New York State War Council Assistant to the State War Plans Coordinator's Information and Coordination Files A4346

New York State War Council Assistant to the State War Plans Coordinator's Information and Coordination Files

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Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230

Summary:

This series contains correspondence, bulletins, posters, orders to subordinate agencies and local war councils, reports on war programs, draft legislation, and official releases relating to coordination of War Council activities with local, state, and federal agencies.

Creator:

New York State War Council

Title:

Assistant to the state war plans coordinator's information and coordination files

Quantity:

3 cubic feet

Inclusive Dates:

1941-1945

Bulk Dates:

bulk 1942

Series Number:

A4346

Arrangement

Organized into 3 subseries: Subseries 1, Agency Activity Coordination Files, 1942-1945, 1 cubic foot, is arranged by document type or topic; Subseries 2, Agency Activity Information Files, 1941-1942, 1.5 cubic feet, is arranged alphabetically by agency; Subseries 3, Federal War Agencies Coordination Files, 1942, 0.5 cubic foot, is arranged by agency or topic.

Administrative History

Maurice Neufeld worked in New York State's Division of Commerce and became the assistant to the State War Plans Coordinator in 1941 with the creation of the State War Council. Lieutenant Governor Charles Poletti was the first State War Plans Coordinator; later Oswald D. Heck, speaker of the assembly, served. Neufeld served in his position throughout the war, and though he had authority over certain issues, primarily he served to direct decisions to the appropriate agency heads.

Scope and Content Note

This series contains correspondence, bulletins, posters, and official releases relating to Maurice Neufeld's coordination of War Council activities with local, state, and federal agencies.

Subseries 1, Agency Activity Coordination Files, 1942-1945: This subseries primarily contains informational releases, orders to subordinate agencies and local war councils, bulletins, reports on war programs, legislation drafts, and correspondence sent to or from Neufeld as part of his duties to coordinate information about War Council activities. Materials found describe: agricultural and labor issues; appointments to subagency positions; civil defense activities; civilian mobilization efforts; and a fuel conservation program.

Also included are materials from Governor Thomas E. Dewey's special emergency committee, formed to respond to the heavy snowfalls (over 50 inches) of January 1945, with western New York hit particularly hard near the end of the month. Reports to the committee from local war councils detail weather and road conditions, community needs, status of food and other supplies, delivery problems, the number of railroad workers, snow clearance men, and availability of coal delivery.

Subseries 2, Agency Activity Information Files, 1941-1942: This subseries contains correspondence, bulletins, and informational releases detailing agencies' activities and plans collected by Neufeld in order to monitor and assist state and War Council agencies. Most concern personnel and organizational matters, publication printing (sometimes including samples), or items sent to local war councils. Also found in this subseries are: notices from the attorney general concerning road access restrictions; monthly employment statistics on metropolitan New York City; and significant information on civil defense, mobilization, nutrition, war training, and war transportation.

Subseries 3, Federal War Agencies Coordination Files, 1942: Correspondence and other materials reveal the coordination of activities between the federal government's war programs and New York's. Most records concern determining meeting times; infrequently meeting agendas or minutes are also found, along with correspondence to various federal offices from the State War Council seeking approval for actions. The federal agencies best represented are the Office of Civil Defense, the Works Progress Administration, and the Federal Security Agency. Within the Office of Civil Defense files, there are releases concerning operations, letters,memoranda, and publications (including pre-publication copies of some items). Of special interest is a folder listing the status of various Lanham Act projects (hospital construction, sanitation projects) within New York.