The mayor of Lawrence is the head of the municipal government in Lawrence, Massachusetts. There was no mayor of Lawrence from April 14, 1847 until March 21, 1853, because up to that point Lawrence was still incorporated as a town. The town of Lawrence was administered by the board of selectmen.
List of mayors # Mayor Picture Term Party Notes1stCharles Storer Storrow 1853–1854WhigFirst mayor under the original city charter. 2ndEnoch Bartlett 1854–1855Democratic 3rdAlbert Warren 1855–1857 Native American Party4thJohn R. Rollins 1857–1859Whig 5thHenry K. Oliver1859–1860Republican6thDaniel Saunders, Jr.1860–1861DemocraticSaunders was the founder of Lawrence.7thJames K. Barker1861–1862Republican8thWilliam H. P. Wright1862–1864Republican9thAlfred J. French1864–1865Republican10thMilton Bonney1865–January 1, 1866Republican11thPardon ArmingtonJanuary 1, 1866–1867Republican12thNathaniel P. H. Melvin1867–1869Democratic 13thFrank Davis1869–January 3, 1870Republican 14thNathaniel P. H. MelvinJanuary 3, 1870–1871Democratic 15thS. B. W. Davis1871–1872Republican 16thJohn K. Tarbox1873–January 4, 1875Democratic 17thRobert H. TewksburyJanuary 4, 1875–January 3, 1876Republican 18thEdmund R. HaydenJanuary 3, 1876–1876Democratic 19thCaleb SaundersJanuary 1, 1877–1877Democratic 20thJames R. Simpson1878–1880Republican 21stHenry Kingman Webster1881–1881Republican 22ndJohn Breen1882–1884Democratic First Irish born or Roman Catholic Mayor in New England.23rdJames R. Simpson1885–1885Republican 24thAlexander B. Bruce1886–1887Democratic 25th Alvin E. Mack1888–1889Republican 26th John W. Crawford1890–1890Democratic 27thLewis P. Collins1891–1891Republican 28thHenry P. Doe1892–1892Democratic 29thAlvin E. Mack1893–1893Republican 30thCharles G. Rutter1894–1895Democratic 31stGeorge S. Junkins1896–1897Republican32nd James H. Eaton1898–1899Republican33rdJames F. Leonard1900–1902Democratic 34thAlexander F. Grany1903–January 4, 190435thCornelius F. LynchJanuary 4, 1904–190536thJohn P. Kane1906–190837thWilliam P. White1909–July 25, 1910Resigned after he was convicted on bribery charges and sentenced to three years in the house of correction.White's resignation was effective when accepted by both branches of the city council on July 25, 1910. ActingThomas M. JordanJuly 25, 1910–August 29, 1910Served as acting mayor in his role as chairman of the board of aldermen. 38thJohn T. CahillAugust 29, 1910–January 1, 1912DemocraticElected by a joint session of the city council to fill the vacancy caused by White's resignation.39thMichael A. ScanlonJanuary 1, 1912–August 16, 1914A new city charter went into effect on January 1, 1912, creating a commission form of government and giving the mayor a two-year term beginning with Scanlon. On January 15, 1912, Scanlon requested the state militia to suppress the 'Bread and Roses strike', resulting in the death of a striker. On February 24, 1912, Scanlon ordered police to prevent striking workers' children from traveling to Washington, D.C., for a protest march. The mothers and children were beaten as they gathered at the train station. Scanlon died in office.40thJohn P. Kane 1914–1915 To fill vacancy 41stJohn J. Hurley1916–1919 42ndWilliam P. White1920–1921 43rdDaniel W. Mahoney1922–1923 44thWalter T. Rochefort1924–1928 45thMichael A. Landers 1928–1931 46thWilliam P. White1932–1933 47thWalter A. Griffin 1934–1942 48thJames P. Meehan 1942–1951Democratic 49thJohn J. Buckley1952–1965Democratic 50th Daniel P. Kiley, Jr. 1966–1971 51stJohn J. Buckley1972–1977Democratic 52ndLawrence P. LeFebre1978–1983Democratic 53rdJohn J. Buckley1984-January 2, 1986Democratic 54th Kevin J. Sullivan January 2, 1986–1991 Democratic Switched from Democrat to Republican 1991–1993 RepublicanResigned to accept an appointment as head of State TransportationActingGeorge Miller1993ActingLeonard J. Degnan1993Democratic55thMary Claire Kennedy 1993–1998Republican 56thPatricia Dowling1998–2001 Democratic Resigned to accept an appointment as a state district court judge. Acting Marcos Devers September 2001 – November, 2001Democratic First Hispanic mayor of Lawrence. 57th Michael J. Sullivan November 2001 - January 4, 2010Republican 58th William LantiguaJanuary 4, 2010 – January 4, 2014Democratic 59thDan Rivera January 4, 2014 - January 9, 2021Democratic Acting Kendrys Vasquez January 9, 2021 – November 12, 2021 Democratic 60th Brian De Peña November 12, 2021 - Democratic
Notes
References Arrington, Benjamin F. Arrington: Municipal history of Essex County in Massachusetts, Volume 2 (1922). Hayes, Jonathan Franklin Chesley: History of the city of Lawrence, Lawrence, Ma.: (1868). Merrill, C.G.: The Lawrence gazetteer : containing a record of the important events in Lawrence and vicinity from 1845 to 1894, also, a history of the corporations, industrial establishments, churches, societies, clubs, and other organizations; national, state and municipal statistics, and a variety of useful information (1894). Wadsworth, Horace Andrew, History of Lawrence, Massachusetts: with Portraits and Biographical Sketches, Lawrence, Ma.: Lawrence Eagle Steam Job Printing Office. (1880).