ^[6]
John Adams	May 30, 1915	4th Essex
John Joseph Beades	June 8, 1916
Paul H. Benoit	January 5, 1916
Philip Griggs Bowker	April 17, 1899
Ralph Vester Clampit	March 28, 1896
Silvio O. Conte	November 9, 1921
James J. Corbett	November 27, 1896
Leslie Bradley Cutler	March 24, 1890
Edmund Dinis	October 4, 1924
Maurice A. Donahue	September 12, 1918
George Jelly Evans	February 4, 1909
William Daniel Fleming	April 14, 1907
Mary L. Fonseca	March 30, 1915
Richard I. Furbush	January 4, 1904
Joseph Francis Gibney	January 9, 1911
C. Henry Glovsky	March 26, 1918
Philip A. Graham	May 21, 1910
Charles W. Hedges	March 27, 1901
James W. Hennigan Jr.	March 27, 1927
Charles V. Hogan	April 12, 1897
Newland H. Holmes	August 30, 1891
Charles John Innes	June 1, 1901
Hastings Keith	November 22, 1915
Fred I. Lamson	December 11, 1910
Richard Henry Lee	December 20, 1901
Ralph Lerche	August 19, 1899
Harold R. Lundgren	May 22, 1894
Ralph Collins Mahar	January 4, 1912
Francis X. McCann	September 2, 1912
Frederick T. McDermott	November 20, 1906
Charles William Olson	August 24, 1889
John Francis Parker	May 29, 1907
John E. Powers	November 10, 1910
Albert S. Previte Jr.	September 26, 1928
Andrew P. Quigley	January 13, 1926
Daniel Rudsten
Elizabeth Stanton	May 27, 1909
Edward C. Stone	June 29, 1878
Mario Umana	May 5, 1914
Patrick John F. Walsh Jr.	July 2, 1915

Representatives

name ^[4]	date of birth ^[6]	district ^[6]
Frank Haskell Allen	October 12, 1877	7th Worcester
Leonard H. Amoroso	February 14, 1897
Charles H. Anthony	July 6, 1893
Ernest W. April	January 15, 1915
John A. Armstrong	June 12, 1901
Charles J. Artesani
John George Asiaf	June 30, 1900
John Robert Ayers	February 18, 1911
Clifton H. Baker	November 28, 1878
Cyrus Barnes	August 23, 1889
Fred A. Baumeister	September 24, 1892
James C. Bayley	October 28, 1908
Raymond H. Beach	August 11, 1888
Rene R. Bernardin	July 24, 1910
Charles A. Bisbee Jr.	June 8, 1918
Fred Arthur Blake	January 13, 1895
Carlton H. Bliss	August 7, 1900
Belden Bly	September 29, 1914
Frank Edwin Boot	November 8, 1905
Samuel Joseph Boudreau
Gordon Dickson Boynton	August 9, 1901
Malcolm Blanchard Boynton	November 13, 1894
G. Edward Bradley	October 21, 1906
Rene A. Brassard	August 5, 1917
John Cornelius Bresnahan	November 14, 1919
Frank Eben Brown	January 14, 1890
John D. Brown	January 30, 1900
John Brox	November 16, 1910
John Patrick Buckley	1906
William Francis Burke	February 12, 1925
Pasquale Caggiano	August 31, 1909
Oscar Josiah Cahoon	April 29, 1912
Gardner E. Campbell	November 22, 1886
John J. Campbell	August 26, 1922
Harold Wilson Canavan	May 13, 1915
Michael Herbert Cantwell	May 2, 1905
Richard Caples	December 23, 1921
Charles W. Capraro	November 2, 1920
Michael Joseph Carroll	June 21, 1891
Ralph W. Cartwright Jr.	October 5, 1920
John Joseph Cavanaugh	December 16, 1921
Harrison Chadwick	February 25, 1903
Wendell Phillips Chamberlain	October 28, 1911
Amelio Della Chiesa	July 31, 1901
Stephen Thomas Chmura	August 25, 1916
Thomas Francis Coady Jr.	May 8, 1905
Anthony M. Colonna	May 2, 1916
Harry Coltun
George Raymand Como	July 3, 1912
James Francis Condon	February 4, 1899
Joseph T. Conley
William Augustine Connell, Jr	November 17, 1922
John W. Costello	April 20, 1927
Leo Joseph Cournoyer	December 11, 1905
William A. Cowing	January 6, 1878
Wallace Boyd Crawford	November 19, 1908
John Francis Cremens
Sidney Curtiss	September 4, 1917
John A. Davis	May 9, 1912
John Davoren	July 27, 1915
James DeNormandie	November 10, 1907
Domenic Victor DePari	October 27, 1910
Wilfred Adolphus Derosier	March 2, 1908
Edward DeSaulnier	January 8, 1921
Cornelius Desmond	October 4, 1893
Theophile Jean DesRoches	June 27, 1902
William P. Di Vitto
Thomas J. Doherty	August 25, 1919
John F. Dolan	September 7, 1922
James R. Doncaster	January 28, 1919
Edmond J. Donlan	December 19, 1899
Allison Rice Dorman	December 1, 1879
Charles Robert Doyle	September 24, 1925
John T. Driscoll	October 26, 1925
Charles E. Luke Driscoll	October 1, 1909
Philip J. Durkin	October 21, 1903
John Marshall Eaton Jr.	March 26, 1918
Thomas Edward Enright	August 1, 1881
Manuel Faria	March 7, 1906
C. Eugene Farnam	December 31, 1916
Thomas F. Farrell	October 10, 1897
Michael Paul Feeney	March 26, 1907
Lawrence F. Feloney	September 11, 1921
Charles E. Ferguson	January 30, 1894
William H. Finnegan	March 29, 1926
Thomas M. Flaherty	September 6, 1903
Stephen L. French	March 9, 1892
Peter B. Gay	July 13, 1915
Charles Gibbons	July 21, 1901
Donald Linwood Gibbs	August 7, 1904
Frank S. Giles	June 15, 1915
Louis Harry Glaser	June 15, 1910
Edwin Daniel Gorman	November 19, 1912
Hollis M. Gott	May 25, 1885
Joseph Patrick Graham	August 22, 1902
Thomas T. Gray	July 22, 1892
George Greene	March 7, 1897
Thomas J. Hannon	December 9, 1900
Francis Appleton Harding	1908
Fred C. Harrington	April 21, 1902
William E. Hays	November 28, 1903
Arthur Graham Heaney	July 7, 1908
Francis J. Hickey, Jr.	March 7, 1928
George W. Hill	September 15, 1888
Paul L. Hinckley	August 16, 1910
Isaac Alexander Hodgen	March 28, 1907
Olaf Hoff Jr.	January 11, 1892
Herbert B. Hollis	September 10, 1899
Charles F. Holman	June 21, 1892
J. Philip Howard	February 16, 1907
Richard Lester Hull	November 30, 1917
Walter Forbes Hurlburt	February 18, 1917
Nathaniel M. Hurwitz	March 24, 1893
Fred A. Hutchinson	April 5, 1881
Christopher A. Iannella	May 29, 1913
Charles Iannello	April 25, 1906
John Peter Ivascyn	October 19, 1909
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
Abraham Herbert Kahalas
Sumner Z. Kaplan	February 3, 1920
William Francis Keenan	January 8, 1921
Charles T. Kelleher	July 26, 1912
James H. Kelly	October 15, 1919
Archibald E. Kenefick	November 4, 1896
Edward L. Kerr	March 6, 1909
Cornelius F. Kiernan	August 15, 1917
Philip Kimball	June 6, 1918
William James Kingston	October 17, 1909
William Walter Kirlin	May 13, 1897
Thomas Edward Kitchen	December 16, 1924
Freyda Koplow	October 26, 1907
Edmund Vincent Lane	August 31, 1893
John Joseph Lawless	July 15, 1912
James R. Lawton	October 20, 1925
Carter Lee	July 3, 1907
Francis W. Lindstrom	December 18, 1898
Thomas Francis Linehan	November 23, 1905
Gerald P. Lombard	January 4, 1916
William Longworth	August 17, 1914
Arthur Ulton Mahan	June 18, 1900
Francis Joseph Marr	October 10, 1927
Charles Sumner Marston 3d	June 16, 1921
Rico Matera	June 21, 1917
Joseph F. McEvoy Jr.	April 27, 1918
Hugh J. McLaughlin	September 27, 1915
John P. McMorrow	September 19, 1926
Wilfred S. Mirsky	September 14, 1906
Joe Moakley	April 27, 1927
William Dix Morton Jr.	November 5, 1904
Charles A. Mullaly Jr.	September 28, 1910
John E. Murphy	February 13, 1900
Cornelius Joseph Murray	August 19, 1890
Harold Clinton Nagle	July 27, 1917
Thomas M. Newth	March 15, 1911
Leo James Normandin	December 14, 1922
William F. Nourse	September 12, 1922
James Anthony O'Brien	October 27, 1886
Walter Wilson O'Brien	October 14, 1910
David J. O'Connor	November 9, 1924
Thomas J. O'Connor	July 27, 1925
John Henry O'Connor Jr.	December 9, 1917
James O'Dea Jr.	August 25, 1922
George Henry O'Farrell	November 15, 1910
Joseph Michael O'Loughlin	November 26, 1914
John J. O'Rourke	June 26, 1916
Daniel Matthew O'Sullivan	August 17, 1921
Frank B. Oliveira
Harold A. Palmer	October 15, 1906
Charles Louis Patrone	March 17, 1914
Charles W. Patterson	January 30, 1917
Patrick Francis Plunkett	March 21, 1917
Michael A. Porrazzo	June 2, 1913
George William Porter	November 6, 1885
Harvey Armand Pothier	September 6, 1901
Harold Putnam (Massachusetts politician)	February 15, 1916
Philip Andrew Quinn	February 21, 1910
William I. Randall	September 13, 1915
George E. Rawson	December 6, 1886
Frank G. Rico	June 2, 1912
William H. J. Rowan	June 21, 1879
Richard August Ruether	August 28, 1896
Roger A. Sala	August 8, 1893
Joseph Douglas Saulnier	April 14, 1906
Anthony James Scalli	November 11, 1914
Anthony M. Scibelli	October 16, 1911
John Ralph Sennott Jr.	April 22, 1910
John Ellsworth Sheldon	August 17, 1909
Joseph Silvano	March 1, 1909
Michael John Simonelli	May 9, 1913
J. Roger Sisson	August 14, 1921
Michael F. Skerry	January 3, 1909
Thomas J. Slack	February 10, 1914
Fletcher Smith Jr.	May 20, 1918
George T. Smith	March 18, 1888
Leo Sontag	August 16, 1922
Anthony William Spadafora	October 20, 1924
George I. Spatcher	February 2, 1902
C. Clifford Stone	August 20, 1897
Franklin Sturgis Jr.	October 18, 1883
William Christopher Sullivan	October 13, 1924
Joseph A. Sylvia	August 19, 1892
Joseph A. Sylvia Jr.	September 16, 1903
Alvin C. Tamkin	June 19, 1924
Armand N. Tancrati	May 3, 1914
Frank Daniel Tanner	February 3, 1888
Duncan Forbes Thayer	February 14, 1900
John F. Thompson (politician)	May 20, 1920
George Hawley Thompson	June 8, 1917
Irene Thresher	July 6, 1900
Nathaniel Tilden	November 3, 1903
Robert Xavier Tivnan	June 9, 1924
John Joseph Toomey	March 25, 1909
Herbert Tuckerman	May 2, 1921
Earle Stanley Tyler	December 18, 1896
John Taylor Tynan	June 7, 1920
Theodore Jack Vaitses	May 8, 1901
William X. Wall	July 1, 1904
Joseph Francis Walsh	February 9, 1907
Barclay H. Warburton III	February 5, 1922
Joseph D. Ward	March 26, 1914
Martha Ware	October 6, 1917
Chester H. Waterous	November 18, 1905
Norman S. Weinberg	1919
Philip F. Whitmore	September 10, 1892
Charles E. Wilkinson	December 26, 1883
Joseph Wisniowski	March 1, 1918
Thomas Casmere Wojtkowski	September 18, 1926
Stanislaus George Wondolowski	August 20, 1909
Alton Hamilton Worrall	April 20, 1893
John Yerxa	April 23, 1904
Albert H. Zabriskie	December 7, 1917
John F. Zamparelli	December 13, 1922
Paul G. Zollo	August 26, 1904

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References

↑ "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.
1 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
↑ "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
1 2 3 1955–1956 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1955 – via Internet Archive.
↑ Index of Special Reports Authorized by the General Court 1900-1988 (PDF) (6th ed.), Massachusetts Legislative Research Bureau, 1989, A Word About the Research Bureau
1 2 3 4 "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts, 1955" (PDF), Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts– via State Library of Massachusetts

External links

Photo of William Randolph Hearst Jr. speaking to members of the legislature, March 31, 1955
Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1955, hdl:2452/238759
Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1955, hdl:2452/50972
Massachusetts General Court, Bills (Legislative Documents) and Journals: 1956, hdl:2452/238760
Massachusetts Acts and Resolves: 1956, hdl:2452/40893

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[1] "Length of Legislative Sessions". Manual for the Use of the General Court. Boston: Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 2009. p. 348+.

[CompSenate-2] 1 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

[CompHouse-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

[Officers-4] 1 2 3 1955–1956 Public Officers of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 1955 – via Internet Archive.

[5] Index of Special Reports Authorized by the General Court 1900-1988 (PDF) (6th ed.), Massachusetts Legislative Research Bureau, 1989, A Word About the Research Bureau

[Register-6] 1 2 3 4 "Annual Register of the Executive and Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts, 1955" (PDF), Journal of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts– via State Library of Massachusetts

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v t e Government of Massachusetts
Legislative	General Court Senate (Members, President) House of Representatives (Members, Speaker)
Executive	Governor (List) Lt. Governor Attorney General Auditor Secretary of the Commonwealth Treasurer and Receiver-General Office for Administration and Finance Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Department of Higher Education Emergency Management Agency Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Department of Environmental Protection Department of Revenue Office of Health and Human Services Office of Housing and Economic Development Office of Labor and Workforce Development Department of Mental Health Department of Public Health Office of Public Safety and Security Department of Public Utilities Department of Transportation Department of Youth Services
Judicial	Boston Municipal Court District Court Superior Court Land Court Juvenile Court Housing Court Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Appeals Court (Judges) Supreme Judicial Court Essex Probate and Family Court Middlesex Probate and Family Court
Independent agencies	Board of Library Commissioners Commission Against Discrimination Commission on the Status of Women Disabled Persons Protection Commission Massachusetts Appellate Tax Board Massachusetts District Attorneys Massachusetts Inspector General Office of Campaign and Political Finance Office of the Comptroller Massachusetts Sheriffs State Ethics Commission
Law	Constitution General Laws Code of Massachusetts Regulations Abortion Alcohol Cannabis Capital punishment Crime Elder law Gambling Gun laws LGBT rights Taxation

1955–1956 Massachusetts legislature

Contents

Senators

Representatives

See also

Related Research Articles

References

Further reading

External links