The United Progressive Democratic Club of the 47th Assembly District has been located at 211 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, N.Y. since its founding in 1918. The United Progressive Democratic Club of the 47th Assembly District underwent three name changes since the 1960s. Originally called the United Regular Democratic Club of the 16th Assembly District, the club became known as the United Democratic Organization of the 47th Assembly District after the redistricting of voting assemblies in New York City in 1972. Some time between 1985 and 1992, the club again changed its name to the Progressive Democratic Club of the 47th Assembly District. The club's current name, the United Progressive Democratic Club of the 47th Assembly District, has been used since 2003.
The Club began as a small community branch of the Democratic Party of New York State. Under the leadership of the Honorable Kenneth F. Sutherland (d. 1954), who served as the Democratic leader of the 16th Assembly District and New York State Executive Chairman until his death, the Club became highly active in communal activities. The United Progressive Democratic Club's involvement in Brooklyn activism included public school education and the testing of mentally-impaired children by the education board, low-income housing and re-housing of senior citizens, the rise in popularity of the American Communist Party amongst Brooklyn residents in the 1950s, and employment assistance for recently arrived immigrants living in Brooklyn.
The Club's past prominent members include former New York State Senator and New York State Insurance Inspector Albert B. Lewis (b. 1925), and the Honorable Irwin R. Brownstein (b. 1930), former Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice, New York City corporation counsel, and member of the New York State Democratic Platform.
From the guide to the United Progressive Democratic Club records, 1919-2004, (Brooklyn Historical Society)
