Records of Interdepartmental and Intradepartmental Committees
(State Department)
(Record Group 353)
1917-81
Table of Contents
- 353.1 Administrative History
- 353.2 Records of the Foreign Service Buildings Commission
1926-47
- 353.3 Records of the Interdepartmental Advisory Council on Technological Cooperation
1938-53
- 353.4 Records of the Interdepartmental Committee on the
Proclaimed List 1917-19, 1941-48
- 353.5 Records of Committees Maintained by the Executive
Secretariat 1933-77
- 353.5.1 Records of the Central Secretariat
- 353.5.2 Records of the International Social Policy Committee
(ISP)
- 353.5.3 Records of the Executive Committee on Economic Foreign
Policy (ECEFP)
- 353.5.4 Records of administrative and personnel committees
- 353.5.5 Records of area (regional) committees
- 353.5.6 Records of country committees
- 353.5.7 Records of economic committees and conferences
- 353.5.8 Records of executive committees
- 353.5.9 Records of foreign service committees
- 353.5.10 Records of information committees
- 353.5.11 Records of intelligence committees and conferences
- 353.5.12 Records of security and military affairs committees
- 353.5.13 Records of social policy and cultural affairs committees
- 353.5.14 Records of transportation and communications committees
- 353.5.1 Records of the Central Secretariat
- 353.6 Records of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee
1944-49
- 353.7 Records of the National Intelligence Survey Committees
1948-65
- 353.8 Records of the Policy Committee on Arms and Armaments
1945-49
- 353.9 Records of the Interdepartmental Patent Interchange
Committee 1941-59
- 353.10 Records of the Joint USA-USSR Documentary Publications
Project on Russian-American Relations, 1765-1815,
1975-81
- 353.11 Records of Other Committees
1928-56
- 353.11.1 Records of the Committee on Archives
- 353.11.2 Records of the Claims Board
- 353.11.3 Records of the Interdepartmental Advisory Board on
Reciprocity Treaties
- 353.11.4 Records of the Standing Liaison Committee of the State,
War, and Navy Departments
- 353.11.5 Records of committees concerned with the establishment
and organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- 353.11.6 Records of the Latin American Working Group of the
Foreign Military Assistance Coordinating Committee
- 353.11.7 Records of the Policy Committee on Immigration and
Naturalization
- 353.11.1 Records of the Committee on Archives
Functions: Perform administrative, policy, advisory, or research and reference duties within the Department of State (intradepartmental committees) or in liaison with other Executive departments (interdepartmental committees).
Finding Aids: Preliminary inventory in National Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.
Security-Classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.
Specific Restrictions: As specified by the Department of State, records dated after December 31, 1947, are available, with departmental permission, for official use only by officers and employees of the U.S. Government.
353.2 Records of the Foreign Service Buildings Commission
1926-47
History: Established by the Foreign Service Buildings Act of 1926 (44 Stat. 403), May 7, 1926, to formulate and approve plans for acquiring and using sites and buildings for diplomatic and consular establishments. Superseded by Foreign Service Buildings Division, 1945.
Textual Records: Correspondence, 1930-47. Records of meetings, 1926-45. Project authorizations and resolutions, 1926-45. Progress reports, 1929-38.
353.3 Records of the Interdepartmental Advisory Council on
Technological Cooperation
1938-53
History: Established May 1938 as the Committee of Executive Departments and Independent Agencies to Consider the Question of Cooperation with the American Republics, with responsibility for administering scientific and cultural exchanges with Latin America. Name shortened by October 1938 to the Committee on Cooperation with the American Republics, and by November 1938 changed to the Interdepartmental Committee on Cooperation with the American Republics. Renamed Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation, 1946. Assigned responsibility for coordinating training programs mandated by the Philippine Rehabilitation Act, 1946. Renamed the Interdepartmental Advisory Committee on Technical Assistance, 1948, with responsibility for Point Four program of technical assistance to underdeveloped countries. Redesignated the Interdepartmental Advisory Council on Technological Cooperation, 1950, to serve as a forum for Point Four program policy discussions. Disbanded, 1953.
Textual Records: Historical and subject files, 1938-53. Committee correspondence, 1945-48. Records of the UNESCO Relations Staff, 1945-46. Subcommittee records, 1944-49. Agency projects file, 1940-47. Country projects file, 1939-49. Records of the Interdepartmental Committee on Cooperation with the American Republics, 1938-46; and its subcommittees, 1943-44. Minutes of the General Advisory Committee of the Division of Cultural Relations, 1940-53. Minutes of the Advisory Committee on Inter- American Cooperation in Agricultural Education, 1941-44; Advisory Committee on Music, 1941-44; and Advisory Committee on Art, 1942- 44. Records of conferences on inter-American relations, 1939-40. Records of the Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation, 1947-50; its executive committee, 1945-49; and subcommittees, 1943-49. General records and country studies of the Interdepartmental Advisory Committee on Technical Assistance, 1949-50. General records of the Departmental Technical Assistance Working Group, 1949-50. General records of the Interdepartmental Advisory Council on Technical Cooperation, 1950-53.
353.4 Records of the Interdepartmental Committee on the
Proclaimed List
1917-19, 1941-48
History: Established in the Department of State pursuant to Presidential Proclamation 2497, July 17, 1941, to compile a list of persons working for or with the Axis, and persons to whom exports from the United States were deemed to be detrimental to the national defense. Committee consisted of representatives of the Departments of State, the Treasury, Justice, and Commerce; the Administrator of Export Control; and the Coordinator of Commercial and Cultural Relations Between the American Republics. "Proclaimed List," also known as the "American Black List," withdrawn effective July 8, 1946. Proclaimed List administered by the Division of World Trade Intelligence, established 1941, and redesignated the Division of Economic Security Controls, Office of Economic Security Policy, March 1945. Office and subordinate divisions abolished, retroactive to July 15, 1947, by Departmental Announcement 650, July 28, 1947, with residual functions transferred to Office of Financial and Development Policy and assigned to new Division of Occupied Areas Economic Affairs.
Textual Records: Record set of "The Proclaimed List of Certain Blocked Nationals," including supplements and revisions, 1941-46. Proclaimed lists prepared by Great Britain, Canada, and other nations, 1940-45. Enemy Trading List of the War Trade Board, 1917-19. Case files, 1941-46 (22 ft.). Committee memorandums and records of actions taken, 1941-46. Working papers relating to the "Hard Core" List, 1945-46. Card files of names on the Proclaimed List, 1941-46 (20 ft.). War trade intelligence files, 1941-48.
353.5 Records of Committees Maintained by the Executive
Secretariat
1933-77
History: Executive Secretariat established in the Department of State by consolidation of the Central Secretariat, Division of Coordination and Review, and Division of Protocol, February 6, 1947. Administered the offices of the Secretary and Under Secretary of State and maintained records of the interdepartmental and intradepartmental committees listed below.
353.5.1 Records of the Central Secretariat
Textual Records: Biweekly resumes of committee activities, 1947. Committee status reports, 1945-47. Committee handbook, 1950-51. Directory of committees, 1945-48. Minutes of meetings of the Central Secretariat, 1946-47.
353.5.2 Records of the International Social Policy Committee
(ISP)
Textual Records: Agendas, 1947-49. Minutes, 1947-48. Issuances, 1947-49. Records relating to organization and function of ISP ("Background Material"), 1946-49. Reports, 1947-49. Records of the Subcommittee on Cultural Relations, Information, Education, and Science, 1947-49. Records of the Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Status of Women, 1947-49. Records of the Subcommittee on Labor, 1947-51. Records of the Subcommittee on Non-Self-Governing Territories, 1947-50. Records of the Subcommittee on Social Welfare, 1947-50.
353.5.3 Records of the Executive Committee on Economic Foreign
Policy (ECEFP)
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1944-49. Minutes, 1944- 49. Document file, 1944-50. Policy decision summaries, correspondence, and indexes, 1944-49. Position papers, 1947-49. Activity reports, 1944-48. Subject files, 1944-49. Progress reports and procedural and organizational instructions of the joint ECEFP-ISP secretariat, 1944-49. Records of the Foreign Travel Subcommittee, 1945-52. Records of the Committee on Inter- American Economic Development, 1944-45. Records of the International Petroleum Policy Committee, 1948-53. Records of the United Nations Economic Subcommittee, 1946-55. Records of the West Indian Committee, 1944-47. Records of the Working Group on Strategic Materials, 1947.
353.5.4 Records of administrative and personnel committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Committee Coordinating Board, 1946-48; Policy Service Committee, 1949-50; Secretary's Committee on Personnel, 1950; and Subcommittee on Foreign Diplomatic and Official Personnel of the Interdepartmental Committee on Internal Security, 1950-53.
353.5.5 Records of area (regional) committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Interagency Committee on Development of Alaska, 1947-48; subcommittees and working parties of the International Committee on the Far East, 1946-48; French Area Committee, 1945- 46; Combined French Area Committee, 1945; French-Anglo-U.S. Tripartite Committee, 1944; State-Army Committee on Transfer (Germany), 1948; German Working Group on Reorganization Planning for Germany, 1951; Departmental Committee on Aid to Greece and Turkey, 1947-48; Greek Aid Mission, 1947-49; Interim Greece- Turkey Assistance Committee, 1947; Interdepartmental Committee for Aid to Greece-Turkey, 1947; Combined Liberated Area Committee, 1944-45; Liberated Area Committee, 1944-45; Advisory Committee on Occupied Areas Affairs and its subcommittees, 1946- 47; Southeast Asia Aid Policy Committee, 1950-53; Committee on Administrative Planning for Japan, 1951-52; and Asian Regional Committee, 1953-56.
353.5.6 Records of country committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of committees responsible for Africa, 1947; Argentina, 1946-47; Belgium-Luxembourg, 1946; British Commonwealth, 1946-47; China, 1946-48; Czechoslovakia, 1946-47; Greece, 1946-47; India- Burma, 1946-47; Iran-Turkey and the Arab States, 1946-47; Liberia, 1947; Italy, 1946-47; Netherlands, 1946; Philippines, 1948; South Asia, 1948; and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1946-48.
353.5.7 Records of economic committees and conferences
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Executive Committee on Commercial Policy, 1933-44; Interdepartmental Committee on Trade Agreements, 1934-61; U.S. and Combined Policy Committees for French Empire Economic Affairs, 1944-45; Interdepartmental Economic Committee on Argentina, 1944; European Neutrals Committee, 1945-46; Petroleum Facilities Coordinating Committee, 1945-47; U.S. Lend-Lease and Surplus Settlement Committee, 1945-46; Nationalization and Coordinating Committee, 1946; Interagency Committee on Food and Agriculture, 1946-47; Bizonal Supplies Committee, 1946-47; Committee to Aid Foreign Governments, 1947; committees concerned with the European Recovery Program, 1947-49; Departmental Committee on Grants to China, 1948-49; Economic Warfare Planning Committee, 1948-51; Interagency Mobilization Planning Committee on the Framework of International Economic Cooperation, 1949; Working Group on Point IV Management, 1949; U.S. Working Group, Joint Petroleum Discussions, 1949-59; economic seminars, 1950; Departmental Dollar Gap Working Group, 1950; Working Group on the Framework of Wartime Economic Cooperation, 1950; Allied Economic Mobilization Joint U.S.-U.K. Talks, 1950; Foreign Assistance Steering Group, including records of the executive staff, executive group, and task forces, 1950-51; meetings on the Mutual Security Program, 1951; and Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, 1953-55.
353.5.8 Records of executive committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Policy Liaison Staff, 1944-45; and Secretary's Staff Committee, 1943-47.
Microfilm Publications: M1054.
353.5.9 Records of foreign service committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Departmental Steering Committee, 1945; Foreign Service Policy Committee, 1946-48; and Board of Foreign Service, including its staff board and appointment and assignments board, 1946-53.
353.5.10 Records of information committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Information Service Committee, 1944-45.
353.5.11 Records of intelligence committees and conferences
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Central Intelligence Group, including the Intelligence Advisory Board, 1946-47; Advisory Committee on Intelligence, including its Subcommittee on Programs and Priorities, 1946-48; and army attache intelligence conferences, 1948-51.
353.5.12 Records of security and military affairs committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the International Committee on Industrial Security, 1948-49; Budget Working Group of the National Security Council, 1949; and Foreign Economic Assistance Committee of the National Security Resources Board, 1948-49.
353.5.13 Records of social policy and cultural affairs committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Evaluating Committee on Motion Pictures and Visual Aids, 1944-46; Freedom of Information Committee, 1944-46; Departmental Committee on International Social Policy, 1946-47; Prisoners of War Committee, 1948-50; Visa Review Committee, 1949- 50; and Government Advisory Committee on International Book and Library Programs, 1963-77.
353.5.14 Records of transportation and communications committees
Textual Records: Agendas, minutes, document files, and other records of the Interdepartmental Committee for the Resumption of Communications for Liberated and Occupied Areas, 1945-46; Interdepartmental Policy Committee for Preparations for an International Safety at Sea Conference, 1944-45; Passenger Shipping Committee, 1946-49; and Travel Policy Committee, 1947- 50.
353.6 Records of the State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee
1944-49
History: Established December 1944 to reconcile views of the three departments and to formulate politico-military policies. Renamed the State-Army-Navy-Air Force Coordinating Committee, 1947. Terminated, June 1949. Prepared policies for occupying and controlling Japan, Germany, and Austria; and position papers for use by the United States at international conferences. Made studies and recommendations for the postwar downgrading and declassifying of security-classified records. Reviewed directives and procedures for seizing enemy records.
Textual Records: Minutes, 1944-47. Action and decision summaries, 1944-49. Document file, 1944-49 (28 ft.), with name, subject, and numerical indexes. Memorandums and directives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1945-49. Records of the Subcommittee on the Far East, 1945-49; Subcommittee on the Pacific Far East, 1945; Subcommittee for Europe, 1946-48; Informal Policy Committee on Germany, 1945; Subcommittee for Latin America, 1944-48; Subcommittee for the Near and Middle East, 1947-49; Subcommittee on the United Nations, 1945-47; and Security Advisory Board (Subcommittee for Security Control), 1945-49. Records of ad hoc committees, 1945- 48.
Microfilm Publications: M1195, T1194, T1198, T1205.
353.7 Records of the National Intelligence Survey Committees
1948-65
353.7.1 Records of the National Intelligence Survey Coordinating
Committee
History: Operated as an intradepartmental committee within the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 1948-61. Responsible for coordination and preparation of the National Intelligence Summaries. Function transferred to Central Intelligence Agency, July 1961.
Textual Records: Minutes of meetings, 1948-61. Committee memorandums, 1948-61. Monthly productivity reports ("Time-Use Reports"), 1948-61.
353.7.2 Records of the National Intelligence Survey Permanent
Committee
History: Established as an ad hoc committee by the Director of Central Intelligence to develop a basic intelligence research program. Redesignated a permanent committee, March 1948. Served as an interdepartmental committee, chaired by representatives of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, with membership drawn from military and civilian intelligence communities.
Textual Records: Minutes of meetings, 1948-65, with indexes.
353.8 Records of the Policy Committee on Arms and Armaments
1945-49
History: Interdepartmental Working Committee on Arms Control established October 1944. Superseded May 1946 by the Policy Committee on Arms and Armaments, abolished 1949, which coordinated departmental policy on all aspects of arms, munitions, and other military equipment.
Textual Records: Country and subject files, 1945-49. General records of the committee, 1947-49. General records of the Subcommittee on the Inter-American Military Cooperation Bill, 1945-47; Subcommittee on Regulation of Armaments, 1945-47; and Subcommittee on Release of Technical and Scientific Information to Foreign Countries, 1946-47.
353.9 Records of the Interdepartmental Patent Interchange
Committee
1941-59
History: Established, May 1946, to further the terms of the United States Patent Interchange Agreement with Great Britain, signed March 27, 1946. Terminated by the Secretary of State, October 30, 1959. Included representatives of the Departments of State and Justice and of the armed services. Assisted American and British nationals seeking restitution for patent infringements.
Textual Records: Minutes, 1946-53. Claims files, 1941-58. Decimal correspondence file, 1944-59.
353.10 Records of the Joint USA-USSR Documentary Publications
Project on Russian-American Relations, 1765-1815
1975-81
Textual Records: Records of the U.S. editors, 1975-81, consisting of a chronological file; files of documents selected for and excluded from publication; and copies of documents used in footnotes (including 21 rolls of microfilm). Records of the U.S. members of the Joint Editorial Board, 1976-81. Records documenting National Archives involvement in the project, 1975- 80.
Photographs: Used or considered for use as illustrations, 1975-80 (225 images).
353.11 Records of Other Committees
1928-56
353.11.1 Records of the Committee on Archives
History: Established in 1935 to consider relations between the State Department and the National Archives.
Textual Records: Reports, legal opinions, Congressional bills, correspondence, memorandums, and records surveys, 1928-38 (bulk 1935).
353.11.2 Records of the Claims Board
History: Established by State Department Orders 505 and 532 1/4, January 12, 1931, to prepare property loss claims of diplomatic, consular, and Foreign Service personnel for audit. Board terminated 1939.
Textual Records: Minutes, 1931-39, with lists of claims.
353.11.3 Records of the Interdepartmental Advisory Board on
Reciprocity Treaties
History: Established 1933 to consider and advise on questions concerning the negotiation of reciprocity treaties. Disbanded later that year after reviewing treaties with Brazil, Portugal, and Colombia. Included representatives of the Tariff Commission and of the Departments of State, Commerce, Agriculture, and the Treasury.
Textual Records: Minutes of meetings of the Subcommittee on South America and the Working Groups on Brazil and Portugal, 1933. Summary report on reciprocity treaties, 1933. Records of negotiations for reciprocity treaties with Brazil and Colombia, 1933. Excerpts from the Democratic Party platform of 1932 and from speeches of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the subject of reciprocity, 1934.
353.11.4 Records of the Standing Liaison Committee of the State,
War, and Navy Departments
History: Established, 1938, to coordinate departmental efforts in the execution of national policy, principally in improving relations with Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Terminated 1943.
Textual Records: Minutes of meetings, 1938-43. Summaries of staff conversations with Latin American countries concerning hemispheric defense, 1940. General records, 1938-39.
353.11.5 Records of committees concerned with the establishment
and organization of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
Textual Records: Verbatim minutes of the Ambassadors' Committee on the Washington Security Talks, 1948-49. Minutes and general records of the International Working Group on the Washington Security Talks, 1948-49. Numbered documents, minutes, and general records of the American Working Group on Pact Organization, 1949. Document file and general records of the International Working Group on Pact Organization, 1949-50. General records of the American Working Group on Pact Organization, 1949. Document file of the North Atlantic Defense Committee, 1949. Document file of the Joint American Council to the NATO Conference at Ottawa, Canada, 1951.
353.11.6 Records of the Latin American Working Group of the
Foreign Military Assistance Coordinating Committee
History: Established, December 1949, by the Foreign Military Assistance Coordinating Committee to develop operating policies and programs for military aid to Latin America. Consisted of representatives of the Departments of State and Defense. Began operations February 1950. Substantially completed work by November 1950.
Textual Records: Minutes, agendas, status reports, and membership lists, 1950. Country requests, 1950-51.
353.11.7 Records of the Policy Committee on Immigration and
Naturalization
Textual Records: Committee minutes, agendas, documents, and memorandums, 1947-56, with consolidated card index, 1947-52. Subject files, 1947-53. Subcommittee materials, 1948-55.
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.
This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.
Blogs
Facebook
Flickr
RSS Feeds
Twitter
YouTube