National Archives at Kansas City

Record Groups 310 through Donated Materials

Record Group 310
Records of the Agricultural Research Service

Administrative History
The Agricultural Research Administration was established in the Department of Agriculture by an Executive order of February 23, 1942, to coordinate the activities of several scientific bureaus. It was consolidated with these bureaus on November 2, 1953, to form the Agricultural Research Service, which plans, administers, and conducts research and related regulatory programs.

Records Description
Dates: 1938-1969
Volume: 49 cubic feet

Records of the Watershed Research Unit of the University of Missouri Columbia. The records document the hydrological and meteorological history of watersheds near:

  • Alhambra, Illinois
  • Colby, Wisconsin
  • Edwardsville, Illinois
  • Fenimore, Wisconsin
  • Mule Creek, Iowa
  • Sabetha Lake, Kansas
  • Trenor, Iowa
They consist of charts, graphs, and statistical reports. Nontextual records include photographs.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 319
Records of the Army Staff

Administrative History
The Army Staff, dating from 1947, is the military staff of the Secretary of the Army and includes the Chief of Staff and his immediate assistants, the Army General Staff, the Special Staff, and the Administrative and Technical Staffs. Its duties include preparing plans, investigating and reporting on Army efficiency and readiness, preparing instructions for and supervising Army operations, and representing the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Staff to all Defense Department organizations. It is also responsible for administrative support such as finances services.

The Chief of Finance, part of various subdivisions of the Army Staff, has operated field offices including finance officers and schools.

Records Description
Dates: 1948-1950
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the Omaha Finance Office and St. Louis Finance School. The records relate to routine administration of the office and school. They consist of general orders, memorandums, and office orders.

Record Group 336
Records of the Office of the Chief of Transportation

Administrative History
The Office of the Chief of Transportation was established in the Services of Supply (SOS), War Department, on March 9, 1942, to handle all Army transportation (responsibility for which had previously been divided among several Army agencies). The Chief of Transportation initially headed the Transportation Division of the SOS. The Transportation Division became the Transportation Services in April 1942, and the Transportation Corps in July 1942. The Office of the Chief of Transportation was abolished by General Order 39 of December 1, 1964.

Within the United States, the Office administered a variety of field installations and functions, including ports of embarkation and port agencies, transportation depots, offices, and zones. Among these was the Seventh Transportation Zone, with headquarters in Omaha, activated by SOS Circular 91 on December 1, 1942. Like the Seventh Service Command, the Seventh Zone had jurisdiction over Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-1946
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the Third Transportation Zone. The records relate to the administration of large scale military transportation activities, contracting, and freight rates. They consist of subject files.

Records of the Seventh Transportation Zone. The records relate to the history of the zone (compiled by its historical officer), and routine administration of the office. They consist of the official historical record, and some general orders.

Record Group 338
Records of U.S. Army Commands

Administrative History
The present system of U.S. Army commands, which are organized both functionally and geographically, emerged from a War Department reorganization of February 28, 1942. The system has a complex administrative structure including massive domestic and overseas operations.

Among the domestic functions and installations of the U.S. Army Commands were State Army Advisor Groups of the Fifth Army; the Third Transportation Zone of the Office of the Quartermaster General (with headquarters in St. Louis); the Army Medical and Optical Maintenance Activity of the Office of the Surgeon General (St. Louis); and the 593rd Engineer Depot (Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri).

Records Description
Dates: 1939-1969
Volume: 26 cubic feet

Records of the State Army advisor groups for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The records document orders to National Guard units regarding commendations, unit duty assignments, and assumptions of command. They consist of subject files.

Records of the Army Medical and Optical Maintenance Activity. The records document an overview of authorities and the mission of the Activity, and the assumption of command. They consist of subject files. Records of the 593rd Engineer Depot. The records relate to commendations, unit duty assignments, and assumptions of command. They consist of general orders.

Records of the Combined Arms Research Library, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The records document military equipment, World War II and the Korean War (noncombat scenes), and World War II war crimes trial, and aerial views of various countries. These nontextual records records are Army Signal Corps photographs.

Finding Aids
Unpublished descriptive inventory.

Record Group 342
Records of U.S. Air Force Commands, Activities, and Organizations

Administrative History
The U.S. Air Force (USAF) was established in 1947 as the successor of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), which had developed from a series of military air services dating back to 1907. The commands are organized on a functional basis within the United States and on an area basis overseas. The record group consists of records of the field organization of the USAF and its predecessors.

Among the major field establishments maintained by the Air Force within the United States has been Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; among the minor entities has been the 738th Radar Squadron, in Olathe, Kansas.

Records Description
Dates: 1966-1967
Volume: 1 cubic foot

Records of Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The records document chaplains' council meetings. They consist of minutes. Records of the 738th Radar Squadron. The records relate to the history of the Squadron, and some details of its operations, and consist of correspondence, operations logs, and a unit history.

Record Group 363
Records of the Social and Rehabilitation Service

Administrative History
The Social and Rehabilitation Service (SRS) was created within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) on August 15, 1967. The agency consisted of four components: the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration, the Welfare Administration, the Administration on Aging, and the Division of Mental Retardation of the Public Health Service.

The SRS administered the Federal programs providing technical, consultative, and financial support to States, communities, other organizations, and individuals in their provision of such services as social rehabilitation; income maintenance; medical, maternal, and child health care; family and child welfare; and various other services to the aged, children, the disabled, and needy families.

The SRS consisted of the Office of the Administrator, five major central office program organizations, and the regional offices. The regional offices comprised the operating arm of the SRS, identifying and responding to the needs of the agency's regional constituents. Each regional office was headed by a Regional Commissioner and program staffs in areas such as medicine, staff development, and statistics.

The Office of the Regional Commissioner, Kansas City, was established in 1967. The functions of the SRS were distributed among new bureaus of HEW on May 4, 1980.

Records Description
Dates: 1967-1974
Volume: 11 cubic feet

Records of the Office of the Regional Commissioner, Kansas City. The records relate to applications for grants from institutions in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska serving mentally, physically and culturally handicapped people. They consist of project grant files.

Finding Aid
Unpublished descriptive inventory.

Record Group 369
Records of the Employment and Training Administration

Administrative History
The Employment and Training Administration was established in the Department of Labor on November 12, 1975, as a successor to the Manpower Administration. The latter had been created in 1963 to consolidate all departmental organizations and activities that directed, coordinated, or supported manpower programs or operations. The Employment and Training Administration consists of the U.S. Employment Service, the Office of Comprehensive Employment Development Programs, the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, and the Unemployment Insurance Service. It conducts work experience and work training programs, funds and oversees programs conducted under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, and administers the Federal-State Employment Security System.

Records Description
Dates: 1969-93
Volume: 47 cubic feet

Records of the Manpower Administration's Region 7 office. The records document unemployment insurance programs and include bulletins, correspondence, narrative and statistical reports, newspaper clippings, and press releases.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 370
Records of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Administrative History
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration inherited the functions of the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA), established in the Department of Commerce, as a consolidation of the Coast and Geodetic Survey and the Weather Bureau. ESSA studied the ocean, the lower and upper atmosphere, and the size and shape of the earth, to further the safety and welfare of the public, enhance and improve the nation's economy, and assist those Federal departments concerned with national defense, exploration of outer space, and management of natural resources. Its operations included basic and applied research, observations, processing data, and disseminating weather forecasts and warnings and information about other phenomena within its areas of study. ESSA consisted of staff offices and the Environmental Data Service, the Weather Bureau, the Research Laboratories, and the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Its field organizations included Weather Bureau regional offices, Coast and Geodetic Survey field directors and marine centers.

Records Description
Dates: 1965-69
Volume: 41 cubic feet

Records of the central regional Weather Bureau office, Kansas City, which has jurisdiction over Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The records document most aspects of the mission and administration of the regional office, and also include information on significant weather conditions, and on the history of closed reporting stations within the region. They consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, severe storm bulletins, and station history files. Nontextual records include photographs. See RG 27 for related records.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 381
Records of the Community Services Administration

Administrative History
The Community Services Administration (CSA), 1976-1981, was established by the Headstart, Economic Opportunity, and Community Partnership Act of 1974 to assume some of the antipoverty functions of the Office of Economic Opportunity. It was headed by a director assisted by the National Advisory Council on Economic Opportunity. Funding (grants and loans) and job training programs under various titles of the 1974 act were administered regionally through two organizational units, the Office of Community Action and the Office of Economic Development. The CSA was abolished by an Executive order of September 30, 1981, and its functions transferred to other Federal agencies, particularly the Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Management and Budget.

Records Description
Dates: 1964-1981
Volume: 50 cubic feet

Records of the north central region, Kansas City, which had jurisdiction over Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The records document the Johnson administration's "Great Society," urban unrest, and social programs of Kansas City and other cities. The records consist chiefly of correspondence, newspaper clippings, and reports. Nontextual records include photographs.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 406
Records of the Federal Highway Administration

Administrative History
The Department of Transportation Act of 1966 established the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) and transferred to it the Bureau of Public Roads (see RG 30). The FHA administers Federal financial assistance to the States for highway construction and conducts research and programs relating to highway safety.

Records Description
Dates: 1966-1972
Volume: 10 cubic feet

Records of Federal aid projects for Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and North Dakota. The records document acquisition of rights-of-way and construction. They are project case files. Nontextual records include right-of-way maps with references to survey lines and annotations about land ownership, physical features, and existing structures.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 407
Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1917-

Administrative History
The Adjutant General's Office was given authority to assign, promote, transfer, retire, and discharge all Army officers and enlisted men under the National Defense Act of 1916. In 1942, it was placed under the Commanding General, Services of Supply (later Army Service Forces). It has responsibility for administrative services including records accounting, management, and publications. The Office's responsibilities were transferred in 1946 to the General Staff, and in 1947 to the new department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. By memorandum, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, November 17, 1986, the Adjutant General was removed from the Army Staff, and title and lineage were transferred to the Director of Personnel Service Support, Military Personnel Center.

The AGO had responsibility for such administrative services as operation of the Army personnel statistical and accounting system, records management, publications, postal services, and special and heraldic services of the Army. The field offices of the AGO within the United States include publication centers.

Records Description
Dates: 1948
Volume: 3 cubic feet

Records of the Adjutant General's Publication Center, St. Louis. The records relate to office administration. They consist of internal memorandums. Nontextual records include photographs.

Record Group 412
Records of the Environmental Protection Agency

Administrative History
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in the executive branch as an independent agency pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, effective December 2, 1970. The EPA was created to coordinate Federal action in cooperation with State and local governments to abate and control pollution in the areas of air, water, solid waste, pesticides, radiation, and toxic substances. It conducts research, monitoring, standard setting, and enforcement activities.

Records Description
Dates: 1970-1982
Volume: 18 cubic feet

Records of the Kansas City regional office, responsible for Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The records document river basin studies of the Missouri and upper Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries, and enforcement proceedings. Included are environmental impact statement files, minutes of adjudicatory hearings and meetings, reports, and transcripts of conference proceedings. Nontextual records include photographs.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 414
Records of Regional Committees and Commissions

Administrative History
The Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 authorized the Secretary of Commerce to designate Economic Development Regions (EDR's). These regions were portions of a State or States that were culturally, historically, and economically similar, and that had suffered from slower than average economic development. Each State that accepted the Secretary's recommendation for establishment of an EDR within its borders appointed a representative to a regional commission, to be co-chaired by Presidential appointee and a State appointee. The commissions were to encourage and coordinate the economic development of their EDR, under the terms of the Act.

One EDR was the Ozarks Economic Development Region, covering portions of Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

Records Description
Dates: 1966
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the Ozarks Economic Development Region. The records relate to the creation of the Region by the Secretary of Commerce. They consist of a certificate and list of the counties comprising the Region.

Record Group 423
Records of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration

Administrative History
The Law Enforcement Assistance Administration was established in the Department of Justice by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. The Administration was abolished by failure of appropriations on April 15, 1982. It administered grants to improve law enforcement to government agencies, educational institutions, and provate organizations.

Records Description
Dates: 1974-1977
Volume: 1 cubic foot

Records of the Kansas City, Kansas, Regional Office. The records are instructions for directives.

Record Group 434
Records of the Department of Energy

Administrative History
The Department of Energy (DOE) was created by an act of August 4, 1977, that consolidated the major Federal energy programs into one Cabinet-level agency. Among the functions transferred to DOE were those of the Alaska, Bonneville, and other regional power administrations. The DOE provides a framework for a comprehensive national energy plan through coordination and administration of research and regulatory programs in the Federal Government.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-77
Volume: 8 cubic feet

Records of the Allied Signal Manufacturing and Technologies Complex, Kansas City, Missouri. The records document construction of the plant. These nontextual records include building plans, engineering drawings, and photographs.

Record Group 452
Records of the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration

Administrative History
The American Revolution Bicentennial Administration (ARBA) was established by an act of December 11, 1973, to stimulate, coordinate, schedule, and facilitate the planning and implementation of projects, events, and activities to celebrate 200 years of American life. It replaced the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which was established by an act of July 4, 1966. The ARBA worked closely with State Bicentennial Commissions to plan and conduct a wide variety of programs and provided grants-in-aid for various activities. The ARBA was terminated on June 30, 1977, pursuant to the terms of the 1973 act.

Records Description
Dates: 1974-1976
Volume: 1 cubic foot

Records of the Kansas City regional office. The records document activities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska involving the general public, Members of Congress, public and private institutions, and State and local officials. Included are correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, press releases, and schedules of activities.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Donated Materials Groups

Papers of William S. Clark

Records Description
Dates: 1812-1855
Volume: 6 microfilm rolls

Papers and records of William S. Clark, Federal Superintendent of Indian Affairs in St. Louis, 1822-1838, and associate of the Missouri Fur Company. Records document the Missouri, St. Louis, and Central Superintendencies, which successively had jurisdiction over Indian agencies in the Northern Plains and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and the work of the Missouri Fur Company. Included are accounting and claims records, correspondence, council proceedings, field notes and plats of surveys, licenses to trades, personal papers, and treaties. Original documents are with the Kansas State Historical Society, Topeka.

Finding Aids
Contents statement and list of microfilm rolls (prepared by the Kansas State Historical Society).


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