National Governors Association Centennial

1910-1919
1910		The Mann-Elkins Act enlarges the power of the Interstate Commerce Commission, adding cable, wireless, telephone, and telegraph to its responsibilities. The University of Michigan offers the first U.S. degree in public health. Governor Charles Evans Hughes of New York is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Scheduled to coincide with the second national Governors' Conference, a Conference on Uniform State Legislation is held in Washington. Twenty-nine states now have vocational education programs in place.
1911		1911 Meeting: Spring Lake, NJ (September 12-16) Leader: Francis McGovern, WI Governors engage in a lively discussion about what the powers of governors should be. The theory is advanced that current limits on gubernatorial power date back to the people's mistrust of colonial governors. Governors take their first official action as a group, adopting a motion for the appointment of a committee of three Governors to represent the organization in a pending Supreme Court case involving a challenge by the federal government with regard to the effect of intrastate railroad regulations on interstate rates. Kansas and Illinois become first states to provide mothers' pensions Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen reaches the South Pole. The electric car starter is invented, replacing the crank. The first Indianapolis 500-Mile Auto Race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the Memorial Day Weekend, beginning an annual tradition known as the Indy 500. Air conditioning is invented. The career of musical artist Al Jolson is launched on Broadway. The first U.S. coast-to-coast flight takes place. U.S. Air Mail begins. Fire at New York City's Triangle Shirtwaist Factory results in the deaths of 146 garment workers, leading to labor reforms and formation of the International Ladies Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU). President William Howard Taft vetoes statehood for Arizona because its proposed constitution would allow for the recall of judges by popular vote. California and Wisconsin establish boards to prepare state budgets. Kansas is the first state to pass a "blue sky" law—a law to regulate the offering and sale of securities in order to protect the public against fraud. Wisconsin adopts an income tax law that becomes a model for other states, for the first time using nonpolitical state officials to collect taxes, and requiring that businesses report employee incomes rather than relying on individual taxpayer self-reporting. Wisconsin becomes the first state to adopt a state workers' compensation program.
1912		1912 Meeting: Richmond, VA (December 3-7) Leader: Francis McGovern, WI Articles of Organization are adopted for the new "Governors' Conference," made up of governors and governors-elect of 'states and territories.' Articles establish 3-member Executive Committee and call for Annual Meetings under no formal procedures. Organization's purposes are to exchange views on subjects of importance to states, promote greater uniformity in state legislation, and attain greater efficiency in state administration. President William Howard Taft addresses the Annual Meeting. Governors discuss differences in their divorce laws, and with respect to lynching, a motion is adopted-opposed by southern governors-to use the power of states to protect people accused of crimes from mobs and to provide for speedy orders and impartial trials. Governors adopt a resolution that the power of states should be used to protect people accused of crimes from lynch mobs and to provide for speedy orders and impartial trials. Arizona and New Mexico join the Union. The Morse Code's SOS is adopted as the international sign of distress for ships. On its maiden voyage, the luxury liner Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,500 passengers and crew. Carl Jung's Theory of Psychoanalysis is published. Abstract painter Jackson Pollock is born. Congress creates the Children's Bureau. The federal government authorizes $500,000 for grants to state and local governments to cover one-third of the cost of improving rural free delivery (RFD) postal roads, and establishes a Joint Committee on Federal Aid in the Construction of Postal Roads to consider expansion of federal assistance for road constructions. Forty-five Governors answer the Joint Committee's questionnaire regarding their transportation systems, but only nine respond to a request for their views on federal assistance for highway construction: seven indicating support for aid and two opposed. Former New York Governor and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is the Progressive Party (Bull Moose) candidate for President, choosing California Governor Hiram Johnson as his running mate. Former New York Governor and U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is shot in an assassination attempt. Alaska acquires territorial status. Massachusetts legislature enacts the first minimum wage law for women and children.
1913		1913 Meeting: Colorado Springs, CO (August 26-29) Exec. Committee Chair: Francis McGovern, WI Governors discuss the pros and cons of state initiatives and referendums as well as the issue of campaign finance and the question of whether candidates should be able to use private money and contributions. It is reported that the work of a special gubernatorial committee on rural credits and cooperatives had resulted in the adoption of a congressional resolution establishing a joint Presidential/Congressional commission with the mission of visiting Europe to study cooperative credit and land mortgage societies that extended credit to farmers there, for possible application in the U.S. New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson is inaugurated President. Norway becomes the first European nation to enact universal suffrage for women. Ford introduces the moving assembly line process, enabling a reduction in automobile prices. Ford sales reach 179,199. The 16th & 17th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (empowering the federal government to levy income tax, and providing for the election of U.S. Senators by popular vote) are ratified. The Federal Reserve System is established. The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Minnesota Rate cases that the Interstate Commerce Commission has the authority to regulate intrastate rail rates that discriminate against interstate commerce. Illinois implements the first comprehensive administrative reorganization program via the creation of a committee to investigate the means by which state government reorganization would promote greater efficiency and economy.
1914		1914 Meeting: Madison, WI (November 10-13) Exec. Committee Chair: Francis McGovern, WI Western governors express concern over federal control of lands and its potential threat to tax revenue in the west. World War I begins with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. The Panama Canal officially opens. The Federal Trade Commission Act is adopted, designed to bar unfair competition in interstate trade. The Smith-Lever Act provides grants for agricultural extension programs to be established by land grant colleges and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The American Association of State Highway Officials is formed, later becoming the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO).
1915		1915 Meeting: Boston, MA (August 24-27) Exec. Committee Chair: William Spry, UT Governors discuss pros and cons of capital punishment. Opponents speak of both its brutality and its potential to be applied unequally. The U.S. occupies Haiti. The first transcontinental telephone line is made available for service from New York City to San Francisco. "Jazz" is first used to describe a form of American music possessing the element of improvisation. The taxicab makes its first appearance in America's cities. The Ku Klux Klan is revived. The release of D.W. Griffith's film Birth of a Nation sets off protests against its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. The "Great Migration" of African-Americans from southern to northern states begins The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Coppage v. Kansas that Kansas forbidding employers from requiring that employees be non-union violates the Due Process Clause of 14th Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court rules unconstitutional Oklahoma and Maryland laws that permit the exemption of some voters from literacy requirements. The first official "Western Governors' Conference" is held. An old-age pension law is adopted in Alaska, the first among U.S. states and territories. Nevada legislation simplifies the state divorce process and reduces the state residency requirement to six months.
1916		1916 Meeting: Washington, DC (December 14-16) Exec. Committee Chair: William Spry, UT Governors discuss the relatively new concept of a "budget" and the ways in which state chief executives could address the fast-growing problem of legislative appropriations exceeding revenue. Moses Alexander is elected the first Jewish governor of the United States. Boeing produces its first model, the biplane. Margaret Sanger takes part in opening the first birth control clinic in the U.S., in Brooklyn, NY. The first self-service grocery store—the Piggly Wiggly—opens in Tennessee. Congress passes legislation prohibiting the sale of any article produced by child labor and regulating the number of hours children could work, but the law is ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court two years later. The Federal-Aid Road Act authorizes a five-year program of federal aid to states on a 50-50 basis for construction of post roads. General John Pershing enters Mexico to pursue Pancho Villa, who has raided U.S. border areas. At the annual Governors' Conference, a War Department official thanks the Governors of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas for providing troops to assist in fighting Mexican guerrilla forces. U.S. Supreme Court justice and former New York Governor Charles Evans Hughes is the Republican nominee for President, losing to incumbent President and former New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson.
1917		No Meeting is held. Exec. Committee Chair: Arthur Capper, KS The only year in the history of the association that the governors do not meet, due to the demands of World War I. Russian revolution begins. First Pulitzer Prizes are awarded. The National Hockey League is founded. Irving Berlin writes God Bless America. Ford motor sales reach 783,188, more than four times the number of cars sold in 1913. Montana's Jeannette Rankin becomes the first female member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The American Medical Association's House of Delegates approves a final report endorsing health insurance. Over the veto of President Woodrow Wilson, legislation passes that requires literacy tests for immigrants and bars the admission of Asian workers except under agreement between the U.S. and the sending nation. The Smith-Hughes Act provides federal grants to states for vocational education. Residents of Puerto Rico become U.S. citizens.
1918		1918 Meeting: Annapolis, MD (December 16-18) Exec. Committee Chair: Emerson Harrington, MD The Secretary of War addresses the governors. Governors discuss whether demobilization and reconversion following World War I will lead to labor unrest. The "Spanish flu" pandemic begins, killing millions of people worldwide over an 18-month period. In the face of a teacher shortage, President Woodrow Wilson authorizes the Bureau of Education to assist states in finding qualified teachers. The nation's first three-colored traffic light is installed in New York City. Knute Rockne becomes head coach of the Notre Dame football team. Mississippi becomes the last existing state to enact a compulsory education law.
1919		1919 Meeting: Salt Lake City, UT (August 18-21) Exec. Committee Chair: Henry Allen, KS It is reported that the governors of seven states most affected by a nationwide coal strike have met in special conference. Governors discuss the high cost of living. The League of Nations meets for the first time. Indian nationalist Mohandas Gandhi begins acts of civil disobedience in protest of continued British rule in India. Jack Dempsey becomes the world heavyweight boxing champion. Sir Barton becomes horse racing's first Triple Crown winner. President Woodrow Wilson initiates a White House Conference on Care of Dependent Children. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages) is adopted. Oregon becomes the first state to levy a gasoline tax.