New York State Military Training Commission Bureau of Technical Military Training Administrative Reports, Correspondence, and…

Reports:Chronological or reverse chronological.

Correspondence:Chronological or alphabetical (see description for details).

The series consists primarily of weekly reports on military training of elementary and secondary school boys mandated under Article 1-A of the state's Military Law (added by Laws of 1916, Chapter 566). Training was administered by the Military Training Commission's Bureau of Technical Military Training. William H. Chapin was the commission's supervising officer for military training. There are also some annual reports, special orders, and correspondence of zone supervising officers (especially in Long Island and Hudson Valley zones) and information on special issues faced by the commission. Such issues include: problems arising from non-compliance, attempted enforcement of drilling, and efforts by the commission to discipline delinquent youth; attempts to rent drill halls; and the decision to eliminate military drill in schools which provided similar physical training under a male instructor.

The Consolidated Weekly Reports (1918-1921) of the Military Training Commission were printed forms completed by zone from information supplied by drilling instructors on a weekly report form. They include information on: school or locality of group; instructor; drill held at; date; hour; number of cadets; and character of instruction, with additional space on verso for Detailed Report of Zone Supervisor. Occasionally, added information on pay roster for instructors or expense reports of officers appear. Headings of columns changed over time, but basic data elements remained the same.

The reports are arranged in reverse chronological order and then geographically by zone (New York, Long Island, Hudson Valley, East Central, West Central, Western). Report for Scouting Unit was added from February 3, 1919 to end. A separate report for US Junior Naval Reserve is attached to the New York report from February 24 to May 19, 1919.

The influenza epidemic of the fall of 1918 caused great disruptions to drills, especially in Buffalo where 80-100 deaths per day were reported. Drills were suspended during the summers, but weekly forms were used to convey information to headquarters on the verso.

In 1918 and 1919 the commission was plagued by the problem of not being able to compel boys, especially the employed boys, to attend drill. Although enrollment in the Military Training Commission was mandated by law, there were no penalties for not drilling. In 1920 an effort was begun to hold schools and employers responsible for seeing that their boys conformed to the law. The Military Training Commission requested that schools and employers suspend boys for not attending drill. This attempt was not completely successful and was very unpopular with schools that resented what they saw as an infringement into their purview. Employers, some unhappy with the accommodations necessary to permit the boys time to drill, were not pleased with more paperwork, temporary loss of labor, and threats of fines.

The Military Training Commission argued that compliance was not only a legal requirement but also a patriotic duty. The police were asked to help track down scofflaws and a Delinquency Court was established to investigate individual cases, notify schools and employers, and assign punishment drills. Several folders of material contain correspondence between the Summary Court, Long Island Zone and employers regarding cadets failing to report or to enroll, and similar correspondence with the schools (arranged by "S.O." number, roughly chronological from November 1920 to February 1921). There are also lists of absentees from drill, weekly extra drill reports, enrollment of casual companies (composed of boys excused from drill for physical or educational reasons), and police department correspondence. Much of the correspondence also concerns delinquent boys.

All of this material contains lists of boys' names with their addresses, places of employment and sometimes date of birth. There is similar correspondence for the Hudson Valley Zone.

The series also includes copies of the annual reports from the zone supervising officers of all six zones for June 1919 and the Hudson Valley Zone report for June 1920, and material on quotas of cadets for summer camp. Of special note are personnel files of two instructors who were discharged and a cadet injured at drill from the Hudson Valley Zone.

Administrative correspondence of the Hudson Valley Zone office, 1917 to 1921, is in roughly chronological arrangement. Included is the "Report of work performed from September 16, 1917, until termination of the life of the Commission on June 30, 1921" by John P. Treanor, zone supervising officer, Hudson Valley Zone (note Section 32 provides an overview of the rationale and successes of the commission). Also present are lists of cadets with address, school, or place of employment, date of birth, and assigned companies for many Hudson Valley Zone towns. These folders also contain information on cadets receiving exemptions and cadets warranted as non-commissioned officers.

The Long Island Zone correspondence files are divided into several rough alphabetical groupings. Similar types of correspondence appear in the general, administrative, and group files. A great deal of the correspondence concerns the absence of employed boys from drill and letters are filed under either the boy's name, the name of the company he worked for, or the correspondent. Occasionally answers to letters in one set of files can be found in another set.

In the spring of 1920, the Military Training Commission ran out of money to pay for the rental of drill halls. Some owners and organizations were persuaded to waive rental payments as a patriotic gesture but others refused and drills were discontinued. Most of those who waived payment were eventually paid when the new appropriation was passed in July of 1920. In the fall there was no budget for rent and a great deal of energy was spent trying to find suitable accommodation to drill 50 to 100 boys in each town. The series contains correspondence, notes, and cards related to the search for drill space and negotiations over back rent and janitorial fees.

In January of 1921 the Military Training Commission decided to eliminate military drill in schools which provided similar physical training under a male instructor. The Long Island Zone sent out questionnaires to all schools asking if they wished to eliminate the separate Military Training Commission military training. Letters from schools requesting discontinuation are present for the Long Island and Hudson Valley zones.

Finally, the series also contains correspondence, reports, and enrollment cards in files of Major Edwin W. Dayton, who was zone supervising officer for the Long Island Zone.

Series A4435 Statistical Reports, Background Material, and Industry Profiles contains statistical information on military training enrollment.

Series A4436 Administrative Records and Manuals Relating to Military Training Enrollments and the Farm Cadet Corps contains additional information on enrollments in all zones.

This is one of three series formed from extant records of the Military Training Commission accessioned from the New York State Library in 1978 (old collection #401, accession -293). The records were arranged and processed by Archives staff in June 1994.

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.