New York State Military Training Commission Administrative Records and Manuals Relating to Military Training Enrollments and…

The series contains general administrative records of the commission, including enrollments of boys under the state's military law, related correspondence, and documentation of cooperation with federal efforts to increase the labor pool of farm workers which had been depleted by service in World War I. There are manuals for physical training, health, athletics, and citizenship (e.g. standards of discipline and deportment); reports on the Farm Cadet Corps; and correspondence and administrative records of commission Secretary Thomas C. Stowell.

On December 3, 1918 all boys between the ages of 16 and 19 residing in New York State had to enroll with the Military Training Commission. The enrollment took place in every school house in the state. Detailed questionnaire cards were completed by the teachers for each boy. The data from the cards were transferred to Hollerith cards to be tabulated. The information on these cards later formed the basis for a statistical work by Howard G. Burdge, who was the commission's supervising officer for vocational training.

The enrollment records found in the series include statistical tabulations of boys enrolling in all zones, correspondence regarding enrollments, and instructions for sorting enrollment cards. Correspondence with school supervisors contains some directories of school districts. Of special interest is the Public School Directory for Hornell for 1918-1919 and a 1918 Tentative Syllabus on Hygiene for a regents program of physical training.

In the summer of 1917, the Department of Labor organized the United States Boys' Working Reserve to supply labor to farmers who were short-handed due to the war. The series contains correspondence between Dr. Arthur D. Dean, supervising officer, New York Zone, Military Training Commission, and William E. Hall, national director, U.S. Boys' Working Reserve.

Also included in the series are several oversize items: "Farm for Freedom" posters; construction plans for housing quarters for Farm Cadets; and a cadet training camp poster.

A4435Series A4435, Statistical Reports, Background Material, and Industry Profiles, contains statistical information on enrollment, a list of codes for the Hollerith cards, and an example of these cards

A0401Series A0401, Administrative Reports, Correspondence, and Orders, contains records of the Bureau of Technical Military Training, including reports by supervisors and trainers and detailed reports of cadet activities

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 the material.