Langdon Ward Post (April 10, 1899 – September 2, 1981) was an American politician and housing specialist who served in the New York State Assembly from 1929 to 1932, then as New York City tenement house commissioner and chairman of the newly-formed New York City Housing Authority from 1934 to 1937.
Early life
Langdon Ward Post was born in New York City on April 10, 1899. He was born into the Post political family; his uncle was state assemblyman Regis Henri Post, his distant cousin was former state assemblyman Erastus F. Post, and his great-great-great-great-grandfather was Federalist congressman Jotham Post Jr.[1]
Post proceeded to work several jobs; he worked in a factory, in the Oklahoma oil fields, and in a brokerage office before joining the staff of the New York Evening World in 1925.[2]
Political career
State Assembly
Post's official State Assembly portrait, 1929
Post first ran for public office in 1927, campaigning for State Assembly in the 10th New York County district as a Democrat. Losing by just 529 votes, Post tried again the next year and narrowly won with 440 votes.[3]
Post was re-elected in 1929, 1930 and 1931, serving at the same time as governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the State Assembly, he became an ally of the governor's and aided in the passage of housing legislation.[4] He also authored a bill to protect young girls from being convicted on prostitution charges on the uncorroborated testimony of a single witness.[5]
Post was once again a candidate for re-election in 1932, but his anti-Tammany stances led to his replacement on the Democratic ballot line,[6] forcing him to run under the Citizens Union ticket. He came in third place with 24% of the vote, splitting the Democratic vote and leading to the election of future United States Attorney GeneralHerbert Brownell Jr.[3]
The next month, the New York City Housing Authority was established to carry out "the clearance, replanning, and reconstruction of the areas in which unsanitary or substandard housing conditions exist." Charged with appointing all five of its members, La Guardia chose Post to serve as its chairman.[9] His colleagues were social worker Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch, housing advocate Louis H. Pink, Jewish Daily Forward general manager Baruch Charney Vladeck, and Catholic priestEdward R. Moore. Their budget, secured by La Guardia from Public Works Administration head Harold Ickes, was $25 million, a fourth of the PWA's entire housing budget.[10]
During his time in these positions, Post was credited with improving conditions in Old Law Tenements and presiding over the construction of new public housing projects like the Williamsburg Houses in Brooklyn.[4] He also spoke out about the "tragic" and "appalling" housing conditions of New York City's African-American population.[11]
Post remained active in Democratic Party politics and contributed to a number of magazines and papers. He served as a field representative for the Job Corps from 1965 until his retirement in 1972. He died of heart failure on September 2, 1981, in San Francisco.[4]
