Background
Slattery, Harry was born on June 13, 1887 in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Son of John and Mary (Grace) Slattery.
lawyer statesman executive secretary
Slattery, Harry was born on June 13, 1887 in Greenville, South Carolina, United States. Son of John and Mary (Grace) Slattery.
Educated Mount Saint Mary's College (Maryland.), Georgetown University and George Washington University. Doctor of Laws, University of South Carolina (1944). Unmarried. Secretary to Gifford Pinchot, 1909-1912.
Secretary National Conservation Association, 1912-1917.
Counsel same, 1919-1923. Special assistant to Franklin K. Lane, secretary of Interior, 1917-1918.
Special assistant to William Wilson, Secretary Labor, 1918-1919. Executive and counsel National Boulder Dam-Association, 1925-1929.
Counsel National Conservation Committee, 1929-1932.
Washington representative New York Power Authority, 1931-1933. Practice of law, Washington, District of Columbia, concurrently, 1923-1933. Personal assistant to Harold L. Ickes, secretary of interior, 1933-1938.
Assistant to administrator Federal Emergency Administrn. of Public Works, 1933-1938.
Undersecretary of interior, 1938-1939, administrator Rural Electrification Administration, 1939-1944. Member National Power Policy Committee.
Member Energy Resources and Land Coms. of National Resources Planning Board. Consultant to power sub-committee of advisory commission Council of National Defense, 1940-1942.
Member Inter-bureau Coordinating Committee.
He was United States Under Secretary of the Interior from 1938-1939 and gave his name to the Slattery Report, which proposed to develop Alaska through immigration. The proposal, which included the settlement of Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria, largely in response to Nazi antisemitism, was never implemented. From 1909–1912, he was Secretary to Gifford Pinchot, chief forester in Theodore Roosevelt"s administration.
From 1917–1918, he was Special Assistant to United States Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane.
From 1919–1923, he was Counsel to the National Conservation Association. As part of government efforts to indict big business for the exploitation of the country"s natural resources, he was involved in Senate investigations of the Mulhall exposure during Wilson"s administration and the Teapot Dome Scandal of 1921.
From 1923–1933, he practiced law in Washington, District of Columbia From 1925–1929, he was Executive and counsel for the National Boulder Dam Association. From 1929–1932, he Counsel for the National Conservation Commission.
From 1931–1933, he was Washington, District of Columbia representative for the New York Power Authority.
From 1933-1938, he was Personal Assistant to Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, and Assistant to administrator of Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. From 1938–1939, Slattery was Under Secretary of the Interior, until his appointment by Roosevelt on 26 September 1939 to head up the Rural Electrification Administration (Rural Electrification Administration). He resigned after a conflict with Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard in 1944.
The 1944 controversy between the Rural Electrification Administration and the Department of Agriculture over the administration of Rural Electrification Administration led to a Senate investigation.
Slattery was involved in the passage of a federal coal and oil leasing measure, federal water power legislation, Alaska coal and home rule acts, and rural electrification legislation. From 1940–1942, he was also Consultant to the power subcommittee of the advisory commission of the Council of National Defense.
In 1944, Slattery received Doctor of Laws from the University of South Carolina. Slattery died on September 1, 1949.
Slattery"s papers are held in the Duke University Libraries.
Member Federal States Relations Committee Took active part in passage of Federal coal and oil leasing measure, Federal water power legislation, Alaska coal and home rule acts, forestry legislation investigation of naval oil reserve, rural electrification legislation, et cetera Member Society American Foresters, Delta Theta Phi. Clubs: National Press, Missouri Athletic.