TYPED LETTER TO JAMES B. POND OF THE POND LECTURE BUREAU SIGNED BY GEORGE R. VAN NAMEE,SECRETARY TO ALFRED E. SMITH, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. by Van Namee, George R. (1877-1945). Secretary to Alfred E. Smith, Governor of New York - 1919.

Albany, NY: December 11, 1919., 1919.. Very good. - Letter typed in blue ink and filling half a sheet of cream-colored. approximately 8-3/4 inch high by 8 inch wide "State of New York / Executive Chamber / Albany" letterhead with a crest printed above the address and Van Namee's name & title below it. Signed "George R. Van Namee". There is a hole punched in the top left corner of the letterhead with a small piece out of the top & left edges. Folded twice for mailing. Very good.

In December 1919 tour manager James B. Pond of the Pond Lecture Bureau wrote to a number of distinguished citizens inviting them to be named as members of a committee to welcome Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck to America and to attend his first lecture at Carnegie Hall on January 2nd, 1920. Van Namee writes: "The date of the reception to the Belgian poet is an impossible date for the Governor to be in New York City. It is a few days preceding the opening of the Legislature and he will have to remain in Albany...."

After practicing law in Watertown, N.Y. for nine years George R. Van Namee (1877-1945) was appointed Clerk of the New York State Assembly, serving from 1911 to 1913. He was commissioner of the Bill Drafting Commission from 1914 to 1918, after which he worked as Secretary to Governor Alfred E.Smith. His relationship with Smith continued for the rest of their careers, with Van Namee serving as Smith's private secretary and then being appointed as a commissioner of the Public Service Commission, a post he held until his retirement in 1943.