Parker Corning

Parker Corning
Parker Corning, New York Congressman (1910).
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 28th district
In office March 4, 1923 – January 3, 1937
Preceded by	Peter G. Ten Eyck
Succeeded by	William T. Byrne
Personal details
Born	(1874-01-22)January 22, 1874 Albany, New York
Died	May 24, 1943(1943-05-24) (aged 69) Albany, New York
Political party	Democratic Party
Alma mater	Yale University

Parker Corning (January 22, 1874 – May 24, 1943) was a United States Representative from New York. Born in Albany, he attended the public schools, The Albany Academy, and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He graduated from Yale University in 1895, engaged in the manufacture of steel and woolens, and was also interested in banking.

His most significant accomplishment was founding what is now Albany International Corporation with two partners shortly after graduation. Originally known as Albany Felt Company, it made industrial felts for use in paper machines. The Corning family put up most of the company's founding capital, including most of its cash, wool from its sheep and the land on which the first plant was built. By the time of Corning's death it was doing millions of dollars of business in several countries; today it is a public company headquartered in Rochester, New Hampshire, that makes composite materials for use in the aerospace industry as well as industrial fabrics.

Corning was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-eighth and to the six succeeding Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1923 to January 3, 1937. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1936 and resumed his former pursuits. In 1943 he died in Albany; interment was in Albany Rural Cemetery.

His grandfathers Erastus Corning and Amasa J. Parker were also U.S. Representatives from New York. His brother Edwin Corning was Lieutenant Governor of New York, and his nephew Erastus Corning 2nd was Mayor of Albany. Another nephew, Edwin Corning, Jr., served in the New York State Assembly from 1955 to 1959.