28 Facts About Irving Ives

Irving McNeil Ives was an American politician and founding dean of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Irving Ives was previously a member of the New York State Assembly for sixteen years, serving as Minority Leader, Speaker, and Majority Leader.

Irving Ives was born in Bainbridge, New York, to George Albert and Lucie Hough Ives.

Irving Ives's ancestors came from England to the United States, where they settled in Boston, Massachusetts in 1635; they later helped found Quinnipiac Colony in 1638, and lived in Vermont before moving to New York in 1795.

Irving Ives's father worked in the coal and feed business.

Irving Ives received his early education at public schools in Bainbridge and Oneonta, graduating from Oneonta High School in 1914.

Irving Ives attended Hamilton College for two years before enlisting in the US Army following the entry of the United States into World War I in 1917.

Irving Ives participated in the Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel campaigns and was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant in 1919.

Irving Ives then resumed his studies at Hamilton, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1920 and graduated as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Irving Ives worked as a bank clerk for Guaranty Trust Company in New York City from 1920 to 1923, earning $25 per week.

Irving Ives remained with Manufacturers Trust until 1930, when he entered the general insurance business in Norwich.

Irving Ives was reelected many times and remained in the Assembly until 1946, sitting in the 153rd, 154th, 155th, 156th, 157th, 158th, 159th, 160th, 161st, 162nd, 163rd, 164th and 165th New York State Legislatures.

Irving Ives was Minority Leader in 1935 and Speaker in 1936.

Irving Ives served in that position from 1937 to 1946.

From 1938 to 1946, Irving Ives was chairman of the State Joint Legislative Committee on Industrial and Labor Conditions.

In that position he earned nationwide attention for sponsoring the Irving Ives-Quinn Act of 1945, the first state law to prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of race, creed, color, or national origin.

Irving Ives introduced legislation to create the state Department of Commerce and to establish the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, of which he was dean from 1945 to 1947.

Irving Ives served as a member of the New York State War Council, chairman of New York State Temporary Commission Against Discrimination, and chairman of the New York State Temporary Commission on Agriculture.

In 1946, when Democratic incumbent James M Mead decided to run for Governor of New York, Ives successfully ran for Mead's seat in the United States Senate.

Irving Ives faced former Governor Lehman in the general election, during which he became the first Republican to be endorsed by the New York American Federation of Labor.

Irving Ives served as a delegate to the 1948 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which nominated his friend and fellow liberal New Yorker Thomas E Dewey.

Irving Ives received the largest number of votes hitherto ever won by a candidate in New York, carrying all but three of the state's 62 counties.

In 1954, Irving Ives unsuccessfully ran to succeed Dewey as governor of New York.

Irving Ives was a delegate to the 1956 Republican National Convention in San Francisco, California.

In 1958, Irving Ives declined to seek a third term in the Senate.

Irving Ives died at Chenango Memorial Hospital in Norwich, New York at age 66.

Irving Ives is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Bainbridge, New York.

Irving Ives is remembered with his desk in the permanent collections of the Chenango County Historical Society.