Research

Scope and Content Note

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 Section on Citizen Unity.

During the early development of the War Council, Governor Lehman invited interested parties who were not members of the council to participate in several larger conferences on defense issues such as: speeding defense production; national, state and local defense plans; and solving the problem of lack of skilled workers.