Research


Scope and Content Note

The central subject and correspondence files of Governor Hugh L. Carey document the administration of state government through the aftermath of Watergate, the end of American military involvement in Vietnam, the lingering economic recession, and a fiscal crisis that brought New York City to the brink of bankruptcy. Documents include incoming correspondence from constituents, private organizations, and public officials at all levels of government; copies of responses prepared by the governor's office or representatives of other state agencies; and topical reports and background publications.

The records document economic subjects including federal job training and vocational education programs aimed at combating unemployment; promotion of the state's industries and tourism, including the "I Love New York" campaign; state response to the New York City fiscal crisis; coordination of state and federal responses to the energy crisis and development of long-term energy policies; planning and coordination of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid; and improvement of the New York metropolitan area mass transit system.

Environmental issues documented include adoption of the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA); air and water pollution control programs, including implementation of the federal Clean Air Act; recycling and solid waste management; hazardous and radioactive waste disposal policies and management of the Love Canal and West Valley disposal sites; and protection of wildlife, coastal, and marine resources.

Social issues documented include Indian land claims, most notably the Mohawk Indian occupation at Moss Lake; education policy development and tuition assistance programs; juvenile justice; abortion; capital punishment; drug treatment programs and reform of "Rockefeller" drug laws; ongoing legal issues stemming from the 1971 Attica Correctional Facility inmate uprising; post-Vietnam War issues including settlement of Vietnamese refugees, amnesty for draft evaders, and services for veterans; response to Willowbrook litigation and reorganization of the Department of Mental Hygiene; urban renewal, housing development, and rent control; policies and services relating to senior citizens; and investigations of Medicaid and welfare fraud.