Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of Defense Transportation [ODT]


(Record Group 219)
1934-52 (bulk 1940-49)

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 219.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 219.2 RECORDS OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL DEFENSE 1940-41 19 lin. ft.
  • 219.3 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR 1941-49 212 lin. ft.
  • 219.4 RECORDS OF TRANSPORT DEPARTMENTS 1942-49 585 lin. ft.
  • 219.4.1 Records of the Highway Transport Department
  • 219.4.2 Records of the Railway Transport Department
  • 219.4.3 Records of the Waterway Transport Department
  • 219.4.4 Records of the Liquid Transport Department
  • 219.5 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1940-49 162 lin. ft.
  • 219.5.1 Records of the Division of Puerto Rican Transport
  • 219.5.2 Records of the Information Division
  • 219.5.3 Records of the Division of Transport Personnel
  • 219.5.4 Records of the Division of Materials and Equipment
  • 219.5.5 Records of the Division of Rates
  • 219.5.6 Records of the Division of Storage
  • 219.5.7 Records of the Manpower and Materials Division
  • 219.6 RECORDS OF ODT FIELD OFFICES 1942-46 191 lin. ft.
  • 219.6.1 Records of the Office of the General Counsel
  • 219.6.2 Records of the Railway Transport Department
  • 219.6.3 Records of the Waterway Transport Department
  • 219.6.4 Records of the Division of Storage
  • 219.6.5 Records of the Liquid Transport Department
  • 219.6.6 Records of Federal Managers
  • 219.7 RECORDS OF THE MOTOR CARRIER CLAIMS COMMISSION 1946-52 9 lin. ft.
  • 219.8 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL) 1934-44 7 items

Top of Page

219.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the Office for Emergency Management by EO 8989, December 18, 1941.

Predecessor Agencies: Transportation Division, Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense (1940-41)

Functions: Coordinated and directed the utilization of domestic transportation facilities during World War II. Alleviated postwar freight car shortages, operated seized transportation properties, and handled unsettled claims.

Abolished: Effective July 1, 1949, by EO 10065, July 6, 1949, pursuant to the Second Decontrol Act of 1947, as amended (62 Stat. 342), June 4, 1948.

Successor Agencies: Interstate Commerce Commission as liquidator.

Finding Aids: National Archives and Office of Defense Transportation, comps., "Office of Defense Transportation Records Retirement Program" (Apr. 1945).

Security-Classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of Defense Transportation in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

Subject Access Terms: World War II agency.

Top of Page

219.2 RECORDS OF THE ADVISORY COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL OF
NATIONAL DEFENSE
1940-41

History: Council of National Defense established by an act of August 29, 1916 (39 Stat. 649); organized March 3, 1917. Advisory Commission, including an Adviser on Transportation and a Transportation Division, established by Presidential approval, May 29, 1940, of council regulation implementing provisions of the 1916 act calling for advisory body on the national defense program. Transportation Division abolished upon establishment of ODT, 1941. SEE 219.1.

Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and other records relating to transportation, 1940-41.

Top of Page

219.3 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
1941-49

Textual Records: Reading and historical files, 1941-49. Records of the deputy director, 1941-44. Records of the general counsel, 1941-49. Reports and correspondence relating to railroad and trucking companies seized by the government, 1942-45. Subject file of reports, 1942-46.

Top of Page

219.4 RECORDS OF TRANSPORT DEPARTMENTS
1942-49

Top of Page

219.4.1 Records of the Highway Transport Department

Textual Records: Minutes of meetings with government agencies, 1942-44. Correspondence and other records maintained by the Executive Assistant, ca. 1942-45. Correspondence with motor carriers, 1942-45. Reports of equipment needs for various cities; and correspondence on taxicab requirements, 1942-45, of the Division of Equipment and Research.

Top of Page

219.4.2 Records of the Railway Transport Department

Textual Records: Reports, correspondence, and memorandums, 1942- 45. Reports, correspondence, and other records of departmental sections, 1942-49.

Top of Page

219.4.3 Records of the Waterway Transport Department

Textual Records: Reports, memorandums, and correspondence, 1942- 45. Correspondence with water carriers and the War Production Board, 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.4.4 Records of the Liquid Transport Department

Textual Records: Records relating to the transportation of petroleum and petroleum products, 1942-45. Correspondence and related records of the adviser on state barriers, 1942-45. Correspondence of the Pipeline Division with major pipeline companies, 1942-45. Correspondence of the Tank Truck Division, 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.5 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS
1940-49

Top of Page

219.5.1 Records of the Division of Puerto Rican Transport

Textual Records: Correspondence of the ODT Director with the regional director, and reports on the conservation and utilization of Puerto Rican transportation facilities, 1942-45. Executive orders and correspondence about U.S. Government administration and operation of the American Railroad Company of Puerto Rico, 1943-44.

Top of Page

219.5.2 Records of the Information Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, photographs, press releases, and news clippings, 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.5.3 Records of the Division of Transport Personnel

Textual Records: Orders, reports, correspondence, and memorandums, ca. 1942-46.

Top of Page

219.5.4 Records of the Division of Materials and Equipment

Textual Records: Reports, correspondence, and memorandums relating to railroads and other transportation companies, 1942- 49.

Top of Page

219.5.5 Records of the Division of Rates

Textual Records: Correspondence with government agencies and private carriers regarding rate problems and rate legislation before Congress, 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.5.6 Records of the Division of Storage

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1942-45. Correspondence of the Merchandise Warehouse Section, 1940-46.

Top of Page

219.5.7 Records of the Manpower and Materials Division

Textual Records: Subject-numeric general files, statistical reports, and correspondence, ca. 1946-49.

Top of Page

219.6 RECORDS OF ODT FIELD OFFICES
1942-46

Top of Page

219.6.1 Records of the Office of the General Counsel

Textual Records: Case files of the attorneys in Atlanta (in Atlanta), Boston (in Boston), Chicago (in Chicago), Dallas (in Fort Worth), New York (in New York), and San Francisco (in San Francisco), 1944-45.

Top of Page

219.6.2 Records of the Railway Transport Department

Textual Records: Correspondence of the southern (in Atlanta) and western (in Chicago) regional offices, 1942-46.

Top of Page

219.6.3 Records of the Waterway Transport Department

Textual Records: Correspondence of the offices in New Orleans (in Fort Worth), New York (in New York), San Francisco (in San Francisco), and Seattle (in Seattle), 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.6.4 Records of the Division of Storage

Textual Records: General files of field offices in New Orleans (in Fort Worth), New York (in New York), San Francisco (in San Francisco), and Seattle (in Seattle), 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.6.5 Records of the Liquid Transport Department

Textual Records: Records of Tank Car Service Sections in Houston (in Fort Worth), Los Angeles (in Los Angeles), and San Francisco (in San Francisco), 1942-45.

Top of Page

219.6.6 Records of Federal Managers

Textual Records: Records of the Des Moines, Kansas City, and Omaha Operating Sections, 1942-45 (in Kansas City). Carrier files and records of the Minneapolis Operating Section, 1942-45 (in Chicago).

Top of Page

219.7 RECORDS OF THE MOTOR CARRIER CLAIMS COMMISSION
1946-52

History: Established by an act of July 2, 1948 (62 Stat. 1222), to hear and determine existing claims against the United States of certain motor carriers for losses and damages resulting from ODT seizure and control or operation of their properties during the period 1944-45. Terminated December 31, 1952, pursuant to acts of July 11, 1951, and March 14, 1952 (65 Stat. 116 and 66 Stat. 25).

Textual Records: Minutes, 1949-52. Correspondence and administrative subject files, 1949-52. Reading file, 1950-52. Records relating to the legislative history of the commission, 1946-52.

Top of Page

219.8 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
1934-44

Maps: Plan of railroad terminal at Toledo, OH, 1934 (1 item). Diagrammatic maps showing shipments of bituminous coal on the Great Lakes, 1941 (2 items). Maps and diagrams relating to railroad traffic and flow of pipeline oil in the northeastern United States, ca. 1943 (3 items). Map of the Missouri and Arkansas Railway, 1944 (1 item).


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.


Top of Page

Guide to Federal Records >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272