Edward Burton Hughes (1905 – 6 June 1987) was an American, the Acting Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation in 1969, Executive Deputy Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation from 1967 to 1970, and Deputy Superintendent of New York State Department of Public Works from 1952 to 1967. Hughes worked over 45 years in public service at the DOT. Upon his retirement in 1970, he founded the E. Burton Hughes Achievement Award.
Biography Hughes was born in Lansingburgh, New York, in 1905. Edward and his parents, Edward B. Hughes and Susan, resided at 693 Third Avenue, Troy, New York, and it was here Edward Jr.'s brother John was born in 1909.1910 US census: Edward B. Hughes (head) aged 30, Susan B. Hughes (wife) aged 30, E. Burton Hughes (son) aged five, John Hughes (son) aged 11/12 months. Address: 693 Third Avenue, Troy. All members of the family were born in New York Edward's father worked as a bookkeeper at a local grocery store in Troy, New York. Edward Jr. attended Lansingburgh High School and furthered his education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (the oldest private engineering and technical university in the USA) from which he graduated.
Career Hughes joined the New York State Department of Public Works in 1925 as a junior civil engineer in the Bureau of Bridges and Grade Crossings in the main office at Albany. From 1949, Hughes was appointed Director of the Department of Rights of Way and Claims on a yearly salary of $19,500.The Troy Record, New York, 5 March 1959, page 2 - Troy Native Renamed To State Post (report) (retrieved 29 January 2018) For four years before that, he had been Assistant Director. In 1952, Hughes became Deputy Superintendent of New York State Department of Public Works, a post he served continuously until Governor Nelson Rockefeller assigned him the newly created position of Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation in 1967.
In 1942, during WWII, Hughes served as a captain assigned to the Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Baltimore. In 1944, Hughes was promoted to major. He returned to state service in 1945 and resumed his post as Assistant Director of the Rights of Way and Claims Bureau.
In 1952, Hughes was appointed Deputy New York State Superintendent of Public Works. A report in the New York Times announced his promotion.State Aide is Promoted: Hughes Is Appointed Deputy Public Works Chief: New York Times, August 19, 1952, page 14 retrieved March 11, 2021 During Hughes' post as Deputy Superintendent of New York State Department of Public Works, he worked alongside the Superintendents Bertram Dalley Tallamy (until 1955), John W. Johnson (1955-1959), and John Burch McMorran (1959-1967).
In 1953, at the New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials, Hughes gave his ‘Good Roads for All’ speech, the title of which became associated with him. ‘I suspect all of you, having arrived in Monticello, now are instilled with that insistent Catskill Mountain slogan: ‘We want good roads.’ All of us in the Public Works Department concur, and are doing everything possible to bring more and more good roads to every corner of our great Empire State. It is a tremendous task, and I appreciate this opportunity to outline for you what is being done...etc.’Proceedings of the Annual Meeting, New York State Conference of Mayors and Other Municipal Officials, pages, 3, 25 & 26 (retrieved 23 April 2018): Proceedings In May 1953, Governor Thomas Edmund Dewey appointed Hughes as Chairman of the nine-member Advisory Board to help the State Safety Division’s Bureau of Safety and Accident Prevention.Ogdensburg Journal, 26 May 1953, front page – Dewey Appoints Advisory Board to Safety Bureau (report) The Advisory Board was formed to draft accident prevention policies and programs.
In 1954, Hughes announced during a speech he gave at the State Association of Highway Engineers Annual Convention that the State was '20 years behind in essential road work. $4 Billion is needed just to catch up on the backlog of essential highway construction." Understandably, the news came as a complete shock to everyone at the convention.E. Burton Hughes speech at the Annual Convention of the State Association of Highway Engineers (retrieved 23 April 2018). Speech
When Nelson Rockefeller became Governor of New York State in 1959 (a post he held until 1973), Hughes and Rockefeller became close working colleagues. In 1967, when Rockefeller created the New York State Department of Transportation, Rockefeller assigned Hughes the position of Executive Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation.The Massena Observer, 12 September 1967, page 7 – J. Burch McMorran Named Head of New Transportation Department by Governor Nelson Rockefeller (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) ‘Governor Rockefeller has announced the appointment of J. Burch McMorran as Commissioner of the new Department of Transportation, effective 1 September 1967. He also announced the appointment of E. Burton Hughes as Executive Deputy Commissioner…’Poughkeepsie Journal, New York, 30 August 1967, page 22 - Works Superintendent J. Burch McMorran is Gov. Rockefeller's choice (report) (retrieved 29 January 2018) Through their working association, their respective families also became friends. An original etching by actor/artist Lionel Barrymore gifted to Nelson Rockefeller by Hughes is housed at the Rockefeller family home Kykuit (also known as the John D. Rockefeller Estate) in Pocantico Hills, in Westchester County, New York.Nelson A. Rockefeller personal papers, Art, Series C (FA340), Subseries 2: NAR Artist Files, Box 12, Folder 109: This file contains the documentation surrounding a gift from Hughes to Nelson Rockefeller. Rockefeller Archive Center, 15 Dayton Avenue, Sleepy Hollow, New York 10591
In 1962, as representatives of the Department of Public Works, J. Burch McMorran and Hughes accompanied Governor Nelson Rockefeller on a tour of the Niagara Frontier for a series of inspections and dedication ceremonies involving, power, bridge, arterial and park facilities.Ogdensburg Journal, 8 October 1962, page 4 – Governor to Participate in Niagara Dedication (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) The trip included the dedication ceremony of the new South Grand Island Bridge, which was part of the Niagara Power Project.
When John Burch McMorran retired from his post as Commissioner of New York State Department of Transportation on 31 July 1969, Governor Rockefeller appointed Hughes the top-level post of Acting Commissioner of the New York State Department of TransportationThe Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post, 31 July 1969, front page – Burton Hughes Named Acting Comm. of Trans., (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) for the interim period of two months until the new Commissioner, Theodore W. Parker, could take office.The Massena Observer, 7 August 1969, page 20 – T. Parker Succeeds McMorran (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018)Engineering News-record, Volume 183, McGraw-Hill, 10 July 1969, page 99 – Commissioner J. Burch McMorran steps down from his office after a career with the department dating back to 1922. Gov. Nelson Rockefeller has appointed executive deputy commissioner E. Burton Hughes as commissioner on an interim basis. (Original held at the University of California) (retrieved 23 April 2018): Report Hughes was a popular choice.Ogdensburg Journal, 25 July 1969, front page –McEwan Hails Appointment of Hughes (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) Congressman Robert Cameron McEwan, in the U.S. House of Representatives, hailed the selection of Hughes to be Acting Commissioner of Transportation for the State of New York: ‘I am well acquainted with Mr. Hughes,’ said McEwan, ‘during my 12 years in the New York State Senate, I recognize his ability as an engineer and administrator.’ In a telegram from Congressman Robert Cameron McEwan to congratulate Hughes upon being selected for the post, McEwan wrote: ’Your experience, knowledge and understanding of the Department, and the transportation needs of our state, eminently qualify you for this position. The Governor is to be congratulated for his excellent choice.’ Some newspaper reports rumored Hughes was to have been made the commissioner full-time, but, as happened, Hughes planned to retire from public office several months later (in 1970) after serving 45 years in public service.The Troy Record, New York, 22 July 1969, page 11 - Hughes Seen As Successor To McMorran (report) (retrieved 29 January 2018) During his long career, Hughes served alongside 7 Governors of New York: Al Smith (1925-1928), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1929-1932), Herbert H. Lehman (1933-3/12/1942), Charles Poletti (3/12/1942-31/12/1942, Thomas E. Dewey (1943-1954), W. Averell Harriman (1955-1958), and Nelson Rockefeller (1959-1969).
During Hughes' time as Acting Commissioner some of the works he introduced and proposed included a 60-mile-an-hour speed limit on Route 20,Cazenovia Republican, 3 September 1969, page 2 – New Speed Limit For Route 20 (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) proposed the reconstruction of 4.2 miles of the Shore Airport Road (County Route 43) in the village and town of Ticonderoga, Essex County,Essex County Republican, 29 August 1969, page 13 – State Announces Road Rebuilding in Ti Township (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018) and announced the proposal of the construction of 2.66 miles of the Susquehanna Expressway, to be known as Interstate Route 88, plus allied connector roads at Oneonta in Otsego county,Catskill Mountain News, 21 August 1969, page 10 – Hearing Invited on Oneonta Road (report) (retrieved 30 January 2018)
Hughes was a member of the University Club of Albany and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. He died at age 82 on Saturday 6 June 1987 at his home in Delmar, New York. His burial took place at the Albany Rural Cemetery.
Family Hughes married Jane Williams (b. 1906, New York) on July 2, 1930, in Rensselaer, New York.E. Burton Hughes and Jane Williams marriage certificate ref: Vol. 9 No. 23682Mrs Grace Williams of State Road announces the marriage of her daughter Jane, to E. Burton Hughes of Troy, which took place July 2, 1930. After May 1, Mr and Mrs Hughes will reside at 534 Second Avenue, Troy. Miss Williams is a graduate of the Granville High School class of 1923 and of the Samaritan Hospital for Nurses at Troy and has since been employed in that city. Mr Hughes is a civil engineer employed by the state department of highways. The Granville Sentinel, N.Y., April 28, 1932, - Legal Notice (retrieved Dec. 15, 2020) Edward and Jane first lived at 534 Second Avenue in Troy, New YorkE. Burton Hughes and Jane V. Hughes are listed in US City phone Directories, Troy, NY, (1932-33), as living at 534 Second Avenue and then 10A Second Avenue, in the same city.1940 USA census: E. Burton Hughes: Edward Burton Hughes (aged 35) and his wife Jane (nee) Williams (aged 34) are living at 10A Second Avenue. Edward is employed as a Claims Adjuster in the Department of Rights of Way and Claims. For most of their married life the couple resided in Delmar at 26 Wiltshire Drive, Albany County, New York, 12054.