National Governors Association Centennial

1940-1949
1940		1940 Meeting: Duluth, MN (June 2-5) Exec. Committee Chair: Lloyd Stark, MO Governors discuss state-federal relations with respect to the administration of public relief programs. A military contract launches design of the JEEP, considered to be the forerunner of sport utility vehicles. Richard Wright's Native Son is published. Folk artist Woody Guthrie writes the lyrics to This Land Is Your Land. W.C. Fields and Mae West star in the film My Little Chicadee. The Sikorsky helicopter is unveiled. The forty-hour work week goes into effect. President Franklin D. Roosevelt establishes the Office of Emergency Management. The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin is established by Congress to assist Potomac Basin states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, along with the District of Columbia and the federal government, to protect and conserve water and land resources of the Potomac River basin via interstate cooperation. At their annual meeting, Governors adopt a resolution expressing consensus that all necessary steps should be taken to provide adequately and effectively for the defense of the U.S and pledging each state's agricultural, industrial, and military resources to that end.
1941		1941 Meeting: Boston and Cambridge, MA (June 29-July 2) Exec. Committee Chair: William Vanderbilt, RI Guest speaker Fiorello La Guardia, presidentially-appointed Director of Civilian Defense, addresses governors regarding the role of states in the event of enemy attack. Governors adopt a resolution urging that all matters in connection with civilian defense in the states be taken up with the Governors or their designated defense organizations, and that relations with local officials and private organizations be channeled through the states. The film Citizen Kane, directed by and starring Orson Welles, is released, its main character Kane based loosely on newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Manhattan Project to develop nuclear capability begins, administered by Army General Leslie Groves and under the research direction of physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. At the request of the President, the states agree to 'loan' the employment service to the federal government for the war production emergency. Georgia Governor Eugene Talmadge fires the University of Georgia education dean for promoting racial equality, which leads to revocation of the university's accreditation. James Byrnes, later to become Governor of South Carolina, is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "Pearl Harbor" and U.S. entry into World War II.
1942		1942 Meeting: Asheville, NC (June 21-24) Exec. Committee Chair: Harold Stassen, MN Governors discuss federal emergency wartime authority and affirm that any state authority relinquished to the federal government should be returned to the states after the war. Governors adopt a resolution objecting to federal interference with respect to the inherent taxation powers of state and local governments by exempting private corporations and individuals that were engaged in the production of war materials or the construction of war installations for the federal government from the payment of state and local sales taxes. The film Casablanca, starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart, is released. The U.S. undertakes a large-scale program-which comes to be known as Bracero-for the importation of foreign workers to harvest crops in the absence of American farmworkers during the War. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs legislation empowering the newly-established Price Administration to establish prices for all but farm goods. Gasoline rationing is initiated in 17 eastern states and expands to all states by year's end. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues an Executive Order authorizing the internment of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast. The Office of Strategic Services (OSS)-forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency-is established.
1943		1943 Meeting: Columbus, OH (June 20-23) Exec. Committee Chair: Herbert O'Conor, MD Executive Committee is enlarged to 9 members to ensure a quorum during the World War II years. General George Marshall addresses the governors regarding the strategy for military victory. Construction of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC is completed. President Franklin D. Roosevelt freezes wages and prices in an effort to curb inflation. The Office of War Mobilization is established. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright is commissioned to design the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Dwight D. Eisenhower is appointed commander of all allied forces in Europe.
1944		1944 Meeting: Hershey, PA (May 28-31) Exec. Committee Chair: Leverett Saltonstall, MA Governors meet in Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day weekend and hold a memorial service at the site of the Battle of Gettysburg at which one northern and one southern governor speak. Governors are urged by federal officials to use their influence to secure passage of federal legislation that would facilitate the conversion of wartime to peacetime industry for the sake of maintaining stable employment levels. Governors adopt a resolution requesting return to the states of control over employment services—which Governors had agreed to cede temporarily to the federal government after American entry into World War II. At the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, representatives of 44 nations establish the International Monetary fund and the World Bank. In Washington, DC, at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, China, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States agree to proposals that will serve as guidelines for the United Nations Charter. Allied forces invade occupied France in what is known as "D-Day." Billy Graham begins his ministry with radio broadcasts. The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Smith v. Allwright that African-Americans cannot be denied to vote in Texas's Democratic primary. The GI Bill of Rights is signed to assist returning veterans obtain housing and education benefits. The White House sponsors a conference on rural education to assess prospects for federal educational assistance to state governments. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1944 authorizes $20 billion for a 40,000-mile National System of Interstate Highways, although only token amounts are appropriated for the system's construction.
1945		1945 Meeting: Mackinac Island, MI (July 1-4) Exec. Committee Chair: Herbert Maw, UT Governors are briefed about the recently concluded United Nations Conference, and endorse the United Nations Charter. They discuss a variety of other topics, including problems facing veterans returning from WWII, post-war industrial recovery, the promotion of aviation, and the potential for prepaid health care coverage. Governors adopt a resolution urging Congress, in developing a national airport system, to channel aid to local communities exclusively through state governments. Fluoridation is introduced in the United States to prevent tooth decay. The first ballpoint pen goes on sale in the United States. The world's first atomic bomb is detonated in New Mexico. Franklin D. Roosevelt dies and Vice President Harry Truman becomes President. The conference that launches the United Nations is held in San Francisco, and the United Nations charter is ratified by the U.S. Senate. World War II ends with Germany's surrender to Allied forces and the surrender of Japan following U.S. detonation of nuclear bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, which causes hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties. "Nuremberg Trials" of German war criminals begin, held by tribunals that represent Allied nations. President Harry Truman asks Congress to establish a compulsory universal health insurance program. New York is the first state to pass an anti-discrimination law, which establishes a State Division of Human Rights.
1946		1946 Meeting: Oklahoma City, OK (May 26-29) Exec. Committee Chair: Edward Martin, PA Then-General Dwight Eisenhower speaks to governors in Executive Session. General Omar Bradley talks with governors about the role of states in re-integrating returning veterans into American society. Governors discuss education in the postwar period, including problems associated with the fact that the depression and World War II had resulted in a lag in school construction and maintenance, as well as a shortage of qualified teachers. Eugene O'Neill's play The Iceman Cometh appears on Broadway. The film The Best Years of Our Lives is released, telling the story of the difficulties faced by returning World War II veterans. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is formed. The Council of Economic Advisers is established. President Harry Truman issues an Executive Order creating a Committee on Civil Rights to investigate the treatment of African-Americans in the United States. The Federal Airport Act of 1946 creates a ten-year Federal-Aid to Airport grant program, providing half of airport development project costs consistent with needs identified in a new, annual national airport plan prepared by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA). Congress adopts CAA's plan for allocating non-commercial airport funding to states and commercial airport funding to municipalities, but requires program funds to be allotted to states if required by state law. The federal government officially returns the Employment Service system-loaned to the central government for the emergency of war production during World War II-to the states.
1947		1947 Meeting: Salt Lake City, UT (July 13-16) Exec. Committee Chair: Milard Caldwell, FL Governors meet with members of Congress to discuss the equitable division of taxation between the states and the federal government. The Marshall Plan is announced to help Europe recover from World War II. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is established to reduce tariffs and other international trade barriers. Upon the British grant of independence, India is partitioned, creating the Hindu nation of India and the Muslim nation of Pakistan. The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is founded. Major league baseball is racially integrated with the recruitment by the Brooklyn Dodgers of Jackie Robinson. The planned suburban community of Levittown is developed by Levitt & Sons on Long Island . The first microwave oven is built. The transistor is invented. Over President Harry Truman's veto, the Taft-Hartley Act is passed, rolling back labor gains made via passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, including unconditional closed shops and the unconditional right to strike. The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) launches an investigation into Communist activity in the movie industry. The Western Regional Conference of the Council of State Governments is organized and convenes its first meeting in San Francisco. A conference of Members of Congress and Governors is held to discuss coordination of national and state taxation.
1948		1948 Meeting: Portsmouth, NH (June 13-16) Exec. Committee Chair: Lester Hunt, WY Edward R. Murrow speaks to governors about the end of U.S. isolationism and espouses the position that U.S. influence around the world will come not from spending but from setting a positive example. The State of Israel is declared and recognized by the United States. The Organization of American States is established. Playwright Tennessee Williams receives the Pulitzer Prize for drama for A Streetcar Named Desire. Figure skater Dick Button wins Olympic gold. The Polaroid camera is marketed. Cable television is developed. President Harry Truman ends segregation in the armed forces and in the federal civil service by executive order. In a challenge to Illinois law, the Supreme Court rules in McCollum v. Board of Education that religious instruction in public school facilities is violative of the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. President Harry Truman and New York Governor Thomas Dewey take part in the dedication of Idlewild Airport, the largest airport to date. Former Massachusetts Governor Maurice Tobin becomes Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. Pursuant to the Supreme Court's ruling in Sipuel v. Oklahoma that the State of Oklahoma must provide a law school education for an African-American student, the state opens a one-pupil school for her. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Compact is entered into by the States of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia to help control Ohio River pollution. Fourteen Southern Governors meet to establish the Board of Control for Regional Education.
1949		1949 Meeting: Colorado Springs, CO (June 19-22) Exec. Committee Chair: William Lane Jr., MD Local, state, and federal officials meet and agree that the federal government will withdraw from taxation best used by local and state government. The People's Republic of China is founded. United Nations Headquarters in New York City is dedicated. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established to provide mutual defense of North Atlantic nations against Soviet aggression. Soviets detonate their first atomic bomb. Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman wins a Pulitzer Prize. The National Basketball Association is formed from the Basketball Association of America's takeover of its rival National Basketball League. President Harry Truman signs legislation to provide funding for the construction of public housing to alleviate the housing shortage remaining after the Great Depression. Following raids by hooded men, Governor James Folsom of Alabama signs legislation forbidding the wearing of masks.