Research: Military: They Also Served
They Also Served --- Series Descriptions
Executive Offices
A4304. Agendas and Minutes, 1942-1945. 1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by meeting date.
This series contains agendas and minutes from meetings held as part of the War Council's effort to coordinate home front activities throughout the State. The War Council met once or twice a month at the Executive Mansion in Albany to discuss issues relating to new and existing programs and the organization of the State War Council and local war councils.Prominent business, community, and legislative leaders were members of the War Council, which was chaired by the governor. These meetings facilitated their efforts to organize the State in a time of crisis.
The agendas contain itemized lists of the topics to be discussed, while the minutes outline the discussions as well as the ultimate disposition of the proposals. Topics discussed in the agendas and minutes include civil defense; gas rationing; transportation; child care; farm labor; efforts of the various State War Council committees; petitions to post properties and close streets; appointments to various committees established by the War Council; allocation of funds to War Council agencies; dispensation orders relaxing certain child labor laws; financial statements of the War Council; changes in personnel in the various local war councils; salary schedules; establishment of divisions of the State War Council; amendments to War Council orders; abolition of War Council agencies; and resignations.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A3085. Resolutions, 1941-1945. 2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Organized into two subseries: Subseries 1, Council of Defense Resolutions, 1941-1942, 0.1 cu. ft.; and Subseries 2, War Council Resolutions, 1942-1945, 1.9 cu. ft. Both are numerical by resolution number.
This series contains resolutions issued by the War Council (and its predecessor, the Council of Defense) as part of its mandate to coordinate wartime needs. The resolutions cover a range of topics including appointments to council offices or new positions on council committees; the creation of special committees; budget requests to the legislature; allocation of funds to various programs; civil defense issues (including National Guard matters); and support for measures which would allow children to miss school during harvest seasons. Other topics include adoption of orders; amendments to resolutions; approval of salary schedules; authorization of funds for administration of new and existing war programs; authorization to post signs around defense industries and close streets near these industries; establishment of War Council offices (war training, fire mobilization, war transportation); resignations; and rescindment of resolutions.
Finding aids: Item list briefly describing each resolution in Subseries 2.
A4302. Annual Reports and War Agency Directories, 1942-1944. 0.25 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological.
This series contains seven booklets: four annual reports of the New York State War Council, two directories of war agencies, and a report from the War Council's predecessor, the Council of Defense. The War Council's annual reports and the Council of Defense's report were assembled and circulated in order to inform all concerned parties of the war work undertaken by the many agencies which comprised the War Council. They explain the organization's divisions and the divisions' responsibilities and programs and list senior personnel. The directories list federal, State, and "semi-official" agencies involved in war work, their functions, local and headquarters' addresses, and senior personnel.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A3086. Printed Copies of Orders Issued, 1942-1946. 0.2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by date issued.
The Council was empowered to issue orders on any matter it deemed essential to the war effort. These orders contain information on the conditions of the order, its duration, and effective date. They cover such subjects as using school buses for transferring defense industry employees; providing child care; instituting price controls; racing motor vehicles; and releasing school students over age 16 for temporary work in canneries. Pre-publication copies of orders are occasionally included with the printed copy.
A4288. Petitions to the Attorney General to Restrict Access to Defense Installations, 1941-1944. 1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by meeting date with supporting materials preceding the petitions.
This series contains petitions and supporting materials from defense installations to the War Council (and its predecessor, the Council of Defense) requesting that certain streets adjacent to the defense facilities be closed to public access or that signs be posted restricting access to an area surrounding a facility. The attorney general, as a member of the War Council, assumed the duty of investigating the petitions and recommending any necessary actions to secure the installations. Factories involved in supplying war materials requested the limits in order to prevent monitoring of shipments and deliveries, while other facilities such as water and power plants wanted to protect themselves from sabotage. A typical application contains a letter to the War Council from the president or director of the facility delineating the nature of the request, along with a more formal resolution passed by the War Council, signed by the attorney general and countersigned by the executive secretary.
This series also includes summaries of petitions approved by the War Council and correspondence from the attorney general to the executive secretary notifying him of pending action on petitions. Also found is a 1942 report by the adjutant general sent to the governor and apparently passed on to the attorney general concerning the security of almost 1,100 public defense installations throughout the State, including airports, telephone switching buildings, water pumping facilities, railroad bridges, and ports and other entrepots.
The series also includes lists of city and village mayors, along with lists of both State and local war council staffs, including the Office of Civilian Protection, Office of Civilian Mobilization, and the Salvage Division.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4291. Governor's Correspondence with Citizens on War Issues, 1942-1945. 3.8 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by last name of correspondent.
As titular head of the War Council, the governor oversaw its operations, appointed administrators, and presided at selected meetings. Because of this high profile, many citizens wrote to the governor requesting assistance with war-related issues and problems, and he responded as part of his role as the liaison between the public and the government. This series contains correspondence from citizens from around the State concerning complaints of favoritism on draft boards; requests for exemptions from rationing; offers to volunteer for the armed services or home front activities, usually the draft board; suggestions for wartime procedures such as civil defense; other matters relating to home front activities; and requests for aid with family members' military concerns (leave, promotions, assignments, etc.). A copy of the governor's (or an assistant's) reply often is attached to the correspondence. The file intermixes letters addressed to Governors Herbert H. Lehman and Thomas E. Dewey (who took office in 1943).
Finding aids: Container list.
A4295. Governor's Office Correspondence on War Issues, 1940-1945. 7.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by topic or last name of correspondent.
This series contains correspondence between the governor's office and various agencies and organizations involved in the coordination of war work. Because the letters mainly discuss the initial set-up and administration of War Council activities, the letters are predominantly authored by Herbert H. Lehman or his aides, though Thomas E. Dewey and his administration are also represented. Topics covered include civil defense (including the formation of the New York Guard and the defense of specific sites in New York, such as the canals); appointments to draft and draft appeals boards (including third party recommendations); morale issues; child care; discrimination; war bonds; war contracts; women's roles in the labor pool; farm labor; conservation issues; migrant workers; and Fifth Columnists, Japanese-Americans, and "loyal" aliens. Correspondence with other states on war issues, complaints about civilian defense (including a letter from publisher Alfred A. Knopf), and photographs of the Brooklyn Arsenal are also found.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4294. Governor's Media Releases, 1941-1942. 0.3 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by date of release.
This series contains press releases, bulletins, telegrams, radio address transcripts, correspondence, and meeting minutes released by Governor Herbert H. Lehman's office to the media in order to inform the public of War Council activities. The records illustrate the governor's involvement in many aspects of these activities. Issues covered include production rates; appointments to the War Council; wartime housing; security;agriculture; labor disputes and strikes; civil defense (including fire defense, auxiliary police, and aircraft warning units); scrap metal drives; tire and gasoline shortages; venereal disease prevention programs; labor shortages; savings bonds; physical fitness; and training programs. The series also contains releases from the Council of Defense, the War Council's predecessor.
A4303. Executive Secretary's Correspondence with Local War Councils, 1942-1945. 1.75 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by city or county.
This series contains correspondence between the War Council's executive secretary and various officers of local war councils generated as a result of the executive secretary's role as coordinator of all War Council activities. These letters were not the result of any regular contact between local organizations and the executive secretary, but were exchanged as issues that required the executive secretary's attention arose. Topics discussed cover the spectrum of home front issues with which the War Council was involved including child care; civil defense; civilian mobilization; food preservation; labor issues; physical fitness; rationing; recreation; transportation; war nutrition; and victory gardens. The series also contains documents concerning the curtailment of civilian protection activities near the war's end and frank reviews of many local war council administrations' programs. Also found are copies of form letters sent by the executive secretary to all the local war councils concerning rationing; pre-induction of soldiers; labor issues; lists of names and addresses of local war council members; and infrequently, activity reports of local war councils. Often municipalities' news bulletins, copies of resolutions, correspondence, resignations, or clippings about local events and activities are found.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4301. Agencies and Local War Councils General Report Files, 1942-1945. 8.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by county, municipality, or organization name.
This series contains correspondence, bulletins, newsletters, and posters sent to the War Council's executive secretary reporting on activities of agencies involved in war work and local war councils. The reports vary in nature: some are comprehensive and span all the war years; others are skimpy and may cover only one event or program. For most groups reporting, organizational and financial issues are detailed, and sample forms and published materials are provided. Many organizations are represented in this series, including Emergency Food Commission, Nursing Council, Office of Civilian Mobilization, Office of Civilian Protection, and Salvage Division. Topics discussed include civil defense, child care, housing, labor, rationing, salvage, and education and training.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4345. Local Defense Council Appointment Notification and Inquiry Response Correspondence, 1940-1941. 1.5 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by city or county.
This series contains correspondence and telegrams sent between local defense councils and Thomas L. J. Corcoran, the secretary of the Council of Defense (predecessor to the New York State War Council), or Charles Poletti, the lieutenant governor and State defense coordinator. Correspondence from the local councils usually notified the State Council of Defense of local office appointments or requested information on policies. In some cases, entire lists of local defense council personnel are found. Carbon copies of correspondence sent to the local councils found in this series usually provide information on meetings, programs, or clarification of regulations.
A4358. Personnel Records, 1942-1945. 1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by agency.
The War Council's executive secretary administered the organization's daily operations. This series contains correspondence sent to the War Council's executive secretary by War Council agencies documenting personnel issues. Most are letters of appointment and usually contain the following information: job title; date of appointment; qualifications of appointee; salary; assignment; and employer and/or employee's address. Other letters announce resignations or note salary changes.
A4309. Meeting Coordination Correspondence Files, 1940-1945. 1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by meeting date.
This series contains notices sent by Governor Herbert H. Lehman announcing War Council (and its predecessor, the Council of Defense) meetings, accompanied by replies from council members indicating their intended attendance or absence. These meetings were held at the governor's home in New York City or at the Executive Mansion in Albany, as part of the coordination efforts of the governor as chairman of the council. In addition to the correspondence, lists of War Council members and agendas and minutes for some early meetings are also included. Similar notices and materials are also found for the following War Council sub-agencies and committees: Child Care, Committee on Discrimination in Employment, Labor Dispensation Committee, Physical Fitness, Office of Price Administration--Butter and Eggs Subcommittee, and the Section on Citizen Unity.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4310. Organizational Letters and Releases Presenting Issues and Guidelines, 1941-1942. 0.25 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Chronological by release date.
This series contains letters and other enclosures sent out by the council that reflect those issues that Governor Lehman or Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti, the state defense coordinator, emphasized to the members of the State Council of Defense and local defense councils. Issues presented include adequate health, recreational, and housing facilities for workers; civil defense issues; appointments, announcements, notices, and staffing; and the collection of scrap aluminum and other metals. These files also include copies of resolutions that address social, economic, and civil defense issues, and bulletins that address issues such as effective organization of local defense councils, civil defense, gasoline conservation, and emergency medical measures for civilian defense. Also included are lists that note the members of the State War Council, local war councils, and other county and city officials as of 1942.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4312. Progress Reports of War Council and State Agencies, 1941- 1945. 3 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by agency.
This series contains monthly, quarterly, or annual progress reports from many War Council agencies and State agencies involved in war work. The War Council used these reports to monitor the performance and supervise the activities of individual agencies. The reports, sent to the State war plans coordinator, candidly detail the progress, problems, and plans of the various agencies. Some reports are in narrative form; others are completed on a standard form which provides information on work performed; work contemplated; contacts with communities, war councils, or other public officials; and problems which require the assistance of federal agencies.Individual agencies vary greatly in their provision of reports for each month. Materials produced by an agency during a particular month or relevant to their work are sometimes appended to progress reports. These include reprints, news releases, publications, charts, tables, maps, minutes and condensations of meetings, and correspondence.
This series is very useful for understanding each agency or subagency's contribution to the war effort, and in some cases, the work of local war councils as it related to the larger agencies. Topics covered include agriculture; child care; citizen morale; civil defense; civilian mobilization; commerce; discrimination in employment; education; health issues; housing; labor; nursing; police training; rationing; salvage; vocational training; war training; and war transportation.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4343. Social and Economic Surveys of New York Cities, 1942. 0.2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Arranged by city.
This series primarily contains reports compiled by the federal National Resources Planning Board and the Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services detailing conditions in several communities and sent to the State War Council to assist with war planning efforts. Kept by the assistant to the State war plans coordinator, the reports detail each community's conditions in education, health, housing, industry, infrastructure, labor, planning, and transportation, and discuss the impact of the war and military on these areas.Some maps and photographs are reproduced in the reports. Also found are correspondence and other reports from State War Council field representatives who reported on items discussed in the federal reports, as well as the status of War Council programs such as scrap drives, rationing, civil defense, and war bond drives. Reports exist for Buffalo, Elmira, Lewiston, Massena, Mineville, Newburgh, Orangeburg, Poughkeepsie, Rome-Utica-Ilion, Sampson, Schenectady, Sidney, Syracuse, Watertown, and the western portion of Long Island.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4346. Assistant to the State War Plans Coordinator's Agency Activity Coordination and Information Files, 1941-1945 (bulk 1942). 3 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Organized into three subseries: Subseries 1, Agency Activity Coordination Files, 1942-1945, 1 cu. ft., is arranged by document type or topic.Subseries 2, Agency Activity Information Files, 1941-1942, 1.5 cu. ft., is alphabetical by agency.Subseries 3, Federal War Agencies Coordination Files, 1942, 0.5 cu. ft., is arranged by agency or topic.
Maurice Neufeld worked in New York State's Division of Commerce and became the assistant to the State war plans coordinator in 1941 with the creation of the State War Council.Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti was the first State war plans coordinator; later Oswald D. Heck, speaker of the assembly, served. Neufeld served in his position throughout the war, and though he had authority over certain issues, primarily he served to direct decisions to the appropriate agency heads.
This series contains correspondence, bulletins, posters, and official releases relating to Maurice Neufeld's coordination of War Council activities with local, State, and federal agencies. Materials found describe agricultural and labor issues; appointments to subagency positions; civil defense activities; civilian mobilization efforts; personnel and organizational matters; publication printing (sometimes including samples); items sent to local war councils; and a fuel conservation program. Also found in this series are notices from the attorney general concerning road access restrictions; monthly employment statistics on metropolitan New York City; and significant information on civil defense, mobilization, nutrition, war training, and war transportation.
Other materials reveal the coordination of activities between the federal government's war programs and New York's. The federal agencies best represented are the Office of Civil Defense, the Works Progress Administration, and the Federal Security Agency.Within the Office of Civil Defense files, there are releases concerning operations, letters, memoranda, and publications (including pre-publication copies of some items). Of special interest is a folder listing the status of various Lanham Act projects (hospital construction, sanitation projects) within New York. Also included are materials from Governor Thomas E. Dewey's special emergency committee, formed to respond to the heavy snowfalls (over 50 inches) of January 1945, with western New York hit particularly hard near the end of the month.
A4360. State War Plans Coordinator's Correspondence and Information File, 1941-1942. 0.75 cu. ft.
Initially, the lieutenant governor served as the State war plans coordinator of the War Council, overseeing much of the implementation and coordination of the early projects and activities. This series contains correspondence, telegrams, reports, and various charts exchanged between Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti, local and federal War Council agencies, and private organizations and individuals involved in the war effort. Topics and agencies documented include civil defense; civilian mobilization; fuel; health; health preparedness; housing; nutrition; physical fitness; rationing; war transportation; war information; and war training. In 1943, Speaker of the Assembly Oswald D. Heck became State war plans coordinator, but none of his records are found in this series.
A4361. Executive Secretaries' Correspondence with State and War Council Agencies, 1940-1945. 9 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Organized into three subseries:Subseries 1, Executive Secretary's Correspondence with State and Defense Council Agencies, 1940-1941, 1 cu. ft., and Subseries 2, Thomas L. J. Corcoran Correspondence Files, 1941- 1942, 3 cu. ft., are alphabetical by agency. Subseries 3, Executive Secretaries' Correspondence, 1941-1945, 5 cu. ft., is arranged by topic or individual.
This series contains correspondence between the executive secretary and State and War Council agencies as part of the executive secretary's duties to supervise the daily operation of the War Council and its predecessor, the Council of Defense. Agencies and topics well- represented in this series include agriculture; automotive rationing; citizen unity (morale); civil defense; civilian mobilization, conservation of waste materials; discrimination in employment; Emergency Food Commission; fire defense and forest fire fighters; Health Preparedness Commission; Health Department; migrant labor camps; physical fitness; rationing; State Guard and Selective Service; war training; war transportation; water supplies; and volunteer work.
Civil defense materials include reports on National Guard troop strength, supplies, and buildings available for use.Many letters are requests for information from other government agencies. The philosophy behind many subordinate organizations' decisions is found, especially in the set up of the Office of Civilian Mobilization's Volunteer Office. Initial surveys conducted by the Office of Civilian Defense are also found, as well as information about other early Council of Defense (later War Council) agencies' activities. This series also contains mimeographed letters from the governor released to the general public concerning home front issues, usually civil defense, as well as correspondence with the federal Office of Civil Defense in Washington, D.C.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4362. Executive Secretary's Correspondence with Civil Defense Administrators, 1942. 1.6 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Geographical by region, then by individual.
This series contains correspondence between War Council Executive Secretary Thomas L. J. Corcoran and various State and federal administrators who coordinated civil defense work. Correspondence from F. H. LaGuardia, the head of the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense, was usually addressed to Governor Herbert H. Lehman but routed to Corcoran. Corcoran also regularly corresponded with civil defense offices in Washington, D.C., New York City, Rochester, and Albany. Topics covered include air raids, auxiliary police and fire fighters, blackouts, Civil Air Patrol, information distribution, and fire fighting.
The series contains a large number of correspondence referral forms kept by Corcoran about letters forwarded to the director of the War Council's Office of Civilian Protection (OCP).(It is uncertain if these letters are extant in other OCP series.) These forms list the date, correspondent, and subject of each letter, and whether or not Corcoran made any response. The forwarded letters were usually from the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense or other civil defense groups. A small number of releases from the OCP to local civil defense groups is found in this series. They usually discuss subjects similar to the correspondence found in this series.
