Research


Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, publications, reports, meeting minutes, and other materials related to the operation of the New York State Education Department under Commissioner of Education George Stoddard.

Much of the State Education Department's efforts during Stoddard's tenure were focused on specific challenges facing education during World War II. Included among the records are correspondence, meeting minutes, and position papers from the American Council on Education, which was formed during World War I as attempt to coordinate interests of American education at all levels, particularly higher education, in their relations with the Federal government. This council served a similar purpose during World War II. Also included is correspondence about New York State Social Welfare Department programs funded by the Federal Works Agency for child care programs in New York State schools targeted toward children with parents in the military, as well as correspondence, minutes, and reports regarding new physical education guidelines and programs on physical fitness sponsored by the State War Council.

The State Education Department was also involved in numerous projects related to planning for the post-World War II period. Included among the records are correspondence and reports on planning for construction projects in the State Education Department and at state higher education institutions, planned for construction after World War II. Also included are correspondence, drafts, and final copies of the Regents Plan for Post-War Education in the State of New York, involving vocational and higher education for returning soldiers, increased funding for teachers colleges, and extension programs for library and archives services. Furthermore, correspondence and reports are included from the U.S. Committee on Educational Reconstruction, a group founded to aid the rehabilitation of educational institutions in post-war Europe.

Partially in response to the demand created by returning soldiers and an increased focus on military preparedness, the State Education Department under George Stoddard increased its focus on vocational and technical education. The collection includes correspondence, reports, proposed curricula, and other materials related to the proposed Institutes of Applied Arts and Sciences, involving post-secondary agricultural and technical education programs at New York State higher education institutions. In addition, correspondence and reports are included from the Joint Committee on the Study of Rural Education Services, charged with developing a plan for studying agricultural education in NYS.

Also in the collection are materials focused on secondary education in New York State, including correspondence and reports from special committees on secondary education, such as Commissioner Stoddard's Committee on Secondary School Problems, the Commissioner's Advisory Committee on Secondary Education, and the Special Committee on Constants in the Curriculum, as well as papers on general trends in secondary education. Numerous files are also present which deal with specific higher education institutions in New York State, including correspondence and reports on the establishment of the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, as well as material related to various New York State teacher's colleges.

The State Education Department's relationships with the U.S. and New York State governments are also well-documented. Included are correspondence and bills related to proposed federal legislation related to education, including general school aid, school lunch bill, vocational rehabilitation for disabled war veterans. Also included are correspondence, articles, and reports from, and related to, the Governor's Committee on the State Educational Program, mostly focused on the revision of the "Friedsman formula" for state aid to the public schools.