Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of Personnel Management [OPM]


(Record Group 478)
1928-92

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 478.1 Administrative History
  • 478.2 Records of OPM Headquarters 1928-92
  • 478.3 Records of OPM Region 2 (Eastern Region) 1972-81
  • 478.4 Sound Recordings (General)
  • 478.5 Machine-Readable Records (General)

478.1 Administrative History

Established: As an independent agency by Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1978, effective January 1, 1979, in accordance with EO 12107, December 28, 1978, and the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (92 Stat. 1111), October 13, 1978.

Predecessor Agencies:
  • Grant Civil Service Commission (1871-83)
  • U.S. Civil Service Commission (1883-1979)

Functions: Administers the federal civil service.

Related Records:
Record copies of publications of the Office of Personnel Management in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the U.S. Senate, RG 46.
Records of the Office of Management and Budget, RG 51.
Records of the U.S. Civil Service Commission, RG 146.
Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions, and Boards, RG 220.
Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, RG 233.
Records of the Commissions on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government, RG 264.
Records of the Merit Systems Protection Board, RG 479.

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478.2 Records of OPM Headquarters
1928-92

History: An advisory board, popularly known as the Grant Civil Service Commission, established by President Ulysses S. Grant pursuant to an act of March 3, 1871 (16 Stat. 514), authorizing the President to prescribe rules and regulations for the civil service. Superseded by the U.S. Civil Service Commission, an independent regulatory agency, by the Civil Service Act (22 Stat. 403), January 16, 1883. Commission abolished, effective January 1, 1979, with functions dispersed among newly established Federal Labor Relations Authority, Merit Systems Protection Board, and OPM. See 478.1.

Textual Records: Oversize personnel security investigation case files, accumulated by the Office of Federal Investigations and its predecessor, the Investigations Division of the U.S. Civil Service Commission, 1928-82.

Sound Recordings: Testimony before an employee loyalty board, June 1951, from the oversize personnel security investigation case files, 1928-82 (7 items).

Machine-Readable Records: Federal Employee Attitude Survey (FEAS), Phase I, 1979 (2 data sets), Phase II, 1980-81 (2 data sets), and Phase III, 1983 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. Survey of Federal Employees (SOFE), November 1991-February 1992 (1 data set), with supporting documentation. Central Personnel Data File (CPDF), current status master file, 1978-84, 1986 (16 data sets).

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478.3 Records of OPM Region 2 (Eastern Region)
1972-81

Textual Records (in New York): Records of the Staffing Division, consisting of qualitative reviews of state and local merit systems, 1972-81.

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478.4 Sound Recordings (General)

See under 478.2.

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478.5 Machine-Readable Records (General)

See under 478.2.


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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