GUIDE TO RECORDS OF THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE in the New York State Archives The University of the State of New York THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT Office of Cultural Education State Archives and Records Administration Albany, New York 12230 1994 On the Cover Signatures of 22 governors of New York State are reproduced on the cover of this guide, in the following order: Martin H. Glynn [W.] Averell Harriman George Clinton Horatio Seymour Nathan L. Miller Thomas E. Dewey David B. Hill L[evi] P. Morton Theodore Roosevelt W[illia]m Sulzer Alfred E. Smith Franklin D. Roosevelt B[enjamin] B. Odell Frank S. Black Nelson A. Rockefeller Herbert H. Lehman Charles E[vans] Hughes Roswell P. Flower John A. Dix (1911-1912) Daniel D. Tompkins Charles S. Whitman Horace White ii FOREWORD iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS On the Cover .......................................................................................................................................... ii FOREWORD.........................................................................................................................................iii INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................ 1 HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR AND LIST OF NEW YORK STATE GOVERNORS ............................... 5 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR ................................................................ 9 1. Legislation ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Records in this category contain information compiled by the governor's staff to monitor bills sent to the governor for signature. The Legislative Bill and Veto Jackets series contains memoranda and correspondence to the governor supporting or opposing every bill passed by the legislature and sent to the governor for approval. This is the Archives' primary source for research on legislative intent. 12590. Legislative Bill and Veto Jackets, 1883, 1884, 1897, 1905, 1921-1993 (bulk 1921-1993)...................................... 9 A0595. Registers of Titles of Bills Received by the Governor, 1864-1913.......................................................................... 11 A0596. Index to Registers of Titles of Bills Received by the Governor, 1872-1912. ......................................................... 11 A0602. Registers of Titles of Bills Signed by the Governor, 1857-1870. ............................................................................ 11 A3350. Index to Bills Vetoed, 1901, 1905-1912. .................................................................................................................... 12 A3351. Register of Actions Requested on Legislative Bills, 1879........................................................................................ 12 2. Actions and Decisions..................................................................................................................... 12 These records were created pursuant to an 1859 law requiring the governor to keep a record of "daily transactions." The blotters are a preliminary record relating to requests and applications for appointments, nominations, pardons, commutations, restoration of citizenship rights, and other gubernatorial actions. The journals are the chronological "permanent" record, containing information extracted and transcribed from the blotters. The ledgers, compiled from the journals, are another central record of appointments and actions organized by type of appointment made or action taken. These records also contain messages to the legislature, including veto messages and, less frequently, approval messages for legislation. The messages are particularly important in the years preceding 1921, the first year of the complete set of Legislative Bill and Veto Jackets. A0608. Blotters of Governors' Actions and Decisions, 1859-1938. ..................................................................................... 12 A0607. Journals of Governors' Actions and Decisions, 1859-1916..................................................................................... 13 A0622. Ledgers of Governors' Actions and Decisions, 1856-1906...................................................................................... 13 3. Correspondence.............................................................................................................................. 15 Most of these records comprise the voluminous central files of the Executive Chamber (governor and immediate staff) containing incoming and outgoing official correspondence arranged by subject or name of correspondent. The Archives holds a comprehensive series of correspondence files dating primarily from the twentieth century. Earlier files occur sporadically and offer an incomplete picture of the range of official activities and concerns of the executive. The very earliest records in this group (Clinton and Tompkins) are not exclusively correspondence files, or even gubernatorial records, but contain a range of materials interspersed with records related to public matters. Early record-keeping practices did not separate public from private material. 13682. Central Subject and Correspondence Files, 1919-1954, 1959-1983....................................................................... 15 13681. Name Files, 1959-1982. ............................................................................................................................................... 20 A0404. Invitation Correspondence File, 1932-1935 (bulk 1933-1935)................................................................................ 20 A0612. Appointment Correspondence Files, 1883-1936. ..................................................................................................... 21 A3218. Alphabetic Card Index to Governors' Correspondence Files, 1907-1928. ........................................................... 22 A0623. Registers and Index to Incoming Correspondence, 1861-1862. ............................................................................. 22 A0084. Gubernatorial and Personal Records, 1792-1823. (Daniel D. Tompkins) ............................................................. 23 A3189. Letterbook of Official Correspondence and Proclamations, 1787-1795, 1802-1804. .......................................... 24 A0142. Gubernatorial and Personal Records, 1725-1854 (bulk 1755-1817). (George Clinton)....................................... 25 4. Messages, Proclamations, Orders, and Addresses..................................................................... 27 These records, dating primarily from the administrations of Averell Harriman, Nelson Rockefeller, and Hugh Carey, are copies of governors' messages to the legislature in support of legislative bills recommended by the governor, addresses to the legislature and other organizations, gubernatorial proclamations (the originals being filed with the secretary of state), and executive orders relating to special prosecutions in New York City cases of corruption of public servants. 13687. Addresses, 1975-1986. ................................................................................................................................................. 27 A0114. Messages to the Legislature, 1957-1969. ................................................................................................................... 28 13685. Executive Orders, 1972-1982. .................................................................................................................................... 29 13684. Proclamations, 1976-1986........................................................................................................................................... 29 A3286. Thanksgiving Proclamations by the Governor, 1874-1925. ................................................................................... 30 5. Reports and Minutes...................................................................................................................... 30 This category contains summaries, minutes, or transcripts of meetings and special proceedings submitted to the governor's office by special commissions and public authorities. Also included are reports to the governor from special consultants or standing committees, task forces, and State agencies dating from the late nineteenth and part of the twentieth centuries. Most of these files were maintained by the governor's office to monitor activities and to inform the governor's decision-making process. Of particular note is a series of reports from State agencies, special commissions, advisory boards, and outside consultants maintained by the Carey administration to track the status of current policies and issues. B0294. Printed Reports and Studies, 1975-1982................................................................................................................... 30 A0706. Transcripts of Minutes and Public Hearings of Public Authorities, 1951-1974................................................... 31 A0616. Inter-Government Activity Report Transmittal and Acknowledgment Files, 1949-1954. ................................. 32 A0187. Annual and Final Reports of State Agencies and Commissions, 1950-1954......................................................... 33 A0615. Proceedings, Recommendations, and Background Files of the Governor's Conference on Crime, the Criminal and Society,