Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of Community War Services [OCWS]


(Record Group 215)
1940-48

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 215.1 Administrative History
  • 215.2 Headquarters Records 1940-48
    • 215.2.1 General Records
    • 215.2.2 Records of the Office of the Director
    • 215.2.3 Records of the Executive Officer
    • 215.2.4 Records of the Recreation Division
    • 215.2.5 Records of the Social Protection Division
    • 215.2.6 Records of the Day Care Division
    • 215.2.7 Records of the Field Operations Division
    • 215.2.8 Records of committees
  • 215.3 Field Records 1941-46
    • 215.3.1 Records of Region II (NY)
    • 215.3.2 Records of Region V (KY, MI, OH)
    • 215.3.3 Records of the OCWS director for the Caribbean area
  • 215.4 Cartographic Records (General) 1942
  • 215.5 Sound Recordings (General) 1943
  • 215.6 Still Pictures (General) 1943

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215.1 Administrative History

Established: In the Federal Security Agency (FSA) by EO 9338, April 29, 1943.

Predecessor Agencies:
  • Office of the Coordinator of Health, Welfare, and Related Defense Activities (OCHWRDA, Nov. 1940-Sept. 1941)
  • Office of Defense Health and Welfare Services (ODHWS), Office for Emergency Management (OEM, Sept. 1941-Apr. 1943)
Functions: Assisted communities affected by defense production and the war to provide community services.

Abolished: June 30, 1946, except for Recreation Division, which terminated June 30, 1947.

Successor Agencies: Deputy Commissioner for Special Services, FSA, as liquidator, July 1947-May 1948.

Finding Aids: Estelle Rebec, Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office of Community War Services, PI 132 (1960).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of Community War Services in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

Subject Access Terms: World War II agency.

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215.2 Headquarters Records
1940-48

History: Federal Security Administrator designated to head the OCHWRDA by Council of National Defense, November 28, 1940. OCHWRDA superseded by ODHWS in the OEM, by EO 8890, September 3, 1941. ODHWS replaced by OCWS, FSA, 1943. See 215.1.

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215.2.1 General Records

Textual Records: Documentation file of the ODHWS, 1940-43. Handbook of basic ODHWS documents, 1940-43. Subject-classified central files of OCWS and its predecessors, 1940-47 (209 ft.), including also the Health and Medical Committee and the Committee on Physical Fitness.

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215.2.2 Records of the Office of the Director

Textual Records: General files, 1941-45. Correspondence and other records relating to critical areas, agency programs, and relationships with the Federal Security Agency, 1941-45. Records relating to the Joint Committee on Evacuation, 1942-43.

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215.2.3 Records of the Executive Officer

Textual Records: Reading file, 1942-45. Budget records, 1942-46. Records relating to staffing schedules, 1942-46.

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215.2.4 Records of the Recreation Division

Textual Records: Records of the Office of the Director, including general files, 1941-46; records of the associate director, 1942- 46; regional files, 1945-46; records relating to juvenile delinquency, 1942-46, youth problems, 1941-45, and youth centers, 1944-45; and records relating to "living war memorials," 1944-45. Reports and surveys, 1942-47. Dockets for wartime public works recreational projects, 1941-45. Records concerning postwar plans, 1942-46. General, regional, and foreign correspondence files, 1941-48. Staff correspondence, 1941-46. Subject-classified files, 1944-48.

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215.2.5 Records of the Social Protection Division

Textual Records: Minutes, 1942-46. General file, 1941-46, subject file, 1944-46, and regional file, 1942-46. Progress reports, 1942-46. Statistical materials, studies, and publications, 1941-45.

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215.2.6 Records of the Day Care Division

Textual Records: General files and records of grants to states, 1942-43.

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215.2.7 Records of the Field Operations Division

Textual Records: Reading file of director of predecessor Program Operations Branch, April-June 1941. Policy and information issuances, 1942-46. Regional file, 1942-45, and conference file, 1941-44. Community reports, 1941-45. Records documenting reporting procedures, 1941-45. Records relating to ODHWS and OCWS relationships with the War Manpower Commission, 1942-43.

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215.2.8 Records of committees

Textual Records: Records of the Family Security Committee, including minutes, 1942-43; and issuances, memorandums, and progress reports, 1941-43. Records of the Health and Medical Committee, consisting of general records, 1940-43; and records relating to nursing recruitment, 1941-42. General records of the Committee on Physical Fitness, 1942-45.

Photographic Prints: Activities of the Committee on Physical Fitness, 1942-45 (67 images). See also 215.6.

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215.3 Field Records
1941-46

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215.3.1 Records of Region II (NY)

Textual Records: General records retained as a sample of a representative field office, and including correspondence, memorandums, agenda and minutes of meetings, reports, studies, issuances, and statistical materials, relating to OCWS programs and those of its predecessors, 1941-46.

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215.3.2 Records of Region V (KY, MI, OH)

Textual Records: Records of the Willow Run, MI, area, consisting of correspondence, minutes of meetings of federal and state representatives, and reports on community problems, April-July 1943.

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215.3.3 Records of the OCWS director for the Caribbean area

Textual Records: Office files relating to venereal disease control, recreation facilities for U.S. armed forces in Brazil, and welfare services for the Virgin Islands, 1943-44.

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215.4 Cartographic Records (General)
1942

Map: U.S. Army reservation near Blackstone, VA, 1942 (1 item).

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215.5 Sound Recordings (General)
1943

"Tribute to the Cadet Nurse Corps," broadcast November 13, 1943 (3 items). Soundtrack of filmstrip "Prostitution and the War," 1943 (1 item).

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215.6 Still Pictures (General)
1943

Filmstrip: "Prostitution and the War" (FS), 1943 (1 item).

See Photographic Prints under 215.2.8.

Related Records: Photographic series PA in RG 44, Records of the Office of Government Reports.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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