Homer P. Snyder

Snyder began his business career in the knitting industry, moved to bicycle manufacturing. He left the company to began a political career, entering congress in 1915 and holding office until 1925. He became known for his advocacy on behalf of Native Americans, chairing the Committee on Indian Affairs and introducing the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924.

Homer Peter Snyder
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 33rd district
In office March 4, 1915 – March 3, 1925
Preceded by	Charles A. Talcott
Succeeded by	Frederick M. Davenport
Chair of the United States House Committee on Indian Affairs
In office March 3, 1921 – March 3, 1925
Preceded by	Ralph Hall
Personal details
Born	(1863-12-06)December 6, 1863 Amsterdam, New York
Died	December 30, 1937(1937-12-30) (aged 74) Little Falls, New York
Political party	Republican

 

Born in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York, he attended the common schools and was employed in various capacities in knitting mills until 1887. He moved to Little Falls in 1887 and continued employment in knitting mills; he engaged in the manufacture of knitting machinery in 1890 and, later, of bicycles and other wheeled vehicles. Snyder co-founded a bicycle manufacturing firm with Michael Fisher in 1895. Three years later Fisher left the company, and Snyder incorporated it as the H. P. Snyder Manufacturing Company. Snyder led this company until 1913. He was director and vice president of the Little Falls National Bank and served one term as school commissioner in 1895 and two terms as fire and police commissioner of Little Falls in 1910 and 1911.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress, and was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1915, to March 3, 1925. He was chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs (Sixty-sixth through Sixty-eighth Congresses) and a member of the Committee on World War Veterans' Legislation (Sixty-eighth Congress). On the former committee, his most significant achievement was sponsoring the landmark Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (also called the Snyder Act), which granted citizenship to all of the United States' Indian population. An obituary of Snyder published in The New York Times described him as "one of the outstanding and outspoken champions" of Native Americans.

Snyder was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1916 and 1920 and was not a candidate for reelection in 1924. He resumed his former manufacturing pursuits and in 1937 died at his home in Little Falls; interment was in the Church Street Cemetery.