Why did Alfred E. Smith veto the Long Beach Association of Orient's request to add female taxpayers to their voting ranks?

《Click on the images to view the full image, as well as a transcript》

Title of Long Beach Association Logbook #3. From the Oysterponds Historical Society's Document Collection.³

The Long Beach Association

The Long Beach Association (LBA) was formed by 32 residents of Orient in 1774 to preserve the land of Long Beach and its many uses. It was officially recognized by New York State in 1807.¹ The initial purpose was to oversee the cost to rent land, decide who would use the pastures, and to support community projects with its earnings. They received nearly all of their revenue from renting to the Atlantic Oil and Guano Company (later known as the Orient Guano Company), a fishing/farming company that needed access to the beach. They initially charged $500 per year in 1865, but rose to $1000 per year in about 1875. Due to the price increase, the company they were renting to went out of business in 1895.²

The Basis of Contract for Leasing Long Beach, which was proposed by Edwin King. From the Oysterponds Historical Society's Document Collection.⁴

The Vote

In 1927, Edwin King proposed to purchase and develop Long Beach, intending to build bungalows along the beach.¹ Doing this would cause the LBA to lose a majority of their income, and make it effectively irrelevant. The trustees voted, and it was ultimately decided, 11-9, to accept King's offer.¹

The Controversy

Although women already possessed the right to vote (for seven years), during the King vote only the male trustees could vote. This left female taxpayers unable to directly voice their concerns about losing the beach. The reason? The Association's Document of Formation which states that only male taxpayers were able to vote, despite women being active members in the community.¹

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the U.S. From the National Archives.⁵

A telegram written by Lillian Stern against Edwin King's proposal. From the Oysterponds Historical Society's Document Collection.⁶

Backlash & Revote

The women of Long Beach, understandably, felt frustrated at their exclusion from the King vote. The community likely felt that this was unfair, and, ultimately, a revote was called. In this vote, all male members were allowed to vote, not just trustees - but, still no women. This vote ended with the rejection of King's proposal, 49-29.¹

Notably, the revote itself was unprecedented, because it was called by the community and required a rare special meeting.¹ This goes to show the effect that a lightning rod issue, like exclusionary practices, can have on a small community, and how it nearly begs progress to come forth. A telegram,⁶ written by a woman who was against the proposal, along with a petition signed by a majority of the women in Orient, were even read aloud and entered into the record. ⁷ However, the initial vote and its effects were not entirely over!

A petition signed by many women from Orient against the Leasing of Long Beach, due to the Basis of Contract. From the Oysterponds Historical Society's Document Collection.⁷

The Power of Community

A year after King's proposal was rejected, a second petition was created and signed by 13 women in the Association requesting that female taxpayers be allowed to vote. Surprisingly, the trustees actually agreed with the request! The members of the Association moved forward and lobbied the New York State Legislature to change the Association's founding document to allow women to vote in 1928.¹

Painting of Alfred E. Smith. From Empire State Plaza & New York State Capitol.⁹

Alfred E. Smith

Alfred E. Smith was the Governor of New York (1923-1928) at the time that the LBA lobbied the New York State Legislature. He was a member of the Democratic Party and was considered very proggressive for his time. He championed women's rights, especially their right to vote, which is likely why many women supported him during the 1928 election.⁸ However, he would make a decision that, according to the above examples, makes no sense.

The Decision

The LBA's lobbying of the NYS Legislature worked! So well, in fact, that it ended up on the desk of Governor Smith.¹ According to his beliefs regarding women, it seemed like a clear-cut course of action: sign the bill, so that taxpaying women could vote within the LBA! However, Governor Alfred E. Smith returned a veto, denying the LBA's request.¹ The question remains, though: Why?

Picture of Robert Moses. From the Library of Congress.¹¹

Robert Moses

Robert Moses is one of the most influential and controversial figures in the history of New York. Before he had truly made a name for himself as the "master builder", he worked for Alfred E. Smith as his assistant. This is where he received a foundational knowledge on the inner workings of state government - and, perhaps, how to manipulate it. Smith and Moses grew quite close, and when Smith was Governor he made Moses the Secretary of State of New York (1927-1929).¹⁰

Influence

Moses and Smith's relationship, importantly, was not a manipulative one. Although Moses was perceived as a very cunning person, he seemed to truly want to help Smith. This was evidenced by Moses choosing to support Smith, instead of FDR (who was more likely to win) for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.¹⁰ Smith made Moses the head of the Long Island State Park Commission in 1924, one of the things he is best known for - controversial or not.

Why the Veto?

One reason for Governor Smith's veto is that he believed that creating lots of parks would improve his likelihood of being elected president, which is why he whole-heartedly supported Moses and the Commission.¹⁰ Another possible reason for this is that Moses influenced him in his decision. If he did influence him, it would have been for his own benefit as well as Smith's: the more State Parks he created the more power Moses gained. Moses likely knew about the role of women in the LBA's rejection of King's proposal, and worried that, with women voting, he would not be able to get Long Beach for the Commission. This could have made him suggest that Smith veto the bill, despite it going against Smith's previous achievements in women's rights.

Result & Acquisition

In 1929, the trustees of the LBA decided to deed the land to the Long Island State Park Commission and the State of New York after a vote, without women.¹ That being said, it is important to note that there is no evidence that women opposed this. Enough time had passed that FDR was now Governor, and Smith ultimately lost his election bid. This means that, effectively, the only one who got what he wanted was Moses, whose power would grow exponentially.¹⁰ The LBA was dissolved in 1955, although many of the same families that were a part of the LBA still live there. See relevant images from the Governor's office and State Park Commission below.

(Both) Long Beach Association Minutes from the special meeting debating whether or not to give the State the land, as well as the vote itself. From the Oysterponds Historical Society's Document Collection.¹²

The following 4 images are in a image carousel, which can be cycled through using the arrows. The images in the carousel are not clickable, but the map is.

Orient State Park Map. From OHS.¹⁶

One Key Takeaway

The biggest takeaway from this is that the women of the LBA, despite being unable to vote on any issues, still caused a great change within their community. They managed to cause a special meeting and revote regarding King's proposal, and got the LBA to lobby the NYS Legislature. Their actions regarding the King vote might have prompted Robert Moses into asking Alfred E. Smith to veto the LBA's request out of fear that they could interfere in his plan to get Long Beach. This was impressive because Robert Moses was known to be the intimidator, and not the intimidated. This truly shows how impactful a tightly woven community, along with a group of people that are passionate about something, can be!

Special thanks to The Oysterponds Historical Society for allowing me access to their document collection and granting me permission to use pictures of the documents. Special thanks to Amy Folk (Archivist and Town Historian) for her help and Mr. Holzapfel for his support of this project!

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