New York State War Council Office of War Training School Bus Drivers' Training Program Administration and Certification Files

Organized into two subseries: Subseries 1, Administration Files, 1943-1945, 2.3 cubic feet; and Subseries 2, Examinations and Certification File, 1943-1944, 3.7 cubic feet.

Subseries 1, Administration Files: arranged by topic.

Subseries 2, Examinations and Certification File: arranged by topic, then alphabetical by school location.

World War II caused numerous shortages and affected many aspects of daily life. School buses, while an efficient means of transportation, required a great amount of resources, particularly fuel and rubber. Because better school bus driving techniques would help to conserve resources for the war effort, the War Council required all school bus drivers to be certified in the safe and efficient operation of buses. The War Council assigned the Education Department to this task, and it in turn requested that the Office of War Training administer the program.

The program trained and assigned instructors in over 100 schools throughout the state and issued certificates to those who passed the course. The War Production Training Office, a subdivision of the War Transportation Office, assumed responsibility for the distribution of publications (though it did not carry out any other program activities) after the Office of War Training closed in 1944.

This series contains correspondence, memoranda, lists, manuscript drafts, and certification exams documenting the School Bus Drivers' Training Program. Requests for pamphlets, manuals, and information were directed to the War Production Training Office, and correspondence from that office is also found within this series. This series is organized into two subseries described below.

Subseries 1, Administration Files, 1943-1945, 2.3 cubic feet: This subseries contains correspondence, memoranda, lists, and manuscript drafts documenting the management of the School Bus Drivers' Training Program. Materials found include: drafts of the instructor's manual; correspondence from field representatives regarding program organization; correspondence to new instructors regarding duties and expectations; lists of: the number of buses available by county, certified bus drivers, including their home town and instructor, trainees who were not certified (includes name, town, and reason for not certifying), and instructors, including their address, occupation, and often a signed receipt for teaching materials; brochures from school bus driver training programs in New York as well as other states; newspaper clippings documenting program activities; monthly reports from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles enumerating motor vehicle accidents involving property and personal injury; correspondence with other organizations interested in motor vehicle safety, such as the National Safety Council, the American Association of Automobiles, the New York State Motor Bus Association, and the New York Automobile Club; and routine correspondence between program officers and instructors discussing training manual and instructional film distribution, prospective training locations, reimbursements, and program activities.

Subseries 2, Examinations and Certification File, 1943-1944, 3.7 cubic feet: This subseries contains copies of examinations taken by students in the School Bus Drivers' Training Program and lists of those who took the training course, kept to record which drivers were certified to drive. The sixty-question exam posed questions on traffic regulations, a bus's mechanical operation, passenger safety and behavior, and efficient driving habits. The lists contain the names of course attendants, their address, and their final certification status. Some correspondence between program officers and local training program administrators dicussing issues regarding individuals' status is also found in this subseries, in addition to a set of 8" x 5" cards listing information relative to each training program.

This series was originally accessioned as boxes 166-171 of old collection #77, accession -71.

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