Research

Scope and Content Note

Much of the War Council's work focused on informing the general public on home front war goals and providing instruction on the methods to achieve them. This series contains audio-visual materials including filmstrips, black-and-white photographs, slides, posters, and phonograph records employed to this end.

This series contains: posters, including billboard size posters, from the War Transportation Committee promoting driver safety and automobile conservation; color slides demonstrating home canning; a filmstrip from the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense entitled "Battle Strategy for the Home Front"; a filmstrip on home safety; black-and-white photographs of diverse War Council activities; phonograph recordings, including Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti speaking on discrimination in employment, one on civil defense ("When Bombs Fall"), and one explaining the Block Plan; and an organizational chart of the War Council's Division of War Records and its organizational relationship with the State Education Department's Division of Archives and History.

A4392-01: This accretion consists of eighteen 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records collected by the War Council to assist in carrying out its mandate of providing the civilian population with civil defense training. The majority of the recordings were produced by the United States Office of Civilian Defense. These were part of two series of recordings entitled "We Have Met the Enemy" and "Yankee Doodle." Several of the recordings were produced by the War Council and its sub-agencies including the War Information Service. One recording was produced by the New York State Defense Information Committee shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Topics addressed in the recordings include the general importance of civilian defense; national security issues; the Block Plan; fire defense training; and communal and emergency feeding plans.

A4392-01: The recordings also address the significant role in civil defense of billeting officers, incident officers, housewives, heavy rescue workers, shelter workers, regional column group officers, rest center supervisors, ambulance drivers, fire guards, demolition men, auxiliary firemen, auxiliary police, and air raid wardens.