State Council of Defense Records Series Descriptions

Research: Military: Records Relating to World War I

Records Relating to World War I

A4234. Correspondence Files, 1917-1918. .8 cubic foot

Arrangement: Alphabetical by last name of correspondent.

The series consists of correspondence files, maintained by Assistant Secretary Frederic E. Foster, relating to general information and functions of the State Council of Defense. The bulk of the records are copies of incoming and outgoing correspondence with civilian relief organizations, patriotic societies, emergency industrial organizations, advocacy groups, other state councils, and state and national government officials. The series also includes copies of circulars, pamphlets, and bulletins produced by various private and governmental organizations; copies of federal laws and congressional acts; and copies of wartime messages and proclamations by Governor Charles S. Whitman and President Woodrow Wilson.

The series documents the mobilization work of the Council of Defense. As reflected in the series, preparedness meant the organization and coordination in the important areas of medical services and supervision of aliens. Chief officers of the council (Governor Charles S. Whitman, William A. Orr, and Joseph H. Wilson) and members of related offices and program areas are all represented in the series correspondence. Topics covered by the correspondence files include:

requests for employment and financial assistance
pay allotment and appeals
offers of services, especially for speaking engagements and providing publicity
inquiries about Council of Defense publications, including lists of home defense committees or officers
questions concerning loyalty, recruitment, and the draft
requests for reports on the loyalty of prospective employees (e.g., for positions in foreign service with the Red Cross)

Examples of records of special interest include:

copies of circulars and pamphlets published by the American Red Cross (including issues of the Red Cross Bulletin) containing information on regulations for sending parcels to prisoners of war, cooperative work on legal plans, and descriptions of home service volunteer work and work for civilian relief
copies of federal laws and congressional acts on appropriations for the armed forces and of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Rights Bill
correspondence relating to the American Defense Society's questions on the loyalty of several newspapers and periodicals held in subscriptions by the New York Public Library
pamphlets, bulletins, and copies of addresses or appeals by such groups as the League to Enforce Peace (including its platform), the New York Peace Society, and the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief
a press edition of the "War Information Series" published by the Committee on Public Information in Washington, D.C.
correspondence between the council and the Charity Organization Society of New York regarding the requirements necessary for inclusion of war relief organizations in bulletins of "Approved War Relief Organizations" produced jointly by the council and the society (copies of the listing also included)
messages from the U.S. War Department, including its Commission on Training Camp Activities (on developing community councils), the Office of the Chief Military Censor (on photographing of production plants), and the U.S. Surgeon General (on building a convalescent home, data on disease conditions among troops in the U.S., and a syllabus to instruct "Drafted Men in the Knowledge and Avoidance of Venereal Diseases")
correspondence from Governor Whitman (to exemption boards on diagnosing tuberculous recruits) and gubernatorial proclamations (on public productivity, support for the Liberty Loan program, and fire and waste prevention during wartime)
copies of President Wilson's war message (April 2, 1917), his reply ("America's Terms of Peace") to Pope Benedict XV's peace note (August 28, 1917), proclamations (on licensure of commodities, Liberty Day, manufacture of explosives, regulation of wartime exports and imports, the state of war with the Austro-Hungarian empire, and establishment of a military proving ground), and executive orders (establishing the War Trade Board, providing for requisitioning of food and feed, and establishing defensive sea areas)

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4242. Administrative and Correspondence Files, 1917-1918. .5 cubic foot

Arrangement: Rough alphabetical by subject.

The series consists of copies of legislation, organizational charts, requisitions, memoranda, informational circulars, reports, bulletins, minutes, and some correspondence relating to the organization and administration of the council's war work. Consistent with the council's purpose to coordinate the military, industrial, agricultural, and commercial resources of the State, the series reflects cooperation with other State agencies (especially the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Education and the Food Supply Commission), the Council of National Defense, and the network of State home defense committees.

Included are files of the council's Divisions of Films, Information, and Women as well as material related to committee work on highway transportation, provision of legal service, and the Liberty Loan campaign. Correspondence in the series is principally to/from the chairs of the divisions, often with the council's assistant secretary Frederic E. Foster. Other forms of material fall either under general headings or specific subjects covering the whole range of council work, from aliens to war-risk insurance.

Materials of special interest include:

bulletins promoting Fire Prevention Day, advising on military sanitation and hygiene (venereal diseases, alcohol, and tuberculosis), reporting on a census of the State's agricultural resources, and reviewing the network of State laboratory services
organization charts for the Council of Defense, the Adjutant General's Resource Mobilization Bureau, and the home defense committees
a "War Contract Analysis" blueprint (1918) made by the Division of Information using statistics from the Council of National Defense, showing nationwide distribution of firms holding war contracts and illustrating New York as the lopsided leader in that category
memoranda circulated to chairs of county home defense committees by the council
minutes of proceedings of a council meeting (March 28, 1918)
reports on such topics as military training, aliens, work of the State Food Supply Commission and the council's Industrial Division, use of the State's canals for transport, the military census, the New York Naval Militia, and preparation of the National Guard for federal service
circulars by the council's Division of Information relating to the military census, a drive for donation of observation glasses, fighting a "conspiracy" to destroy grain and cattle by fire, the Liberty Loan appeal, mobilization of the National Guard, and the organization of "cadet camps" to provide agricultural labor to save perishable crops
materials relating to the enrollment and registration of draftees

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4241. Subject Correspondence Files, 1917-1918. .5 cubic foot

Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject.

The series consists of correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, and circulars relating to the council's work to administer and supervise programs for food conservation, motor convoys, and non-war construction. The correspondence covers these three subject areas, which are subdivided into more specific subjects and chief correspondents. The records document the "creation of relations" with which the council was charged to "render possible immediate concentration and utilization of the State's resources for military purposes" during the war. The series especially documents council cooperation with the U.S. Food Administration and the U.S. War Industries Board.

Materials of special interest in the series include:

a federal advisory (originating with Herbert Hoover, then U. S. Food Administrator) to Governor Charles S. Whitman and the council, and thereby to chiefs of police, on a conspiracy to destroy grain and cattle by fire
materials on the patriotic "Cleanup Campaign" initiative of Herbert Hoover and the U.S. Food Administration, to enlist homemakers in "Hoover's Army" to conserve food
copies of federal circulars (and some extracts) by the War Industries Board on priorities for non-war construction, including a preference list issued in September 1918
correspondence on truck convoy transport (generally traveling through New York State en route to Baltimore), including planning of routes, inspection of roads and bridges, and copies of telegrams sent to report on departures, conditions, progress en route, and arrivals of the convoys
materials relating to non-war construction (at factories, businesses, cemeteries, and schools), including suggested application forms for construction licenses, correspondence on applications for permits, requests for informational circulars on regulations or explanations of new rulings, and reporting on projects by local defense councils

Chief correspondents include:

Frederic E. Foster, assistant secretary of the State Council of Defense
Charles E. Treman, federal food administrator
George F. Bailey, commanding officer in charge of motor convoys
Esten A. Fletcher and William Fellowes Morgan, regional advisors for the federal War Industries Board, Resources and Conversion Section
D. R. McLennan, Chief of the Non-War Construction Section of the War Industries Board

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4240. Correspondence with State Agencies, 1917-1918. .3 cubic foot

Arrangement: Alphabetical by name of corresponding agency and therein roughly in reverse chronological order.

The series consists primarily of carbon copies of outgoing correspondence, along with smaller amounts of incoming original letters, sent among the Council of Defense and other State agencies associated with emergency war efforts. Also included are newspaper clippings, telegrams, bulletins, and pamphlets relating to council activities, coordination of efforts among agencies, and wartime issues and regulations. The subject matter of the correspondence generally reflects the coordinating position that the council held relating to other government agencies. A considerable amount of the correspondence represents referrals of questions to more appropriate venues or requests for routine information for which only the response or transmittal letter by the council was saved.

Transportation systems, hospital and medical services, industry, volunteer organizations, and the supervision of aliens all fell within the scope of operations of the Council of Defense and are represented in the series correspondence. The series also includes material relating to council- controlled appropriations for general mobilization of the State's resources, for regulating food supplies, and for a military census.

Plans for work in these areas were worked out by the Adjutant General's Office through divisions within the Resource Mobilization Bureau. Two of that bureau's key parts, the Division of Aliens and Division of Co-Operating Agencies, were both abolished shortly after the council's Industrial Division was organized, and their functions were assigned to the new division. Correspondence files of these offices are of special note in the series.

Topics covered in the letters include:

supervision of war charities
dissemination of organizing materials promoting "Americanization Day" activities (national service and allegiance) throughout the State
publicity and informational materials regarding aliens relating to conscription, draft registration, citizenship, loyalty, and questions on the military census
reclamation of waste material and conservation of fuel
subscription campaigns for Liberty Bonds
distribution of gubernatorial proclamations relating to support efforts on the home front

The bulk of material in the series pertains to the work of several large State agencies. The file of the Adjutant General's office (Charles H. Sherrill) contains transcriptions of memoranda to/from chairs of the county home defense committees and general correspondence from several divisions within the important Resource Mobilization Bureau. Copies of reports on hospital facilities for contagious diseases (done for the U.S. Public Health Service) are found in the Department of Health file. Information from the Commission on Highways includes rulings on use of materials in construction work; inspection of State roads and bridges; commentary on the suitability of routes for a truck convoy from Buffalo to Albany; and other matters important to movement of supplies during wartime.

The chief activities of the council's important Industrial Division are also documented in the series. These included fire prevention; investigation of the labor market to plan for replacement of workers withdrawn for military purposes, and substitution of women for men in industry; acting as a clearinghouse on information to alien residents (replacing the discontinued program of the Division of Aliens that had established "plant correspondents" to report on aliens employed in the State); coordination of the county women's committees with members of the county home defense committees; and carrying out various other plans, such as those to reduce the number of retail deliveries made by business, to refuse the return of unsold bread by wholesale bakers, and to survey important industrial manufacturing plants (i.e., munitions) to report to the adjutant general on their security needs.

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4235. Correspondence of County Home Defense Committees, 1917-1918. 2 cubic feet

Arrangement: Alphabetical by county, and therein alphabetical by correspondent or subject, then in reverse chronological order.

The series consists of memoranda, letters, and copies of resolutions sent to county home defense committees from the State Council of Defense, and also correspondence from the various committees to the council reporting on their organizing and program efforts. These efforts were coordinated statewide and with federal authorities through the State council.

Some correspondence in the series concerns organizing and designating members of subcommittees or special projects, and clarifying procedures. The resolutions were typically taken upon the recommendation of the Council of National Defense. In addition to the correspondence, the contents of two folders at the beginning of the series are of special note. The first contains copies of form letters sent to the county committees, usually from the council's Assistant Secretary Frederic E. Foster to those chairing the committees. Taken together, these letters give an overview of many of the project areas coordinated by the State council upon plans devised by the Adjutant General's office. The second folder contains lists that comprise a directory of county home defense committees and selected subcommittees.

County home defense committees maintained similar correspondence files on several areas pertinent to war relief efforts. As reflected in the series, these areas included:

work with the State council's Division of Health and Hospitals providing free medical treatment for enlistment applicants rejected because of curable physical defects
arranging routes for a motor convoy traveling across the State
providing information on and issuing licenses for non-war construction, and reporting to the State on building projects upon which post-war deferment was requested (most of the reports in the series are marked "Blank")
curtailing unnecessary retail deliveries and the practice of returning goods, as a means to prevent diversion of workers from war work
establishing "Return Load Bureaus" for motor truck express lines, to make truck travel more efficient, relieve railroad congestion, and assure prompt delivery of short-haul shipments to manufacturers and shippers
conducting recruitment appeals and enrolling applicants in the United States Ship Yards Volunteer program

Correspondence also documents home defense committees' cooperation with the Liberty Loan program; federal exemption and enlistment boards; Herbert Hoover's food conservation pledge and "cleanup campaign" (to reach American homemakers); federal collection of the personal income tax; and the U.S. War Department's plans (subsequently discontinued) for a pictorial history of war work.

The series also includes several lists. Lists of the State's county home defense committees (some of which are corrected copies) generally include county, committee mailing address, and name of chairman and/or secretary. There is a also a list reporting on the council's free medical treatment program, with information including county name; number of applicants; number later qualified (for military service); number failed to report; payments; and services donated. Another list shows organizations active with the county defense committees in the deliveries curtailment campaign.

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4237. Correspondence with Council of National Defense, 1917-1918. .8 cubic foot

Arrangement: Arranged by hierarchical council title, then alphabetical by name of member, subject, or committee.

The series consists of correspondence between the New York State Council of Defense and the Council of National Defense, its parent organization at the federal level. The State correspondence is largely authored by Frederic E. Foster, who was Assistant Secretary of the State Council of Defense. The correspondence chiefly relates to methods of conserving food and fuel supplies and administering the labor force during war emergency conditions. There are files in the series for many of the organizational subdivisions of the National Council; included are files of leading officials and chairmen, subject files, and committee files.

The series also includes extensive numbers of telegrams to the State Council from various chairmen of the national divisions, and others from the State officials to the national office; questionnaires from the national offices on State Council personnel and committees; and occasional bulletins published as a result of national committee work.

Official correspondence of both W. S. Gifford (Director of the National Council and also of the Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense) and Grosvenor B. Clarkson (Secretary to both the National Council and the Commission) is found in the series.

The Council of National Defense was comprised of several boards and sections, including those on production, standards, munitions, commercial economy, medical work, food supply and prices, war inventions, and women's defense work. The section on Co-Operation with State Organizations was headed by George F. Foster, and later by his successor, Arthur H. Fleming. Correspondence between each of these individuals and the State Council is found in the series, as are files from many of the specific program areas.

The separate Advisory Commission of the Council of National Defense was chaired by Daniel Willard. It was organized into several committees and subcommittees, including those for transportation and communication, munitions, science and research, raw materials, labor, and medicine and surgery (including general sanitation). There are files in the series relating to the policies and programs of many of these subdivisions.

The correspondence includes such topics as:

resolutions of the Council of National Defense concerning maintenance of standards and suspension of labor laws during wartime
organizing sales of Liberty Bonds
copies of general statements (often with copies of telegrams) circulated, upon release for publication, to all state councils and/or state divisions of the Women's Committee (e.g., announcements of conservation drives; regulations affecting manufacturers and retailers; issues of home defense; and apprehension of deserters during demobilization)

Work of the Commercial Economy Board is well documented. Correspondence relates to the following issues:

the board's recommendations in regard to the policy of non-return of unsold bread, and a campaign to induce bakers to discontinue the practice of accepting returns (the State Supply Commission was involved in this issue)
plans for conservation and restricting the use of cloth, metal, and other materials in retail manufacture (e.g., of baby carriages, strollers, and sulkies), and the reduction of waste material in farms and factories
a program to curtail service plans to promote economy in retail deliveries

The work of the Women's Committee of the National Council is similarly documented. The file focuses on cooperation on plans for food conservation, economy in the home, and a child welfare campaign to "secure the Public Protection of Maternity and Infancy." The latter program was in support of public hygiene, prenatal care, and civilian relief to reduce infant death and disease during the stressful wartime period.

Finding aid: Folder list.

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A4239. United States Public Service Reserve Correspondence Files, 1917-1918. .8 cubic foot

Arrangement: Alphabetical by last name of applicant/correspondent, or by subject.

The series consists primarily of original correspondence sent to the Council of Defense regarding service in the U.S. Public Service Reserve, and copies of responses sent to the applicants. The responses were typically written by Frederic E. Foster, Assistant Secretary of the Council, who was also assistant to William A. Orr, State Director of the U.S. Public Service Reserve and Secretary of the Council. Also included in the series are memoranda and correspondence of national, State, and local officials involved in recruitment and organization efforts; data on inductions and labor needs; a few supply invoices; and memoranda, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and forms on the shipyard volunteer program and related correspondence relating to its "Four Minute Men" publicity.

In response to an appeal by the Council of National Defense, the U.S. Shipping Board, and the U.S. Department of Labor, New York organized a State U.S. Public Service Reserve, which worked in cooperation with the State Council of Defense to recruit men to fill needs of ship building yards and for other services. The reserve had no power to take men from the draft; work in the shipyards placed men in a deferred class. There was no enrollment for women workers. Neither a fee nor a physical was required of applicants. Wages and living conditions were stated when the call for workers came from Washington, D.C., and those enrolled in the reserve were free to accept or reject offers for positions.

The "Four Minute Men" organization was a branch of the Committee on Public Information commissioned to speak to motion picture theater audiences on topics of national importance. The group's New York City committee worked with the Council of Defense Speaker's Bureau on a campaign publicizing the importance of ship building to the war effort and inviting enrollment in the Public Service Reserve.

William A. Orr, Secretary of the State Council of Defense and State Director of the U.S. Public Service Reserve, kept files of direct enrollment inquiries and referrals from the National Director William E. Hall, and Associate Director A. D. Smith. These letters mostly concern offers of individuals' services, requests for application blanks, and job placement questions. Other correspondence in the series includes referrals to county home defense committees for enrollment in the reserve; referrals to recruiting stations for enlistment

with skilled non-combatant forces; and updates on changing labor needs on farms, in railway transport service, and tank or motor mechanic regiments (sometimes listing the numbers and kinds of men wanted).

In addition, the series includes material on several general subjects. There are some pre-printed application forms, completed in manuscript, for membership in the reserve. Information on the forms includes the applicant's signature, residence, business address, and telephone numbers, as well as the date. Elsewhere in the series are memoranda, newspaper clippings, bulletins, and forms on the shipyard volunteer program.

Forms from enrollment chairmen of county home defense committees to William Orr report on the number of workers enrolled as shipyard volunteers. Forms typically list county, number of cards received, and total number of applicants. Some are separately dated and/or date stamped as received by the council.

Other forms in the series include invoices and memoranda of supplies mailed to the State office from the Department of Labor (U.S. Public Service Reserve). The forms give date, stock number, and the type and amount of articles sent.

Memoranda and correspondence to William Orr, as State Director of the Reserve, from the U.S. Department of Labor concern employee quotas, the status of common labor and needs for skilled trades in the manufacture of essential war materials, and also referrals of applicants to await requests for men needed to work government contracts. There is also a small amount of correspondence and induction data from enrollment agents, with some names of men enrolled for work.

Finally, there are a few letters from companies engaged in war contract work protesting recruitment of their employees for the reserve, as well as letters from employees of such companies declining to enroll in the reserve in preference to their current war employment.

Finding aid: Folder list.

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