Record Group 304 through Donated Materials

• Introduction
• Alphabetical List of Record Groups
• Numerical List of Record Groups
• Record Groups 4 through 48
• Record Groups 52 through 96
• Record Groups 103 through 188
• Record Groups 202 through 293
• Record Groups 304 through Donated Materials

Record Group 304
Records of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization

Administrative History

The civil defense operational functions of OCDM were transferred to the Secretary of Defense by Executive Order 10952 of July 20, 1961, and the rest of OCDM was redesignated the Office of Emergency Planning by an act of September 22, 1961. It was subsequently redesignated the Office of Emergency Preparedness by an act of October 21, 1968. See RG 311 and RG 396 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1950-62
Volume: 17 cubic feet

Records of the Office of the Administrator, Region 1. The records relate to hurricanes, floods, forest fires, and the Worcester, Massachusetts, tornado of 1953.
Nontextual records include photographs.

Records of the Federal Civil Defense Administration, Region 1. The records document disaster relief and regional planning for civil defense, including special studies and exercises, and joint operations with Canada. Included are correspondence, minutes of meetings and conferences, publications, and reports.

Finding Aids
Partial draft inventory.

Record Group 309
Records of the Small Business Administration

Administrative History
The Small Business Administration (SBA), an independent agency, was established by the Small Business Act of July 30, 1953. The functions of the SBA, which were expanded by subsequent legislation and various Executive orders, are to counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small businesses; ensure that a fair proportion of Government purchases and contracts are placed with small businesses; make loans to small businesses and investment companies, victims of floods or other catastrophes, and State and local development companies; license and regulate small business investment companies; and assist small business owners in improving managerial skills.

Records Description
Dates: 1971-74
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the New Hampshire District Advisory Council. The records document council membership and activities, and include correspondence, press releases, minutes of meetings, and reports.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 311
Records of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Administrative History
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was established, effective April 1, 1979, in order to unify key Federal emergency management and assistance functions. It consolidated emergency preparedness, mitigation, and response activities of five agencies and added other emergency functions. They include the disaster relief, civil defense, flood insurance, civilian fire protection and control, and Federal mobilization programs. Statutory functions were either transferred to the Director, FEMA, by the Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 or delegated by Executive Order 12148 effective July 15, 1979. FEMA is headed by a Director and has headquarters staff in Washington, DC, and 10 regional office locations in the 10 Federal Regional Centers. See RG 304 and RG 396 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1974-88
Volume: 82 cubic feet

Records of the Natural and Technological Hazards Division. The records result from flood insurance studies conducted by FEMA and show land elevations and flood prone areas in New England. They are maps.

Finding Aids
List of sites/towns with dates and number of maps.

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 Department of Defense 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: 1949-54
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the Finance Office, U.S. Army, Boston Army Base. The records document office policy and procedures for both military and civilian personnel, and are primarily memorandums.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

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 2, 1942, to head the Transportation Division. It 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, port agencies, transportation depots, offices, and zones. See RG 181 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-46
Volume: 8 cubic feet

Records of the:

• Boston Port Conditions Committee;
• Boston Port Agency;
• Boston Port of Embarkation, including Camp McKay, Camp Myles Standish, Camp Curtis Guild, the Maynard Ammunition Storage Depot, and other staging areas in Massachusetts;
• cargo subport of Searsport, Maine;
• various Canadian ports;
• Newfoundland, Greenland, and Iceland Base Commands;
• First Transportation Zone.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

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. See RG 156 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1942-85
Volume: 93 cubic feet

Records of the General Support Maintenance Activity at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, 1965, and the U.S. Army Advisor Group (ARNGUS) in each New England State, 1951-64. The records document the command structure and the activities conducted at each facility. Included are planning files and issuances (mostly general orders).

Records of Headquarters, Engineer Amphibian Command, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, 1942-44. The records relate to the development and testing of transport and landing equipment and include reports and correspondence.
Nontextual records include design and construction drawings of equipment and maps of testing and operating areas.

Records of the Public Affairs Office, Watertown Arsenal, Massachusetts, 1962-65. The records document programs, activities, and accomplishments at the arsenal and recognition of its employees. They are organizational history files, scrapbooks, and news clippings.
Nontextual records include photographs relating primarily to the Army Materials Research Agency.

Records of the Army Materials Research Agency (AMRA), Watertown, Massachusetts, 1962-67. The records document the work of the Historical Officer and the Public Affairs Officer. They include correspondence, historical summaries, organizational history files, publications including the employee newspaper, Arsenal News, 1945-65, subject files, and technical and other reports.
Nontextual records include photographs and a few site maps.

Records of the Army Materials and Mechanics Research Center (AMMRC), Watertown, Massachusetts, 1967-85. The records document the work of the scientific staff and the Public Affairs Office, and consist of correspondence, laboratory notebooks, organizational history files, publications, and technical reports.
Nontextual records include drawings of the nuclear reactor facility, photographs, and site maps.

Records of the Army Materials Technology Laboratory (AMTL), Watertown, Massachusetts, 1985-88. The records document research on ceramics, materials, and metals. They are laboratory notebooks.

Finding Aids
Partial draft inventory.

Record Group 352
Records of the Information Resources Management Service

Administrative History
As part of the General Services Administration, the Information Resources Management Service was established in 1962 and made responsible for the coordination and direction of a comprehensive, Government wide program for the management, procurement, and utilization of automated data processing and local telecommunications equipment and services; planning and directing programs for improving Federal records and information management practices; and managing and operating the Federal Information Center. It was previously designated the Transportation and Communications Service and the Automated Data and Telecommunications Service.

Records Description
Dates: 1967-80
Volume: 12 cubic feet

Records of the Region I, General Electric computer program system. The records relate to the system, and include data processing manuals and other publications.

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: 1973-89
Volume: 58 cubic feet

Records of the Boston regional office, the regional coordinating committees, and the southern division of the Office of Job Service (Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island). The records document unemployment insurance and welfare programs and the recruitment, training, and placement of trainees under the Job Corps, CETA, and other training programs. Included are brochures, correspondence, newspaper clippings, policy issuances, and reports.

Finding Aids
Partial 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. See RG 27 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1954-80
Volume: 36 cubic feet

Records of the Blue Hill Observatory, Milton, Massachusetts. The records document meteorological observations, and include hygrothermograph, ombroscope, barogram, and wind gust recorder
charts.

Maine Meteorological Data, 1842-1883. The records document temperature, wind, and general weather conditions for various sites in Maine. They are journals from an unidentified source donated to NOAA in 1976.

• Partial draft inventory.
• Box contents list.

Record Group 381
RECORDS OF THE COMMUNITY SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Administrative History
The Community Services Administration (CSA), 1976-81, 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: 1976-81
Volume: 11 cubic feet

Records of the Boston regional office, the Operations Division, the regional director, and regional counsel of the Community Services Administration. The records document programs to eliminate the causes and effects of poverty in America. Included are correspondence, minutes of meetings, press releases, reports, and requests for funding.
 
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 382
Records of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration

Administrative History
The Federal Water Pollution Control Administration was created by section 2 of the Water Quality Act of 1965, approved October 2, 1965, and effective December 31, 1965. It became a bureau in the Department of the Interior under Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1966, effective May 10, 1966. Under Executive Order 11288, the Administration conducted a national program to enhance the quality and value of the nation's water resources and to otherwise assist in the prevention, control, and abatement of water pollution. The major functions of the Administration were to develop or conduct comprehensive and special programs designed to eliminate or reduce the pollution of interstate waters, to award grants to States and interagency units, and to assist in the development of comprehensive river basin water control and abatement plans. The Administration encouraged and supported State and Federal enforcement authorities in their efforts to abate pollution of interstate or navigable waters and to improve State laws regarding pollution of these waters. Awarding of grants for the construction of municipal waste treatment works, assisting in demonstrations of new or improved methods of pollutional waste discharge control, and supporting and conducting appropriate technical training were among the Administration's responsibilities. Most of its functions were eventually assumed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which was established in 1970. See RG 48, RG 57, RG 77, RG 90, RG 114, and RG 412 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1948-74
Volume: 9 cubic feet

Records of the office of the regional program director of the Enforcement Branch, then part of the Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control of the Public Health Service. The records document pollution in interstate waters, monitoring and cleanup efforts, and enforcement and compliance actions, and a 1970 Supreme Court case, Vermont v. New York and International Paper Company. The records are conference files, legal papers, and summary reports.
 
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

Record Group 392
Records of the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Districts and Defenses, 1901-1942

Administrative History
In 1901, the Artillery Corps was divided into field artillery batteries and coast artillery companies under newly created artillery districts. Each district consisted of harbor defense forts, with accompanying minefields and land defenses. In 1913, the coast artillery districts were redesignated coast defense commands. See RG 77 for related records.
 
Records Description
Dates: 1901-39
Volume: 45 cubic feet

Records of Headquarters, North Atlantic Coast Artillery District, 1917-19; the Coast and Harbor Defenses of Boston, 1903-39; and the Coast Defenses of:

• Narragansett Bay, 1901-24;
• New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1917-20;
• Portland, Maine, 1904-35;
• Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1904-19.

Record Group 396
Records of the Office of Emergency Preparedness

Administrative History
The Office of Emergency Preparedness was established in the Executive Office of the President by an act of October 21, 1968 (82 Stat. 1194) to advise and assist the President in the coordination and determination of Federal emergency preparedness policy. It was abolished in 1973 and its functions transferred to the Office of Preparedness in the General Services Administration, the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. See RG 304 and RG 311 for related records.
 
Records Description
Dates: 1961-70
Volume: 9 cubic feet

Records of Region 1. The records relate to civil and economic affairs; emergency relocation plans; liaison and public affairs; meetings and conferences; program organization, management, and evaluation; research; resources mobilization; and telecommunications. They include issuances, publications, reports, and working papers.
 
Finding Aids
Lists of folder titles.

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. The FHA administers Federal financial assistance to the States for highway construction and conducts research and programs relating to highway safety. See RG 30 for related records.
 
Records Description
Dates: 1970-78
Volume: 87 cubic feet

Records of Federal aid projects for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The records document acquisition of rights-of-way and road 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 of the Adjutant General Publications Depot, Westfield, Massachusetts. The records relate to operations and activities, and include correspondence, memorandums, orders, organizational charts and functional statements, reports, and weekly bulletins.
 
Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

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. See RG 48, RG 57, RG 77, RG 90, RG 114, and RG 382 for related records.

Records Description
Dates: 1969-93
Volume: 34 cubic feet

Records of the Office of the Regional Counsel, Region I, 1973-79. The records document the decision to build the Seabrook (New Hampshire) Nuclear Power Plant and subsequent program development and litigation with anti-nuclear citizens groups. Included are appeals records, briefs, decisions of administrators, final determinations, motions, remands to parties, technical information, and transcripts of Congressional and administrative hearings.

Records of the Enforcement Division, 1974-78. The records document hearings held to decide issues of fact concerning regulation enforcement. They contain judgment orders, notices, transcripts of hearings, and other administrative documents.

Records of the Regional Air Pollution Control Director, 1969-71. The records document legislative activity concerning air quality standards and contain correspondence, newspaper clippings and publications, policy statements, regulations, and test reports.

Records of the Environmental Services Division, 1971-93. The records are "superfund removal" case files and raw data on each site. Included are contractor performance reports, work plans, and other contract documentation on removal and disposal; correspondence; field notes and logs; news articles and press releases; preliminary assessment, investigative, pollution, and financial reports; procurement requests and orders.
Nontextual records include maps and photographs.
 
Finding Aids
For Environmental Services Division's "superfund removal" records: box and folder title lists.

Record Group 414
Records of Regional Committees and Commissions

Lowell (Massachusetts) Historic Canal District Commission

Administrative History
The Commission was established by an act of Congress in January 1975, to prepare a plan for the preservation and development of the historic, cultural, and architectural resources of the Lowell Historic Canal District.

Records of the Lowell Historic Canal District Commission. The records document the Commission's establishment and meetings, proposals for the creation of a historical park, and the work of the "The Lowell Team" (the consultant firm that designed the project). Included are correspondence, memorandums, congressional bills establishing the Commission, transcripts of testimony in support of the bills, agendas and minutes of meetings, development proposals, reports, newspaper clippings, and the final report of the Commission.

Finding Aids
Draft inventory.

New England River Basins Commission

Administrative History
This Commission was created in 1967 as a Federal-State partnership composed of members from the 6 New England States and New York, 10 Federal agencies, and 6 interstate agencies. Its mission was to encourage the conservation, development, and utilization of water and related land resources on a coordinated basis by Federal, State, and local governments and private enterprise. It also engaged in long-range planning and data collection. The Commission was terminated on September 9, 1981.
 
Records Description
Dates: 1967-81
Volume: 3 cubic feet

Records of the New England River Basins Commission. The records relate to the organization, history, accomplishments, and termination of the Commission. They consist of agendas and minutes of meetings, reports, and proposals.

New England Regional Commission

Administrative History
The New England Regional Commission was created under Title V of the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended. One of several regional action planning commissions under the Department of Commerce, the Commission was a Federal-State partnership whose membership was comprised of the governors of the New England States and a Federal co-chairman appointed by the President.

Records Description
Dates: 1966-76
Volume: less than 1 cubic foot

Records of the New England Regional Commission. The records document the establishment of the New England Economic Development Region and the Commission, its components, and areas of interest. They include designation certificates, lists of counties, and publications.

Record Group 439
Records of the Administration on Aging

Records of Region 1. The records document the distribution of funds for social and nutritional services under the Older Americans Act of 1965. They are correspondence and State plans.

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 of the Boston regional office. The records document all aspects of the Boston area program including celebrations, commemorative items, conferences, ethnic history, exhibits, funding, logos, meetings, public relations, and publications. The programs involved the general public, Members of Congress, public and private institutions, State and local officials, and private individuals. Included are correspondence, memorandums, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, press releases, schedules of activities, and transcripts of speeches.

Record Group 462
Records of the Food and Consumer Services

Administrative History
The Food and Nutrition Service was established in the Department of Agriculture by Secretary of Agriculture Memorandum No. 1659, Supplement 1, August 8, 1969, to administer the food stamp, commodity distribution, and child nutrition (school lunch, school breakfast, school food service equipment, and school milk) programs formerly vested in the Consumer and Marketing Service. Subsequent to its establishment the agency for a number of years was known as the Food and Consumer Service but by 1998 had returned to its original name. Its mission has broadened to include additional food assistance programs such as the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), the child and adult care food program, the emergency food assistance program, the food distribution program on Indian reservations, the nutrition program for the elderly, and the h omeless children nutrition program. See RG 439 for related records.

Records of the Montpelier, Vermont, field office of the Boston Regional Office, Food and Nutrition Service, relating to the food certificate program. They are retailers' applications for authorization to participate in the program.

Record Group 467
Records of the Research and Special Programs Administration

Administrative History
Established in the Department of Transportation (DOT) as a separate operating administration, the Administration issues regulations for the safe transportation of gas and hazardous materials, develops emergency transportation policies and plans, collects and disseminates economic aviation data, and conducts research and development activities in transportation safety and other relevant areas.

The Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (VNTSC), organized as a component of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1965, was transferred to the DOT in 1970. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the center is primarily concerned with the exchange of transportation and logistics information, research and technology among private industry, academia, and Federal agencies. It also assists in the development and maintenance of important national research on the social and economic effects of transportation, supports air and marine electronic systems, performs systems assessment for other Federal agencies, and plans projects for the application of technology to the solution of present and anticipated requirements in all forms of ground transportation systems.

Also records of a number of center offices, 1975-93, relating to subjects such as track and aviation safety, airport fire fighting and rescue equipment, communications, Federal building security, rail systems maintenance and rehabilitation, and vehicle guideway technology. The files contain charts, correspondence, graphs, project outlines and summaries, raw data, special studies and reports, and working papers.

Donated Materials Groups

Naturalization Records of Non-Federal Courts in Connecticut

Naturalization records of non-Federal courts in Connecticut, transferred under a 1984 agreement with the Chief Court Administrator of the State of Connecticut. Similar to Federal court naturalization records, the records document naturalization proceedings that occurred in various superior courts, courts of common pleas, county district courts, and municipal courts. Included are declarations of intention, petitions for naturalization, indexes, and related materials. Pre-1906 records are primarily record and ledger books. See RG 21 and RG 85 for related records.