New York State Governor Alfred E. Smith Central Subject and Correspondence Files

This series is arranged numerically by original file code assigned by the governor's office. File codes pertaining to Governor Smith's first term (1919-1920) begin with the number 260; codes pertaining to his three subsequent terms (1923-1928) begin with the number 200. Records from the later group appear first in the box listing. Microfilm was produced in the same order found in the original records. Dates are noted in folder list only in cases where files pertain to specific events or files are known to cover a limited date range.

Alfred Emanuel Smith was born in New York City on December 30, 1873. He married Catherine (Katie) Dunn on May 6, 1900 and the couple raised a family of five children: Alfred, Jr., Emily, Catherine, Arthur, and Walter. Smith was first elected to public office in 1903, when with the support of the Democratic Tammany Hall organization he claimed a seat in the New York State Assembly. At the outset of the 1911 legislative session, he was named Assembly Majority Leader as well as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Later that year, members of the newly established Factory Investigating Commission, created in the wake of the disastrous Triangle Shirtwaist fire, named him vice chairman. In 1913, house membership elected Smith Speaker of the Assembly, a post that he would hold until he left the legislature following the 1915 session.

After serving as New York County sheriff and President of the Board of Aldermen of Greater New York, Smith made his first successful bid for the governor's office in 1918. Following his first term, he was defeated in his bid for reelection by Nathan Miller. In 1922, Smith in turn defeated Miller to reclaim the governor's office. Smith was reelected governor in both the 1924 and 1926 elections. In 1928, he ran unsuccessfully as the Democratic Party's candidate for president, losing to Herbert Hoover. Smith returned to private life after the conclusion of the 1928 campaign and the completion of his fourth gubernatorial term. He died on October 4, 1944 at the age of seventy.

As governor, Smith is best remembered for advocating a comprehensive program aimed at reforming the administration of state government. Believing that greater efficiency allowed resources to be allocated where they could better serve the needs of the public, his proposals included streamlining the massive, unwieldy, and decentralized structure of the executive branch into a limited number of cabinet-level departments; reducing the body of executive branch officials elected by the public to include solely the governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller, and attorney general; creating an executive budget system, which vested in the governor sole authority to formulate the state's initial budget proposal; and increasing the governor's term from two to four years. All but the last of these proposals were enacted during Smith's tenure as governor.

For detailed examinations of the life and political career of Alfred E. Smith, see Finan, Christopher M. New York: Hill and Wang, 2002; and Slayton, Robert A. New York: Free Press, 2001.

The central subject and correspondence files of Governor Alfred E. Smith pertain to an array of topics of critical importance during the post-World War I era and the 1920s: State Reconstruction Commission and transition from war to peacetime administration; reorganization of state government; ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment and enforcement of the Volstead Act; repeal of the Mullen-Gage Prohibition Enforcement Act (state-level version of Volstead Act); milk prices and supply shortages; laws proposed by the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Seditious Activities (Lusk Committee); removal of Socialist Party members from seats in the State Assembly; New York State Bonus Commission and the payment of bonuses to World War I veterans; postwar housing shortage and demand for new residential construction; industrial working conditions, wages, labor relations, and strikes; workmen's compensation.

Additional topics documented in the records include education funding and the establishment of rural schools; Native American relations and land claims; bond issues in support of state projects such as construction of facilities for the care of wards of the state; development and administration of the state park system; development, allocation, and pricing of energy resources, particularly water power; motor vehicle regulation; public transportation fares; construction of roads; construction and administration of the State Barge Canal; investigations of illegal gambling operations; and execution of requests for judicial assistance (letters rogatory) received from foreign governments.

A significant portion of the records relate to examinations and investigations of the management and affairs of various state departments, offices, commissions, and institutions, ordered by Governor Smith under provisions of the Moreland Act. The records document investigations of state entities including the Arsenal Commission; Hospital Commission; Adjutant General's Office; Department of Purchase; Department of Prisons; State Fair Commission; National Guard; Industrial Commission; State Troopers at Batavia; Transit Commission; Parole Board; Census Bureau; and Soldiers and Sailors' Home at Bath. Additional records document the governor's statutory authority to investigate or direct the investigation of charges against local government officials, including county district attorneys and sheriffs.

Most files consist predominantly of original letters and telegrams from public officials and private citizens and organizations; unsigned copies of replies or letters from the governor forwarding correspondence to state or local government officials for action; and copies of state and local government officials' replies to the governor and/or the original correspondents. Other types of records include minutes of meetings of state agencies; public hearing minutes; agency reports; newspaper clippings; publications; background materials; copies of legislation and resolutions; invitations; and gubernatorial messages and speeches. Moreland Act investigation files include hearing minutes, exhibits, legal contracts, correspondence, and final reports. Certain files documenting investigations of charges against local government officials include copies of hearing minutes and legal documents.

This series has been microfilmed on 169 rolls and is available for use onsite or through interlibrary loan. NOTE: microfilm was produced prior to transfer of the records to the New York State Archives.

Letter from W.E.B. DuBois to Ferdinand Q. Morton regarding assault of NAACP Secretary John R. Shillady has been digitized and is available in State Archives Digital Collections.

Series A3218, Alpabetical Card Index to Governors' Correspondence Files, contains references to numeric file codes by which records in this series are arranged.

Microfilm reel list.

Access to certain records documenting Moreland Act investigations is restricted. Records are subject to review by State Archives staff prior to disclosure.