Research: Military: They Also Served
They Also Served --- Series Descriptions
State Property Officer
A4359. Civil Defense Equipment Distribution and Liquidation Records, 1942-1946. 9 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Arranged by equipment type or activity.
The State Property Officer was appointed to oversee the allocation and distribution of protective equipment from the United States Office of Civilian Defense to New York State and nearly 350 of New York's communities. Each community had a local property officer responsible to the federal government for the equipment allocated to his community, and the State Property Officer provided technical assistance to local officers in the discharge of their duties. Generally, various institutions of the State's Department of Mental Hygiene stored gas detection and protection equipment along with medical supplies such as folding and hospital beds, while fire fighting equipment was held in the communities. At the war's end, with the State Property Officer's coordination, surplus equipment was sold to the State and local communities. The liquidation was completed in October 1946.
This series contains correspondence, memoranda, lists, and forms documenting the State Property Officer's distribution and liquidation of civil defense equipment, including steel helmets, pump tank extinguishers, and gas masks. Lists enumerate equipment distribution by community, and correspondence with hospitals notes the receipt of emergency medical equipment. Other correspondence details communities' requests for equipment and the Mutual Aid Allocation program, in which local communities agreed to assist one another in the case of certain emergencies.
The fire fighting equipment's liquidation is detailed in correspondence and forms. The forms note community and county; population of community; presence of a fire department; number of pumpers fire department owns; number of firemen; and type and number of equipment requested. Many local property officers were involved in the distribution of surplus goods as they handled both the physical and administrative transfer of the equipment.
