[1] In 1914, Alter was appointed the first diocesan director of Catholic Charities, coordinating various charitable organizations in the diocese into one agency.

[3] He received his episcopal consecration on June 17, 1931, from Archbishop John T. McNicholas, with Bishops Augustus Schwertner and Joseph H. Albers serving as co-consecrators.

[2] Along with fellow American bishops, Alter publicly criticized the Moscow Agreement of 1943, fearful that the Soviet Union would not fulfill its promises on religious and personal freedoms.

[4] In 1944, he drafted a proposal for a joint declaration on world peace by Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant leaders.

[2] Following World War II, Alter offered a 10-point program for economic security; among his points were such contemporary ideas as wage equalization on the basis of cost of living, representation of laborers on a firm's board of trustees, profit-sharing, and special consideration for persons living on fixed incomes.

[2] He also instituted a priests' senate and an archdiocesan school board composed of lay members, and encouraged the formation of parish councils.

Between 1962 and 1965, Alter attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council in Rome, having previously served on the Central Preparatory Commission.