Record Groups 202 - 293

This information from the Archival Holdings Guide comprises Record Groups 202 through 293. (Go to the Numerical List of Record Groups)

Record Group 202
Records of the National War Labor Board (World War II)

Administrative History

The National War Labor Board (NWLB) was established in the Office for Emergency Management (OEM) by an Executive order of January 12, 1942. It was to act as final arbiter of wartime labor disputes and to pass on adjustments in certain wages and salaries. An Executive order of September 19, 1945, transferred the NWLB to the Department of Labor. The NWLB was terminated by the Executive order of December 31, 1945, that established the National Wage Stabilization Board (NWSB) with all powers, functions, and responsibilities of the NWLB relating to stabilization of wages and salaries as well as limited functions relating to the settlement of disputes. The NWSB was terminated by an Executive order of December 12, 1946.

While the initial functioning of the NWLB was solely in Washington, DC, the NWLB announced establishment of 10 regional advisory offices on October 29, 1942. The authority of these first regional offices was quite limited, but on January 12, 1943, the NLRB created two new regions and converted the (now 12) regional advisory offices to regional war labor boards with considerable independent authority in resolving disputes. The NWLB also created several special tripartite industry commissions and panels to deal with particular industries nationally.

Records Description
Dates: 1941-1947
Volume: 888 cubic feet
Records of the following commissions and regions:

• Chicago Meat Packing Commission, 1941-1947;
• Daily Newspaper Printing and Publishing Commission (Chicago), 1942-1945;
• Detroit Tool and Die Commission, 1942-1945;
• Region 5 (Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia) office, Cleveland;
• Region 6 (Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin) office, Chicago;
• Region 11 (Michigan) office, Detroit.

The records document arbitration and enforcement activities involving wage disputes between industry, the NWLB, and organized labor. The records for the Chicago Meat Packing Commission include selected issues of the union newspaper The Packinghouse Worker. Included are case files, correspondence, historical and policy documentation files, indexes, memorandums, minutes, press releases, reports, and wage surveys.

Finding Aids
Entries 165, 167, 173, 174, 176 through 178, 203 through 214, 248 through 261, 277 through 279, 291 through 297, 299 through 302, 369 through 376, 462, 463, and 523 through 526 in Estelle Rebec, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National War Labor Board, World War II, PI 78 (1955).

Record Group 211
Records of the War Manpower Commission

Administrative History

The War Manpower Commission (WMC) was established within the Office for Emergency Management by an Executive order of April 18, 1942. Operating through regional and State WMC offices and local offices of the U.S. Employment Service, it recruited labor for the war effort and essential civilian industries, trained labor for essential jobs, analyzed manpower utilization practices to increase labor efficiency, and accumulated national labor market information. It was terminated by an Executive order of September 19, 1945, and its functions were transferred to the U.S. Employment Service.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1945
Volume:190 cubic feet
Records of the regional offices in Chicago (representing Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin); Cleveland (representing Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio); and Minneapolis (representing Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota). The records document the economic condition of the area and its response to wartime programs and controls; employment stabilization programs; discriminatory hiring practices; labor recruitment of women, minorities, and prisoners of war; and the extensive migration of African Americans from the rural South to the industrial Midwest. Included are appeals case files, correspondence, manpower utilization surveys and case histories, minutes of board and committee meetings, and narrative and statistical reports.

Finding Aids
Entries 267 through 285 in Charles Zaid, comp., Inventory of the Records of the War Manpower Commission, Inventory Series No. 6 (1973).

Record Group 219
Records of the Office of Defense Transportation

Administrative History
The Office of Defense Transportation (ODT) was established in the Office for Emergency Management on December 18, 1941, to promote the maximum utilization of domestic transportation facilities to support the war effort. It was authorized to coordinate activities of Federal agencies and private transportation groups to prevent congestion and make maximum use of available resources.

The ODT employed a network of regional offices to facilitate the implementation of its activities, including regional administrative offices, which oversaw Regional Operating Managers in significant transportation hubs. There were also District and Federal Managers responsible for specific firms and field representatives.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1946
Volume: 66 cubic feet
Records of the Office of the Director, Highway Transport Department, Field Operations, Chicago, 1944-1945. The records relate to Midwest carriers' discontinuance of service. Included are correspondence, memorandums, statistical tables, and surveys.

Records of the Office of the Director, Highway Transport Department, General Counsel, 6th Termination, Regional Attorney, Chicago, 1944-1945. The records document administrative operations, appeals from individuals whose requests for certification by the U.S. Government as a carrier were denied, and privatization of trucking companies seized and operated by the U.S. Government. The records include correspondence, memorandums, press releases, and time and attendance forms.

Records of the Office of the Director, Highway Transport Department, Office of the Federal Manager, Operating Section, Minneapolis, 1942-1946. The records document administrative operations. They are correspondence, financial statements, memorandums, minutes of meetings, and reports.

Records of the Office of the Director, Railway Transport Department, Chicago Regional Office, 1942-1946. The records document committee meetings of the Iron, Ore, and Grain Section, the diversion of railroad cars, and daily operations. Included are correspondence, minutes of meetings, telegrams, and teletype messages.

Records of the Office of the Director, Office of the General Counsel, Field Offices, 1944-1945. The records document Cleveland and Detroit gasoline allotment investigations. Included are affidavits, correspondence, memorandums, and worksheets.

Finding Aids
Folder title lists.

Record Group 228
Records of the Committee on Fair Employment Practice

Administrative History
The first Committee on Fair Employment Practice (FEPC) was established in the Office of Production Management (OPM) by Executive Order 8802 of June 25, 1941, and then assigned to the War Manpower Commission in 1942. That committee was abolished by Executive Order 9346 of May 27, 1943, which created a new Committee on Fair Employment Practice in the Office for Emergency Management. The new Committee formulated and interpreted policies to combat racial and religious discrimination in employment; received, investigated, and adjusted complaints of such discrimination; and assisted Government agencies, employers, and labor unions with problems of discrimination. The Committee terminated its activities on June 28, 1946.

The first FEPC utilized six field investigators and a few field clerical employees and held public hearings in several major cities across the country. The second FEPC initially established nine regional offices and two suboffices, continuing and expanding the network of the first FEPC's field investigators. Additional offices and suboffices were added later.

Records Description
Dates: 1941-1946
Volume: 29 cubic feet
Records of Region 5 (Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio) with offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Detroit, and Region 6 (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin), Chicago, and Region 8 (Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota), Minneapolis. The records document administrative operations and cases involving complaints of discrimination against private employers, labor unions, and Federal agencies. Included are case files, correspondence, index cards, memorandums, press releases, and reports.

Finding Aids
Indexes to cases.

For Region 6, Chicago, cases, 1941-1946, and nondocketable cases, 1941-1946: folder title lists.

Parts of entries 68 through 72 and entries 79 through 82 in Charles Zaid, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Committee on Fair Employment Practice, PI 147 (1962).

Entry 70, Closed Case Files for Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota, Region VIII

Record Group 232
Records of the Petroleum Administrative Board

Administrative History
On September 11, 1933, the Secretary of the Interior established the Petroleum Administrative Board to enforce regulations issued under the National Industrial Recovery Act intended to prohibit the transportation in interstate or foreign commerce of petroleum products exceeding amounts permitted by State laws or regulations. The Board assumed most of the functions of the Federal Oil Conservation Board, 1924 1934, and was responsible for the enforcement of the Connally "Hot Oil" Act of February 22, 1935. The Board was terminated March 31, 1936, and replaced by the Petroleum Conservation Division.

Records Description
Dates: 1934-1935
Volume: 5 cubic feet
Records of the Field Office and the Oil Enforcement Office, Chicago. The records document administrative operations, investigations, and price stabilization of retail gasoline markets in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Included are case files, correspondence, minutes, and newspaper clippings.

Finding Aid
Box contents list.

Record Group 234
Records of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation

Administrative History
The Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) was established by an act of January 22, 1932. It was authorized to extend financial aid to agriculture, commerce, and industry by means of direct loans to banks and other credit agencies and, upon approval by the Interstate Commerce Commission, to railroads. Later legislation authorized the RFC to purchase certain capital stock and make loans, to assist in financing construction of public works and various self-liquidating projects, and to accept drafts and bills of exchange drawn upon the RFC by purchasers abroad of American products.

The RFC was organized as a Government business corporation, with considerable independence, but (unlike most Federal agencies) directly accountable to Congress. Under the law that created it, the RFCwould have expired after 10 years (in 1942), but amendments extended its life several times. It eventually was abolished on June 30, 1957.

Loan agencies were established in the field, usually in cities that had Federal Reserve banks. Committees were frequently formed at field loan agencies to study particular problems as they arose.

Records Description
Dates: 1935-1950
Volume: 1 cubic foot
Records of the Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC. The records are sample copies of forms used by the Chicago Loan Agency for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Wisconsin. They include the following forms:

• assignment and endorsement of notes;
• assignment and release of a guaranty and of an interest in a life
• insurance policy;
• assignment of lease and rents;
• bill of sale;
• chattel mortgage;
• contract for assignment of land;
• conditional sales contract;
• quitclaim deed;
• real estate mortgage disclaimer;
• warehouse receipt.

Finding Aids
Folder title list.

Entry 43 in Charles Zaid, comp., Preliminary Inventory of Records of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 1932-64, PI 173 (1973).

Record Group 237
Records of the Federal Aviation Administration

Administrative History
The Civil Aeronautics Act of June 23, 1938, established an independent Civil Aeronautics Authority "to promote the development and safety and to provide for the regulation of civil aeronautics." in 1940, the authority was divided into a Civil Aeronautics Board with safety regulatory authority and a Civil Aeronautics Administration to enforce civil air regulations; aid the development of a national airport system; and plan, construct, and operate the Federal Airways System. Both organizations were part of the Department of Commerce until the establishment of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) in 1958 which assumed all of their functions. The FAA became a part of the Department of Transportation by an act of October 15, 1966, and was redesignated the Federal Aviation Administration.

Records Description
Dates: 1963-1992
Volume: 202 cubic feet
Records of the Great Lakes Region (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin), Des Plaines, Illinois. The records document airport airspace analyses including the Northeastern Ohio Regional Jetport Feasibility Study of 1970. The records are case, correspondence, and project files. Nontextual records include a few maps.

Record Group 245
Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War

Administrative History
The Bituminous Coal Conservation Act of 1935 created the first Bituminous Coal Commission. A Commission order of October 9, 1935, established 23 producer districts throughout the country. The first Commission was succeeded by the second Bituminous Coal Commission in 1937, when the 1935 act was modified to take into account constitutional objections to the initial act. Both Commissions were independent Federal agencies. On April 3, 1939, the Commission's functions were transferred to the Department of the Interior, and in July, the Bituminous Coal Division was established within the department. Authorization of the Division lapsed on August 24, 1943, and many of its functions, as well as its district offices, were transferred to the Solid Fuels Administration for War (SFAW).

The two Bituminous Coal Commissions and the Bituminous Coal Division determined production costs, regulated prices and wages, and regulated marketing procedures for the bituminous coal industry. To this end, they established producer districts, gathered statistics, undertook research, and compiled the Bituminous Coal Code.

On November 5, 1941, a letter from the President to the Secretary of the Interior established the Office of Solid Fuels Coordinator for National Defense within the Department of the Interior. The name of the office was changed to the Office of Solid Fuels Coordinator for War on May 25, 1942. Under both names, the office was essentially a planning and advisory agency. Executive Order 9332 of April 19, 1943, transformed the Office into the SFAW. The agency had the legal authority, lacking in its predecessor, to implement an emergency distribution and controls program.

With the lapsing of authorization for the Bituminous Coal Division on August 24, 1943, the SFAW inherited its district office structure, staff, and records, renaming the district offices area distribution offices. As had been the case with the district offices of the Bituminous Coal Commissions and the Bituminous Coal Division, SFAW area offices were responsible for entire States or, for certain counties within one or more States. The SFAW area offices were responsible for regulating the distribution and sale, as well as production, of all varieties of coal. All field offices were closed on April 30, 1947. The SFAW itself ceased to exist on June 30 of that year under an Executive order of May 6, 1947.

Records Description
Dates: 1937-1947
Volume: 272 cubic feet
Records of the Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Madisonville (Indiana), and Minneapolis offices. The records document administrative operations; coal consumption, delivery, distribution, and exportation; and investigations of price violations and production. They are primarily correspondence, memorandums, and reports.

Finding Aids
Entries UD61 through UD81, UD91 and UD92, UD104 through UD116, 77, 79 through 81, 83 and 84, 84A through 84D, 89 through 94, 96, 115 and 116, 130, 133 through 135, 137 through 140, 150, 152, and 155 in Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Field Records of the Solid Fuels Administration for War, NC 145 (1966).

Record Group 252
Records of the Office of the Housing Expediter

Administrative History
A Housing Expediter was appointed in the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion by the President on December 12, 1945, to plan, coordinate, and expedite postwar housing programs. The Expediter was authorized by an Executive order in January 1946 to plan and coordinate a veterans' housing program. The Office of the Housing Expediter, which had been authorized by an act of Congress of May 22, 1946, was terminated by an Executive order of July 31, 1951, and its functions were transferred to the Economic Stabilization Agency and the Housing and Home Finance Agency.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1953
Volume: 281 cubic feet
Records of area rent offices of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The records relate primarily to rent controlactivities such as enforcement, procedures, public relations, operations, and staff training. Included are area rent random samples (sample case files concerning enforcement of rent legislation pertaining to specific rental units), decontrol surveys, field inspector and other reports, and public information material.
There are also community action files from Illinois, Kentucky, and Ohio. Those for Chicago contain records from activities of the Cook County rent advisory board during 1949. The records document agency and community interaction in development and construction of postwar housing for veterans. They are community action files. Records of the Office of Rent Stabilization, Chicago, Illinois. They document activities of the regional Rent Stabilization Board such as decontrol, procedures, and publicity. Included are correspondence, memorandums, minutes, newspaper releases, and radio scripts.

Record Group 253
Records of the Petroleum Administration for War

Administrative History
An Office of Petroleum Coordinator for National Defense was established in the Department of the Interior on May 28, 1941. It was abolished by Executive Order 9276, of December 2, 1942, which created the Petroleum Administration for War (PAW) under the Secretary of the Interior. The Petroleum Coordinator and the PAW were responsible for wartime conservation, use, marketing, and development of oil and other petroleum products. The PAW was terminated on May 8, 1946, by Executive Order 9718.

Records Description
Dates: 1941-1945
Volume: 57 cubic feet
Records of District 2 (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin), Chicago. The records document administrative operations, employee deferments, manpower requirements, press relations, and petroleum production and distribution. They are correspondence, memorandums, minutes, newspaper clippings, and reports. Nontextual records include a few maps and photographs.

Finding Aids
Entries 957, 958, 960 through 991, 993, 995 through 1002, and 1005 through 1013 in Albert Whimpey and James R. Fuchs, comps., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Petroleum Administration for War, PI 31 (1951).

Record Group 255
Records of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Administrative History
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was preceded by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), created by an act of March 3, 1915. The principal activities of the Committee were the scientific study of flight and aeronautical research and experiment. The Committee was terminated by an act of July 29, 1958, that created NASA and transferred to it committee functions and records.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1995
Volume: 581 cubic feet
Records of the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, Cleveland. The records document the Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) project (1961-1972); Space Station Freedom project (1981-1993); Office of the Director (1943-1968); and broadcasts, lectures, and speeches given by staff engineers and scientists pertaining to scientific and technical topics. Included are accident case files, contracts, correspondence, lectures, reports, speeches, studies, test notebooks, and transcripts. Nontextual records include a few engineering drawings and photographs.

Finding Aids
For Space Station Freedom records, 1981-1993: box contents lists.
For broadcasts, lectures, and speeches, 1944-1959: box contents lists.
Records of the John H. Glenn Research Center, (formerly the Lewis Research Center), Cleveland, Ohio

Record Group 269
General Records of the General Services Administration

Administrative History
Established as an independent agency, effective July 1, 1949, by the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 379), June 30, 1949. Its function is to administer, through a varying number of constituent services, federal property and related services, including procurement and distribution of supplies, construction and operation of buildings, utilization and disposal of property, management of the government automated data processing resources program, and management of transportation, traffic, and communications systems.

Records Description
Dates: 1982
Volume: 2 cubic feet
Records of the Office of Regional Counsel, Chicago. Asbestos litigation case files for the following cases:

• John McDaniel, et al. vs. Johns Manville Sales Corporation., et al.;
• Benjamin Aiken, et al. vs. Johns Manville Sales Corporation;
• William Johnson, et al. vs. U. S.

Restrictions
Access to some files or portions of documents may be restricted because of privacy concerns.

Record Group 270
Records of the War Assets Administration

Administrative History
The War Assets Administration (WAA) was established in the Office for Emergency Management by Executive order on March 25, 1946. The chief WAA function was the disposal of surplus consumer, capital, and producer goods; industrial and maritime real property; and airports and aircraft located in the United States and its territories. The WAA was abolished by an act of June 30, 1949, and its functions were transferred to the newly created General Services Administration.

Records Description
Dates: 1940-1952
Volume: 721 cubic feet
Records of regional offices in:
Chicago (for parts of Illinois and Indiana, and Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin);
Cincinnati (for Ohio, western Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and parts of Illinois and Indiana).

The records document communication between WAA officials and prospective purchasers or other government agencies; descriptions of land, buildings, machinery, and equipment used in war production work and being appraised and offered for sale to private and corporate parties; evaluations of machinery and equipment, descriptions of land and buildings, and local business conditions; and histories of property use, valuations, and prospects for future use. Included are correspondence, engineering reports, real property liquidation files, and staff appraisal reports. Nontextual records include architectural and engineering drawings, maps, and photographs. See RG 103, RG 156, and RG 291 for related records.

Finding Aids
Box contents lists.

• Appraisal and Engineering Reports, 1945-1947 (RG 270)
• Real Property Liquidation Files, 1945-1951, for the Chicago Region (RG 270)
• Real Property Disposal Case Files for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin (RG 270)
• Real Property Accounting Files, 1945 - 1949 for the Cincinnati Region (RG 270)
• Real Property Status Files, 1945 - 1952 for the Cincinnati Region (RG 270)
• Appraisal Valuation Reports, 1945 - 1947 for the Cincinnati Region (RG 270)

Record Group 276
Records of the U.S. Courts of Appeals

Administrative History
The courts of appeals are intermediate courts created by an act of March 3, 1891, to relieve the Supreme Court of considering appeals in cases originally decided by Federal courts. They are empowered to review final and certain interlocutory decisions of district courts (see RG 21) except where the law provides for direct review by the Supreme Court. They also review orders of Federal administrative bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Labor Relations Board.

Records Description
Dates: 1891-1981
Volume: 6,636 cubic feet
Records of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit (Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee), Cincinnati, and Seventh Circuit (Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin), Chicago. The records document appeals of cases heard by lower Federal courts. Included are original case papers and transcripts, bound volumes containing original trial court records and the decision of the appeals court, docket and minute books, depositions, transcripts, and exhibit materials that were not retained in the files of the district court trial. See RG 21, RG 118, RG 527, and Donated Materials Groups for related records.

Record Group 280
Records of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

Administrative History
Established as an independent agency by the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, June 23, 1947 (61 Stat. 153) to provide mediation and conciliation services in labor disputes. The predecessor agency was the U.S. Conciliation Service, Department of Labor (1913-47)

Records Description
Dates: 1973-1974
Volume: 100 cubic feet
Records of Region 5, Chicago. The records document mediation proceedings and final agreements between organized labor and businesses. Included are some correspondence, memorandums, and reports. They are Dispute Mediation and Technical Assistance Case Files.

Restrictions
Access to some files or portions of documents may be restricted because of privacy concerns.

Record Group 291
Records of the Federal Property Resources Service

Administrative History
The Property Management and Disposal Service (PMDS), established July 29, 1966, as part of the Federal Property Resources Service, assumed functions formerly assigned to the Defense Materials Service and the Utilization and Disposal Service. PMDS acquires, stores, and manages inventories of strategic and critical materials and promotes maximum utilization of Federal personal and real property through donations, sales, and other authorized methods.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1978
Volume: 446 cubic feet
Records of the Chicago Regional Office (representing Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin). The records document the disposal of Federal property (such as former military installations, housing projects, industrial and ordnance plants, lighthouses, and Veterans Administration hospitals). The records are primarily case files, which include correspondence, deeds, mortgages, newspaper clippings, and titles of real property. Nontextual records include architectural and engineering drawings and maps. See RG 77, RG 103, RG 156, and RG 270 for related records.

Finding Aids
Box contents lists for some boxes.

Record Group 293
Records of the Wage and Salary Stabilization Boards of the Economic Stabilization Agency

Administrative History
The Wage Stabilization Board was established by Executive Order 10161 of September 9, 1950, to control wages and salaries during the Korean War. In May 1951, a Salary Stabilization Board was created with authority over administrative, executive, and professional salaries. Wage controls were suspended February 6, 1953, and the boards were terminated April 30, 1953.

Records Description
Dates: 1951-1953
Volume: 1 cubic foot
Records of the boards for Regions 6A (Cleveland), 6B (Detroit), 7 (Chicago), and 8 (Minneapolis). The records relate to committee meetings in which proposed wage and salary rate changes were decided and include company names and some specific information about proposed wage scales. The records are minutes of meetings.