Research

Scope and Content Note

This series contains correspondence, memoranda, publications, regulations, and photographs documenting the director's administration and coordination of the Office of Civilian Protection with local and private agencies involved in civil defense work. A significant amount of records details the initial organization of the office and the materials required for civil defense activities such as: air raid shelters; blackouts; evacuations; stockpiles; uniforms and insignia; and volunteer recruitment.

In addition to local war councils, subordinate and related agencies represented in this series include: American Red Cross; Boy Scouts; Emergency Medical Service; Highway Repair and Debris Clearance Committee; and the federal Office of Civilian Defense. Also found is information regarding the protection of New York State's war industries.

A4311-15: This accretion consists of recruitment and war bond posters, organizational charts, a chart of chemical warfare agents, and maps. Maps document locations of air raid warning sites, air raid warning districts and telephone networks, police teletypewriter networks, service zones for natural disasters, civil defense facilities and control centers, plasma reserves, and emergency medical facilities.