National Archives at Denver

Guide to Archival Holdings at NARA Denver, Record Groups 202-295

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, on October 29, 1942, the NWLB announced establishment of 10 regional advisory offices. 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: 1942-47
Volume: 104 cubic feet
Records of Region 9, covering Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.  The records document the investigation of wartime labor disputes, especially concerning wages and salaries, and the enforcement of decisions. The records are case files and an index.

Records of the Non-ferrous Metals Commission. The records document wage and salary adjustments. Included are case files, circulars, correspondence, directives, an index, memorandums, press releases, statistical reports, and studies.

Finding Aids
Estelle Rebec, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National War Labor Board
(World War II), PI 78 (1955).

 

Record Group 207
General Records of the Department of Housing and Urban Development

Administrative History
The Department of Housing and Urban Development had its origins in the Housing and Home Finance Agency (HHFA), which was established by Reorganization Plan No. 3 in 1947 as the replacement for the National Housing Agency, which had been created in 1942 to coordinate wartime housing activities. The HHFA was responsible for implementing the Housing Act of 1949 until its functions and powers were transferred to the Department of Housing and Urban Development by an act of September 9, 1965.

Records Description
Date: 1970-88
Volume: 2 cubic feet
Records of the Community Disposition Office, Los Alamos, New Mexico. The records document Federally-held mortgages in the Los Alamos area. They are case files including discharge papers, mortgage notes, payment schedules, property surveys and field reports, statements of repairs or improvements, tax and insurance documents, warranty deeds, and related memorandums.

Finding Aid
List of case file numbers.

 

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: 1942-45
Volume: 72 cubic feet
Records of the regional office, Denver, covering Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. The records document the economic condition of the area and its response to wartime programs and controls, including employment stabilization and discriminatory hiring. Included are case files, correspondence, minutes of meetings, and reports.

Finding Aid
Folder title list.

 

Record Group 220
Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards​

Administrative History
N/A

Records Description
Dates: 1993-2005
Volume: 9 cubic feet
Consists of Cooperative Management Files and Repayment Accounting Records.

Finding Aid
N/A

 

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: 1933-36
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot
Records of the field office, Denver, which supervised compliance in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming. The records relate to administrative matters, cooperative efforts with State and local organizations, inspections of petroleum dealers, legislation, and tax collection. The records include correspondence and reports.

 

Record Group 235
General Records of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

Administrative History
The Department of Health, Education and Welfare was established by Reorganizational Plan No. 1 of 1953 and effective on April 11, 1953, and was abolished by Department of Education Organization Act (93 Stat. 695), October 17, 1979. The predecessor agency was the Federal Security Agency (FSA, 1939-1953) and the successor agencies are the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. The function of the agency was to administer, through constituent agencies, federal and federal-state programs in public health, education, and social and economic security. One of the divisions of the department is the Office of the General Counsel, which is subdivided by regional offices. Records of the Office of the General Counsel relate to the actions and advice of the General Counsel.

Records Description
Dates
: 1936-55
Volume : 8 cubic feet

Records of the General Counsel, Denver Regional Office. The records document old age and survivors cases and consist of opinions.

Finding Aids
Jerry Hess, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, PI 181 (1975).

 

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: 1962-75
Volume: 11 cubic feet
Records of the Northwest Mountain Regional Office. The records document the effects airport construction and alteration have on the use of airspace, and include airport airspace analysis case files, comments from the public, correspondence, and feasibility reports.

Finding Aid
Folder title list.

 

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. 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 transformed the Office into the Solid Fuels Administration for War (SFAW). The SFAW 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 FAW 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 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: 1935-47
Volume: 66 cubic feet
Records of the following offices:

  • Billings, Montana
  • Casper, Wyoming
  • Denver, Colorado
  • Salt Lake City, Utah

The records relate to regulating the production, distribution, and sale of coal; surveying coal resources; and ensuring compliance with regulations. Included are correspondence and reports.

Finding Aid
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: 1942-53
Volume: 31 cubic feet
Records of the Denver regional office, which covered Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The records relate primarily to housing costs and rent control and decontrol, and the work of the regional director, rent attorney, and information officer. Included are audit reports and surveys, case files, narrative and statistical reports, and an Office of Price Administration registration of dwellings.

Records of area rent offices in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The records document rent control at the local level. Included are adjustment orders, correspondence, field and inspection reports, lease registrations, notices, rent histories, and requests for rent adjustments.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

 

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 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: 1941-45
Volume: 34 cubic feet
Records of District 4, Denver, which covered Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming.  The records document the development, conservation, use, and marketing of oil resources. They include applications, correspondence, memorandums, minutes, printed materials, and reports.  Nontextual records include maps.

Finding Aid
Albert Whimpey and James R. Fuchs, comps., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the
Petroleum Administration for War, PI 31 (1951).

 

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: 1939-62
Volume: 141 cubic feet

Records of the Office of Real Property Disposal. The records document the disposal of real property, such as industrial and airport properties, including the reporting of property as excess, notification of availability, inspection and appraisal, and approval of disposition in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. They consist primarily of case files. Nontextual records include blueprints, drawings, and maps.

Finding Aids
Box and shelf lists.

 

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: 1929-68
Volume: 3,972 cubic feet
Records of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Denver. The records document appeals of cases originally heard by lower Federal courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. They are case files including briefs, correspondence, summaries, transcripts of testimony, and other papers. (Dockets and indexes remain with the court.)

Finding Aid
List of case file numbers.

 

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: 1944-73
Volume: 55 cubic feet
Records of the Utilization and Disposal Service. The records relate to the disposal of Federal property (such as housing projects, former military installations, and Veterans Administration hospitals) in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Included are appraisal reports, correspondence, cost estimates, declarations of excess and certifications of surplus, deeds, instruments of conveyance, newspaper clippings, and reports of survey and title searches. Nontextual records include drawings and maps.

Records of the Market and Technical Services Division, Office of Stockpile Disposal. The records document inspections by mining engineers of mining properties and metallurgical processes world wide that related to the national stockpile of strategic materials. The records are engineering reports.

Finding Aid
Folder title list.

 

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: 1951-53
Volume: 16 cubic feet
Records of the Regional Wage Stabilization Board, Denver. The records document activities of the board and include case files, correspondence, opinions, registers, reports, and rulings.

Finding Aids
Shelf list.

 

Record Group 295
Records of the Office of Price Stabilization

Administrative History
The Office of Price Stabilization was established within the Economic Stabilization Agency on January 24, 1951, to obtain voluntary compliance with measures to stabilize prices and to establish and administer price regulations during the Korean War. It worked through regional and district offices until it was abolished on June 30, 1953.

Records Description
Dates: 1950-53
Volume: 15 cubic feet
Records of the regional office, Denver, which served Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming; and the district office, Cheyenne. The records document commodity pricing and include correspondence, orders, and pricing surveys.

Finding Aids
Shelf list.

 

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