New York State Governor W. Averell Harriman Central Subject and Correspondence Files

This series is organized into five subseries: 1. Correspondence Files, January 1, 1955-January 31, 1956; 2. General Subject and Correspondence Files, February 1956-December 1958; 3. Special Subject and Name File, 1955-1958; 4. Pressure Mail, 1955-1958; 5. Christmas Cards, 1955-1958.

William Averell Harriman was born in New York City on November 15, 1891. After graduating from Yale in 1913, he pursued a number of venture capital investments and served as director of both the Union Pacific and Illinois Central railroads. He also established the banking firm of W. A. Harriman and Company, which later merged with Brown Brothers and Company to create the renowned firm of Brown Brothers Harriman and Company. Concurrently with his business career, Harriman also served on a number of governmental commissions and went on to hold both economic advisory and diplomatic positions in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. He campaigned unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination in 1952, losing out to the more moderate Adlai Stevenson. The same fate would befall Harriman in the 1956 presidential campaign.

Following Governor Thomas E. Dewey's decision not to seek reelection in 1954, Harriman defeated United States Senator Irving M. Ives by a narrow margin, reclaiming the governorship for the Democratic Party. Harriman served just one term as governor, losing in his bid for reelection to Republican Nelson Rockefeller. Following his departure from the governorship, Harriman returned to his career in foreign affairs, holding the position of Ambassador at Large and additional posts in the U.S. State Department during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Harriman served as the chief American negotiator during the Paris peace talks aimed at ending the war in Vietnam. Averell Harriman died on July 26, 1986 in Yorktown Heights, New York at the age of ninety-four.

As governor, Harriman introduced new programs in the field of mental health, created an office of consumer counsel, prepared a comprehensive program for the aged, and began programs at the state level that would be emulated at the national level in what came to be known as the "War on Poverty." Harriman presided over increased activity by the State Commission against Discrimination and bi-partisan agreement on pioneering middle-income housing legislation. Lastly, Harriman successfully pressured the State Legislature to dramatically increase state aid to education.

For further information on the life and politcal career of Averell Harriman, see Averell Harriman: An Inventory of His Gubernatorial Papers in the Syracuse University Library, Manuscript Inventory Series Inventory Number 10, comp. James K. Owens, March 1967.

This series contains incoming correspondence, copies of outgoing correspondence, memoranda, telegrams, press releases, reports, statements, proclamations, and transmittals pertaining to the administration, organization, and operations of state government. Personal correspondence of Averell Harriman is also included. Records relate to such subjects as agriculture, appointments, authorities and commissions, commerce, conservation, education, fiscal affairs, highways and highway safety, labor, legislation, mental health, personnel administration, public health, public utilities, taxation, welfare, and youth. The "Supplement to Subject Files" category contains similar records received by the Executive Chamber too late to be filed in the General Subject and Correspondence Files.

The "Special Subject and Name File" subseries contains similar records, including personal correspondence and material relating to state and national politics, compiled by the governor's personal secretary Bernice McCray. Noteworthy correspondents include Harry Truman, Edmund G. Brown, Winston Churchill, Herbert Bayard Swope, and Estes Kefauver. The "Pressure Mail" subseries consists of letters, telegrams, petitions, and postcards requesting the governor's support for or opposition to pending legislation or bills approved by the State Legislature. Lastly, the "Christmas Cards" subseries includes such items received by Governor and Mrs. Harriman, many of which sent by prominent national and international figures.

High resolution images of selected original documents in this series are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

13682-96Series Accretion 13682-96, Central subject and correspondence files (Harriman), contains additional gubernatorial correspondence of the Harriman administration

A3218Series A3218, Alphabetic card index to governors' correspondence files, contains copies of outgoing correspondence arranged alphabetically by addressee, which also serves as a name index to subject files found in Subseries II of the Harriman Central Subject and Correspondence Files

B2334Series B2334, Counsel to the Governor authorities subject files, contains subject files relating to New York State authorities from Judge Daniel Gutman, counsel to Governor Harriman

A total of 36 duplicate copies of "We: The Newsmagazine," Vol. 2 No. 2, were weeded from Folder 34 of Box 35 at the time of processing this accretion.

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