Broadside collection

Biographical History

Harold A. Jerry was born in Plattsburgh, New York on March 2, 1920. He graduated from Princeton University in 1941 and then joined the Army when the United States entered World War II. Jerry served in the army until 1946, earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Following the war, he returned to school and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948. That same year he married Jocelyn Rodgers and the couple had four children: Harold, Danielle, Jocelyn, and Philip. The family resided in Chemung County, N. Y., where Jerry became involved in numerous organizations including several Republican clubs. Following his graduation from law school, Jerry was admitted to both the Chemung County and New York State Bar Associations and became a partner at a law firm in Elmira. He served as a New York State Senator from 1959-1962, representing Steuben and Chemung Counties. During this time, Jerry was a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Fire Laws and served on the Temporary State Commission on the Revision and Simplification of the Constitution. In 1967, he was appointed by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Executive Secretary of the Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks, a commission whose efforts culminated in the establishment of the Adirondack Park Agency. In 1973, he was appointed to the New York State Public Service Commission and served for 24 years. Jerry also served on the boards of the Adirondack Nature Conservancy & Adirondack Land Trust and the Association for the Protection of the Adirondacks.

Between 1977 and 1982, Jerry served on the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society, a national organization dedicated to the preservation of wild lands. He also served on the Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-First Century, which was created under Governor Mario Cuomo, in 1989. He was awarded Conservationist of the Year in 1989, the Adirondack Council’s highest honor. Jerry died in 2001.