Research: Military: They Also Served
They Also Served --- Series Descriptions
State Education Department
A4318. Department Resource Management Files, 1941-1943. 0.5 cu. ft.
This series contains a range of material relating to the management of the Education Department's resources as it administered its programs during wartime. The records relate to automobile rationing procedures, funds for school construction, and the department's financial reports. Also included are newspaper clippings about department projects and a small number of bulletins and journals issued by the department.
A4319. War Programs Correspondence and Field Reports, 1941- 1944. 3 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Arranged by topic.
This series contains correspondence detailing the Education Department's establishment, supervision, or other involvement with war- time programs related to educating citizens on defense matters. Working under the auspices of the War Council, the department organized several programs including the Civilian Defense Training Program which sought to instruct citizens in first aid, nutrition, public safety (primarily fire fighter training), physical education and recreation (for defense plant workers), the recruitment and training of farm labor, and civic education (primarily for aliens). The department worked closely with other State agencies or War Council offices, including War Training, Civil Protection, and Salvage, among others, in these endeavors. In particular, the department worked with the Departments of Health, Labor, Mental Hygiene, and Social Welfare to produce a series of pamphlets published for the War Council to educate the general public on war-related issues. These pamphlets are also found in this series.
The department was also involved in other programs either in an organizational or coordinating capacity for other State or War Council agencies. In addition to correspondence, this series contains field reports from Education Department personnel who visited war programs (youth services, agricultural education, home economics, physical fitness, child care, or adult education) around the State. The field reports were sometimes contained in memoranda, but predominantly a standard printed form was used. In both cases, they enumerate organization met with; date and location of the meeting; purpose of the meeting; persons interviewed; and results. Statements describe with varying amounts of detail the results of the meetings. The child care field reports usually contain two or three sentences. Reports on other areas typically contain more substantial summaries of the meetings and the programs investigated.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4320. Department War Programs Coordinator's Files, 1937-1943. 2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: By topic.
This series contains Dr. Albert Meredith's materials relating to his role as the Education Department's coordinator of war programs. An administrative assistant in the department, Meredith was the liaison between the department and the War Council.Correspondence in this series relates to school lunch programs, adult education, citizen unity programs, physical education, child care, agricultural education, home economics education, the Youth Services Council, and the Civilian Defense Training Program. Exchanges with both federal and local governments concerning these programs are found, in addition to reports to the Lieutenant Governor from Meredith on the status of these programs, sometimes with small amounts of financial information.
The materials include discussions of school lunch programs and federal assistance for the school milk program; adult education, which details alien registration, and English and citizenship classes; the Section on Citizen Unity program which promoted war goals to the general public; physical education (pre-war pamphlets list regimens for all ages, and include one for handicapped children); child care issues, including curriculum guides, and notes from a conference on war strain in children; and rationing procedures, including a poster explaining use of rationing coupons. Informational releases from the New York City Board of Education concerning war issues and their effect on schools, and press releases from the governor's office on war issues in general are also found. Minutes and other materials from the Committee to Study the Evacuation of Cities in Target Areas, a special committee appointed by the governor to examine the possibility of evacuating New York's cities and on which Meredith served, are included. Materials from other programs in which Meredith was involved are found, including the Conference on Democratic Processes.
Finding aids: Folder list.
