Background on New England Regional Planning Commission
The beginnings of effective regional cooperation in planning in New England can be traced to the 1920s and the formation of two voluntary associations: the New England Council (1925), which brought together business leaders from each of the six states, and the New England Regional Planning League (1929), which consisted of gubernatorial appointees. With the New Deal establishment of a federal National Planning Board (later the National Resources Committee) in the Department of the Interior, and motivation provided by the hardships of the Great Depression, the New England Regional Planning Commission represented a major step forward in interstate coordination.
Organized in March 1934, the NERPC was a coalition of state planning boards intended as a permanent, non-partisan, representative body. Charged with the continuous coordination, review, and revision of state plans, the Commission coordinated research and physical planning relating to transportation (including the highway system and airports), interstate water resources, land utilization, conservation of forests and wildlife, and recreational facilities.
Scope of collection
This small collection consists of printed reports, bulletins, and minutes from the NERPC from its founding through middle of the Second World War. Ephemeral in nature, the reports chart the growth of regional cooperation in planning in the use of water and land resources and the transportation system, spurred by the federal New Deal.
Inventory
Basic data for a tentative and preliminary plan for New England
1935 June
Box 1
Minutes: Meeting of the New England Regional Planning Commission Board of Consultants
1936 Jan. 23
Box 1
(26A)
The state of legislation in the New England states dealing with interstate water problems
1936 Apr. 1
Box 1
(28)
Recent developments in legislation dealing with interstate water problems in the New England states
1936 Apr. 16
Box 1
(28A)
Texts of legislation under consideration of recently passed dealing with interstate water problems in the New England states
1936 Apr. 23
Box 1
(28B)
Recent developments in interstate water problems in the New England states
1936 Apr. 27
Box 1
(28C)
Recent advances in legislation dealing with interstate water problems in the New England states
1936 May 21
Box 1
(28D)
Meeting of Interstate Compact Commission, federal enabling legislation
1936 June 9
Box 1
(28G)
Federal flood control legislation
1936 June 9
Box 1
(28H)
Planning laws of the New England states: analysis and texrts
1936 Apr.
Box 1
(31)
Minutes: meting of the New England Regional Planning Commission Board of Consultants
1936 May 18
Box 1
(33)
Connecticut River Valley water resources bibliography
1936 Aug.
Box 1
(40)
Merrimack River Valley water resources data
1936 Oct.
Box 1
(44)
Blackstone River Valley water resources data
1936 Nov.
Box 1
(45)
Recreation in New England: a summary of present facilities
1936 Nov.
Box 1
(46)
Forests and floods in New Hampshire
1936 Dec.
Box 1
(47)
Six for one and one for six: coordinated master plans maintain New England regional values
1937 Jan.
Box 1
(48)
Rural zoning: a monograph
1937 Apr.
Box 1
(49)
Water resources of New England
1937 Dec.
Box 1
(51)
A plan for New England airports
1938 June
Box 2
(52)
Recreation in New England
1938 June
Box 2
(53)
Recreation in New England: inventory of areas and facilities
1938 Sept.
Box 2
(53, 2)
A highway system for New England
1938 June
Box 2
(54)
A highway system for New England
1938 Sept.
Box 2
(54)
A synopsis of legislation relating to airway and airport development in New England
1939 Feb.
Box 2
(55)
Too many cars, too little space
1939 Nov.
Box 2
(58)
Planning marches on
1939 June
Box 2
(59)
Forestry organizations in New England
1940 June
Box 2
(61)
New England Regional Planning Conference Proceedings
1940 May 10
Box 2
(62)
The rivers speak
1942 Jan.
Box 2
(65)
New plans for old towns
1942 Dec.
Box 2
(69)
Better rural life
1943 May
Box 2
(71)
A decade of regional planning in New England
1943 June
Box 2
(72)
Economic conditions of New England
1939 May
Box 2
New England Planning Bulletin, vol. 1, no. 1-11
1935 Oct.-1936 Sept.
Box 3
New England Planning Bulletin, vol. 2, no. 1-11
1936 Oct.-1937 Dec.
Box 3
New England Planning Bulletin, vol. 3, no. 1
1938 May
Box 3
New England Planning Bulletin, Planning Conference number
1939 May
Box 3
New England Planning Bulletin
1942 Jan.
Box 3
Administrative information
Search terms
Subjects
- Airports--New England
- New England--Economic conditions
- Regional planning--New England
- Roads--New England
- Transportation--New England
- Water-supply--New England
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