New York State Defense Council United States Public Service Reserve Correspondence Files

Alphabetical by last name of applicant/correspondent, or by subject.

In response to an appeal by the Council of National Defense, the U.S. Shipping Board, and the U.S. Department of Labor, New York organized a state U.S. Public Service Reserve, which worked in cooperation with the State Defense Council to recruit men to fill needs of ship building yards and for other services. The reserve had no power to take men from the draft; work in the shipyards placed men in a deferred class. There was no enrollment for women workers.

Neither a fee nor a physical was required of applicants. Wages and living conditions were stated when the call for workers came from Washington, D.C., and those enrolled in the reserve were free to accept or reject offers for positions.

The "Four Minute Men" organization was a branch of the Committee on Public Information commissioned to speak to motion picture theater audiences on topics of national importance. The group's New York City committee worked with the State Defense Council Speaker's Bureau to conduct a campaign publicizing the importance of ship building to the war effort and encouraging enrollment in the Public Service Reserve.

The series consists primarily of original correspondence sent to the New York State Defense Council regarding service in the U.S. Public Service Reserve, and copies of responses sent to the applicants. The responses were typically written by Frederic E. Foster, Assistant Secretary of the Council, who was also assistant to William A. Orr, State Director of the U.S. Public Reserve and Secretary of the Council. Also included in the series are memoranda and correspondence of national, state, and local officials involved in recruitment and organization efforts; data on inductions and labor needs; a few supply invoices; and memoranda, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and forms on the shipyard volunteer program and related correspondence relating to its "Four Minute Men" publicity.

William A. Orr, Secretary of the State Defense Council and State Director of the U.S. Public Service Reserve, kept files of direct enrollment inquiries and referrals from the National Director, William E. Hall, and Associate Director A.D. Smith. These letters mostly concern offers of individuals' services, requests for application blanks, and job placement questions. Other correspondence in the series includes referrals to county home defense committees for enrollment in the reserve; referrals to recruiting stations for enlistment with skilled non-combatant forces; and updates on changing labor needs on farms, in railway transport service, and tank or motor mechanic regiments (sometimes listing the numbers and kinds of men wanted).

In addition, the series includes material on several general subjects. There are some pre-printed applications forms, completed in manuscript, for membership in the reserve. Information on the forms includes the applicant's signature, residence, business address, and telephone numbers, as well as the date. Elsewhere in the series are memoranda, newspaper clippings, bulletins, and forms on the shipyard volunteer program.

Forms from enrollment chairmen of county home defense committees to William Orr report on the number of workers enrolled as shipyard volunteers. Forms typically list county, number of cards received, and total number of applicants. Some are separately dated and/or date stamped as received by the council.

Other forms in the series include invoices and memoranda of supplies mailed to the state office from the Department of Labor (U.S. Public Service Reserve). The forms give date, stock number, and the type and amount of articles sent.

Memoranda and correspondence to William Orr, as State Director of the Reserve, from U.S. Department of Labor concerns employee quotas, the status of common labor needs and for skilled trades in the manufacture of essential war materials, and also referrals of applicants to await requests for men needed to work government contracts. There is also a small amount of correspondence and induction data from enrollment agents, with some names of men enrolled for work.

Finally, there are a few letters from companies engaged in war contract work protesting recruitment of their employees for the reserve, as well as letters from employees ofsuch companies declining to enroll in the reserve in preference to their current war employment.

Microform is available at the New York State Archives through interlibrary loan.

Container, folder, and roll lists are available at the repository.

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