|
BIOGRAPHICAL/
HISTORICAL NOTE: The State Defense Council was created in November 1940
by Governor Frederick P. Cone to direct a concerted effort leading toward
total preparedness for Florida. The Council was authorized in 1941 (Ch.
20213, Laws). Spessard Holland, as incoming Governor, headed the Council,
with Carl Borerin serving as Vice Chairman. The Council directed local,
county, and regional defense councils. It was comprised of twelve divisions:
Industry and Material Resources, Labor and Personnel, Civil Protection,
Fire Protection and Water Supply, Agriculture, Food, Health and Housing,
Communications and Transportation, Power and Fuel, Finance and Budget,
Home Community Service, and Information, Education and Moral. The Council
was terminated by Executive Order in 1945 with the ending of World War
II.
SUMMARY SCOPE NOTE: This
series consists of the subject files of the
State Defense Council from 1940 to 1946. The series
provides information on the activities of the
Council and its officers. Letters, publications,
reports, resolutions, maps, and charts
from local, state, and federal agencies detail
defense issues affecting the Council from its
creation in 1940 to its dissolution after the war.
Due to their size, some charts, reports, and scrapbooks
are boxed separately from the subject files.
All divisions of the State
Defense Council are represented
in the series in correspondence, conference
proceedings, reports, and various publications.
The correspondence of individual officers
such as Governor Spessard L. Holland, Executive
Director George L. Burr, and Vice Chairman
Carl Borerin are filed under their surnames.
Other officers and individuals are filed
according to the divisions, agencies, or programs
they were associated with. Extensive correspondence
between the State Defense Council and
local defense councils throughout Florida reveals
the objectives and functions of defense projects
in the state. Local defense councils are filed
by county or, when appropriate, by city.
Federal defense agencies
are well represented in this series. Records from the Office of
Civilian Defense contain correspondence between agency officials and the
State Defense Council. Reports, publications, and maps detail a variety
>of civilian defense campaigns in Florida on topics such as negro recreation,
farm labor, cars, scrap collection, and rationing. The series also contains
records from the Works Projects Administration, the Office for Emergency
Management, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Security
Agency, among others. It also documents the military service and civilian
defense activities of Florida women. A scrapbook entitled "Fore and Aft"
details the collection of scrap metal in Florida during the war in newspaper
clippings, photographs, and newsletters. In addition, a collection of
maps marks the placement of dim-out lights in Florida by county.
FINDING AID: Folder listing
available.
|
