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Summary
- Abstract:
- The Max Berking Papers, 1964-1965 collection contains materials related to Max Berking's service in the New York State Senate from 1964 to 1965.
- Extent:
- 3.6 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Max Berking Papers, 1964-1965. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Berking Papers).
Background
- Scope and Content:
This collection contains materials related to Max Berking's service in the New York State Senate from 1964 to 1965.
Series 1, Subject File, contains files on various subjects. These files typically contain research material and correspondence with constituents. Subjects include the proposed statewide sales tax, government intervention to save the New Haven Railroad, the debate over pornography sales on newsstands, and the establishment of Westchester Community College. This series is organized alphabetically by subject.
Series 2, Senate Bills, contains material on various New York State Senate bills with which Berking was involved. Some of these files contain notes and drafts related to the bill in question, while others just contain a print copy of the proposed bill. These files are arranged according to the serial numbers assigned to each bill by the legislature.
- Biographical / Historical:
Max Berking was a Democratic Party activist who served in the New York State Senate during the years 1964-1965.
Born in 1917, Berking was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, where his grandfather was a Republican State Senator. He attended Brunswick School in Greenwich and Williams College in western Massachusetts, where he was exposed to liberal politics by the professor and columnist Max Lerner. During World War II he served on the Fair Employment Practice Committee, which worked to fight discrimination in war industries.
After the war Berking established an ad agency in Manhattan and settled in the Westchester County city of Rye, where he served as Rye Democratic Party Chairman. In 1964, Berking ran to fill the remaining year of a four-year term as New York State Senator from the 30th District, which at that time encompassed southeastern Westchester County. He served until 1965 and was not reelected.
Following his departure from the Senate, Berking remained active in local and state politics. From 1971 to 1975 he served as chairman of the Westchester County Democratic Party. He was a lobbyist for environmental groups, a member of the Council of the State University College at Purchase, and a consultant to the Legislative Commissions on Engery Systems and Science and Technology in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1982 he retired to Northport, Florida, where he died in 1997.
- Acquisition information:
- Max Berking initially donated his papers to Syracuse University in 1971. In 2006, the papers were transferred to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives. In 2022, the New York State Archives transferred a small amount of material related to Max Berking's post-State Senate career to the department that had been donated by Max Berking's son Peter Berking.
- Processing information:
Processed in 2009 by Nicholas Webb. Finding aid updated in 2022 by Jodi Boyle.
- Arrangement:
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1: Subject File
- Series 2: Senate Bills
- Series 3: Post-Senate
Series 1 is organized alphabetically by subject. Series 2 is arranged according to the serial numbers assigned to each bill by the legislature. Series 3 is organized alphabetically.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Subjects
Contents
Access
Using These Materials
- ACCESS:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Access to this record group is unrestricted.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
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Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the head of Special Collections and Archives.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, Max Berking Papers, 1964-1965. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Berking Papers).