Guide to Archival Holdings (RG 4-28)

Records of the U.S. Food Administration (RG 4)

Administrative History

The U.S. Food Administration was created by an Executive order of August 10, 1917, to assure the supply, distribution, and conservation of food during World War I; facilitate the movement of foods and prevent monopolies and hoarding; and maintain governmental control over foods chiefly by means of voluntary agreements and a licensing system. Federal food administrators were appointed for each State to implement the Administration's programs. After November 11, 1918, the Administration was gradually dismantled and its rules and regulations revoked. An Executive order of August 21, 1920, terminated all branches of the Food Administration still in existence, and the majority of its records were placed in the custody of the U.S. Grain Corporation.

Records Description

Dates: 1917-19
Volume: 108 cubic feet

Records of the following units:

• Food Administrators in California, Hawaii, and Nevada;
• Divisions of Baking, Enforcement, Sugar Distribution, and Volunteer Student Service in California;
• Director of Public Information; Educational and Home Economics Departments; Livestock Commission; and Speaker's Bureau in California;
• Federal Milk Commission in Hawaii.

Finding Aids

• List of series.
• File plans for two series.

Records of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine (RG 7)

Administrative History

Entomological research and plant quarantine and control work being done by various agencies were consolidated in the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, which was established within the Department of Agriculture on July 1, 1934. The Bureau cooperated with the States in studying and controlling insects to prevent plant diseases and enforced various quarantine regulations. It was abolished in 1953 and its functions were transferred to the Agricultural Research Service and the Forest Service.

Records Description

Dates: 1937-44
Volume: 6 cubic feet

Records of the Division of Plant Disease Control, Oakland. The records concern white pine blister rust control work in northern California and Oregon. They include letters, memorandums, and reports.

Finding Aids

• Series descriptions.
• Folder title list.

Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering (RG 8)

Administrative History

The Office of Experiment Stations of the Department of Agriculture began irrigation investigations in 1898 and drainage investigations in 1903. In 1915, it was merged into the Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering, which was renamed the Bureau of Roads in 1918. In 1921, the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering was established to consolidate all drainage, irrigation, and rural engineering work. In 1931, the Division was given Bureau status, and in 1938 it was merged with the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils to form the Bureau of Agricultural Chemistry and Engineering.

Records Description

Dates: 1889-1936
Volume: 84 cubic feet

Records of the Office of Experiment Stations, Berkeley. The records relate to the Platte River and the Bear River Canal Company; crop growth, drainage problems, and irrigation; and water flow, measurement, and use in areas west of the Continental Divide. The records consist of clippings, correspondence, and reports.

Records of the Division of Agricultural Engineering, Berkeley. The records concern various irrigation and drainage activities and administrative matters. They are primarily correspondence.

Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering, Berkeley. The records relate to irrigation engineering and river development, including underground water storage in southern California, and the Yakima Project in Wopato, Washington. The records are correspondence and reports. Nontextual records include engineering drawings, graphs, maps, photographs, and tables interfiled with the textual records, and a separate series of photographs depicting irrigation activities, dam construction, pipeline development, and methods of water application in the U.S. and abroad.

Finding Aids

• Series descriptions.
• Folder and box contents lists for some series.
• File plan for photographic files.

Records of the National Recovery Administration (RG 9)

Administrative History

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was created by an Executive order of June 16, 1933, to rehabilitate industry and trade in the United States, expand employment, and improve labor conditions. The NRA drafted codes of fair competition to govern industries and trades.

The Administration created district recovery and local compliance boards. In January 1934, a system of State compliance offices reporting directly to the Compliance Division in Washington, DC, superseded the district offices. Many of the State offices set up branches with a resident field adjuster in charge. A regional office system was established on December 28, 1934, by authority of Field Letter #190.

The 1935 Supreme Court decision in Schechter Poultry Corp. v. U.S. declared many provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act unconstitutional. After this decision NRA activities were confined to promoting industrial cooperation and preparing a series of economic studies. On January 1, 1936, the NRA was terminated, with most of its divisions transferred to the Department of Commerce for liquidation by April 1, 1936. The field offices were terminated on January 31, 1936.

Records Description

Dates: 1934-36
Volume: 35 cubic feet

Records of the Region IX Office, San Francisco. The records relate to code authority administration, complaint cases, legal matters arising from enforcement activities, and administrative matters in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The records consist of briefs, correspondence, memorandums, and reports.

Records of the Territorial Office for Hawaii. The records document activities of local committees and trade groups; compliance cases; histories and interpretations of codes; hour, wage, and price data; and administrative matters. Included are bulletins, correspondence, memorandums, minutes, press releases and clippings, and reports.

Finding Aids

Entries 578-591 and 626 in Homer Calkin, Meyer Fishbein, and Leo Pascal, comps., Preliminary Inventory of Records of the National Recovery Administration, PI 44 (1952).

Records of the Office of Education (RG 12)

Administrative History

A department of education, headed by a commissioner, was established by an act of March 2, 1867. It was abolished as an independent agency on July 20, 1868, and reestablished as the Office of Education in the Department of the Interior. The original statutory function of both the Department and the Office was to collect and disseminate information on education in the United States and abroad and to promote better education throughout the country. Subsequent legislation and Executive orders have added functions, including responsibility for Federal financial assistance to education and special studies and programs. In 1939, the Office of Education was transferred to the Federal Security Agency, which became the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953. The Office was abolished in 1980 and its functions transferred to the Department of Education.

Records Description

Dates: 1941-75
Volume: 4 cubic feet
Records of the Office of Education field representative for Federal Security Agency Region XII, San Francisco, 1941-45. The records relate to Federal assistance to communities in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington that witnessed sharp population increases due to the World War II national defense program. They document the need for and progress of projects such as child care and school construction and services. The records are primarily correspondence, memorandums, and reports.

Records of the Adult, Vocational, and Library Programs Office, Region IX, San Francisco, 1964-75. The records relate to vocational education programs and expenses and planning and development in Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. They are primarily narrative, statistical, and fiscal reports.

Finding Aids

• Series title list.
• Series descriptions and folder title lists for some records.

Records of the Veterans Administration (RG 15)

Administrative History

The present Veterans Administration (VA) is the result of policies and programs that date back to the American Revolution. In 1789, the First Congress enacted legislation to continue paying pensions provided in acts of the Continental Congress. An act of August 9, 1921, created the Veterans' Bureau which became part of the Veterans Administration established by an Executive order of July 21, 1930. The VA became the Department of Veterans Affairs effective March 15, 1989.

In the field, the VA and its predecessors have operated a network of facilities intended to aid veterans, including hospitals and rehabilitation centers, as well as national homes for veterans. One of the predecessors of the VA, the Federal Board for Vocational Education, divided the country into 14 districts in 1918. These districts were combined with relevant Public Health Service offices in 1921 to form the district offices of the Veterans' Bureau. These were succeeded by 54 regional offices of the Bureau in 1924 and 1925.

Records Description

Dates: 1918-26
Volume: 13 cubic feet

Records of the following offices:

• Rehabilitation Division, District 12, San Francisco, 1918-25;
• Regional offices in San Francisco, California, and Reno, Nevada, 1925-26.

Finding Aids

Entries 16, 17, and 47 in Evangeline Thurber, comp., Preliminary Checklist of the General Administrative Files of the Rehabilitation Division..., PC 15 (1944).

Related Microfilm Publications

M123, Schedules Enumerating Union Veterans and Widows of Union Veterans of the Civil War, 1890;
M804, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files;
M1784, Index to Pension Application Files of Remarried Widows Based on Service in the War of 1812, Indian Wars, Mexican War, andRegular Army Before 1861;
M1785, Index to Pension Application Files of Remarried Widows Based on Service in the Civil War and Later Wars and in the Regular Army After the Civil War;
M1786, Record of Invalid Pension Payments to Veterans of the Revolutionary War and theRegular Army and Navy, March 1801-September 1815;
M2035, Military Service Records In The Custody Of The National Archives Relating To Ulysses S. Grant;
T288, General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934(selected rolls);
T316, Old War Index to Pension Files, 1815-1926;
T317, Index to Mexican War Pension Files, 1887-1926;
T318, Index toIndian War Pension Files, 1892-1926.

Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (RG 16)

Administrative History

The Department of Agriculture was established by an act of May 15, 1862, and became an executive department under a secretary in 1889. Its functional responsibilities have increased throughout its existence and now include agricultural adjustment, conservation, education, marketing, production, regulation, research, rural development, and surplus disposal.

Records Description

Dates: 1967-73
Volume: 8 cubic feet

Records of the Office of the Inspector General, Western Region, San Francisco, serving Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The records document investigations of alleged misconduct by Government officials and violations of Federal regulations by individuals and organizations. Examples include failure to provide timely inspection of imported meat, and failure to comply with national school lunch program regulations. The records consist of correspondence, exhibits, lists, notes, reports, and statements.

Finding Aids

List of case numbers and titles.

Restrictions

Access to some files or portions of documents may be restricted due to law enforcement and/or privacy concerns.

Records of the Army Air Forces (RG 18)

Administrative History

The Army Air Forces (AAF) originated August 1, 1907, as the Aeronautical Division in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer. After various reorganizations and name changes, the Army Air Forces was established on March 9, 1942, under the Secretary of War and the War Department General Staff. It served as the primary land-based air arm of the American armed forces until it was detached from the Army and became the U.S. Air Force in 1947. Until the onset of World War II, most field installations of the Army Air Forces and its predecessors, such as airfields, schools, and administrative agencies, were located within the borders of the United States and its territories.

Records Description

Dates: 1917-40
Volume: 30 cubic feet

Records of the following field installations:

• Crissy Field, Presidio of San Francisco, California, 1922-23;
• Hamilton Field, San Rafael, California, 1929-40;
• Hawaiian Air Depot, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1936-39;
• Hickam Field, Honolulu, Hawaii, 1939;
• Luke Field, Ford Island, Hawaii, 1931-38;
• Mather Field, Sacramento, California, 1918-23;
• Sacramento Air Depot, Sacramento, California, 1938-39;
• School of Military Aeronautics, University of California, Berkeley, 1917-19.

Finding Aids

• Entries 381, 427-429, 432, 477-480, 499-510, 709, and 724-725 in Maizie H. Johnson, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Textual Records of the Army Air Forces, NM 53 (1965).
• War Department Decimal File System (revised edition), initial classification published Jan. 1914...revised to Feb. 15, 1943.

Records of the District Courts of the United States (RG 21)

Administrative History

U.S. district and circuit courts were created by the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789. The jurisdiction and powers of these Federal courts have varied with subsequent legislation, but district courts generally have had original jurisdiction in admiralty and bankruptcy cases, suits for penalties or seizures under Federal laws, noncapital criminal proceedings, and suits exceeding $100 in value in which the United States was the plaintiff. The circuit courts heard appeals from the district courts and had original jurisdiction over actions involving aliens or citizens of different States and law and equity suits where the matter in dispute exceeded $500. In 1891, the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit courts was transferred to the newly created circuit courts of appeals (see RG 276). The Judiciary Act of 1911 abolished the circuit courts and provided for the transfer of their records and remaining jurisdiction to the district courts.

Most States initially had one district and one circuit court with additional districts created as the business of the courts increased. Many of the districts were divided into divisions with the court holding session in various cities within the district. In 1812, circuit courts were authorized to appoint U.S. commissioners to assist in taking of bail and affidavits. The Commissioners' functions were expanded by subsequent legislation and court rules, and their powers have included authority to issue arrest warrants, examine persons charged with offenses against Federal laws, initiate actions in admiralty matters, and institute proceedings for violation of civil rights legislation.

Territorial district courts generally were established by the organic act that created the territory and had jurisdiction over Federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy actions as well as civil and criminal jurisdiction similar to that of State courts. Records created by a territorial court acting in its capacity as a Federal court often became the property of the Federal district court upon statehood.

Records Description

Dates: 1851-1995
Volume: 14,273 cubic feet

Records of the following circuit, district, and State courts:

• California, Special Circuit Court, San Francisco, 1855-1863. A special circuit court was created for California in 1855 with a judge separate from and independent of the district court. The records are admiralty, common law, and equity cases. Many cases concern land matters, including claims on Spanish and Mexican land grants.
• California, Tenth Circuit Court, San Francisco, 1863-1867. The Special Circuit Court was abolished in 1863 and the Tenth Circuit was established for California and Oregon. Nevada was added to the circuit in 1865. There are records of admiralty, common law, and equity cases.
• California, Nevada, and Oregon as the Ninth Circuit. In 1886, Congress established the Northern and Southern Districts in California with a circuit court in each district. The records are common law, consular court, and equity cases; naturalization records; and U.S. Commissioners' records, including Chinese habeas corpus cases. Among the records is the landmark environmental case Edwards Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company, et al., in which hydraulic mining was ruled "a public and private nuisance."
• California, Ninth Circuit Court, Southern District, Northern Division, Fresno, 1900-11. In 1900, the Southern District of California was split into two divisions with court seats at Fresno (Northern Division) and Los Angeles (Southern Division). The records include civil and criminal cases, primarily land and mineral (oil) rights, railroad and agricultural damages, and insurance claims.
• California, Northern District, Northern Division, San Francisco, 1851-1985. Congress originally divided California into northern and southern judicial districts in 1850; in 1866, it redefined California as a single district. In 1886, Congress reestablished two districts in California, the northern and the southern. District and circuit courts were established in both districts. In 1911 the circuit courts were abolished and the district courts became the courts of original jurisdiction for all Federal litigation. Both California districts were split into divisions, the Southern District in 1900 and the Northern District in 1916. Records are admiralty, bankruptcy, civil, common law, criminal, equity, and Chinese habeas corpus cases; naturalizations; U.S. Commissioners' records;
  M1249, Admiralty Case Files of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 1850-1900;
  T717, Records of the USDC for the Northern District of California and Predecessor Courts, 1851-1950;
  T1207, Private Land Grant Cases in the Circuit Court of the Northern District of California, 1852-1910;
  I20, Report of Land Cases, 1862; and
  I26, Minute Books, 1851-1866, Judgments and Decrees, and Circuit Court Minutes,
  
  

• California, Southern District. Among them are cases involving Iva Togura D'Aquino ("Tokyo Rose"); labor leader Harry Bridges; the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II; U.S. Customs officials' seizure of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn on grounds of obscenity; and the prosecution of the Ghandar Party, known as the "German-Hindu Conspiracy Case".
• California, Northern District, Southern Division, San Jose, ca. 1972-95. Congress authorized the Northern District to hold sessions in San Jose in 1966. The court was established as a separate division in 1984. Records are bankruptcy dockets and indexes.
• California, Eastern District, Northern Division, Sacramento, 1916-73. Created in 1966, this court was formerly the Northern District, Northern Division, which had been established in 1916. The records are bankruptcy, common law, criminal, and equity cases; naturalizations; and records of the U.S. Commissioners.
• California, Eastern District, Southern Division, Fresno, 1900-69. Formerly the Southern District, Northern Division, which was created in 1900, this court became the Eastern District, Southern Division in 1966. The records are common law, criminal, and equity cases. Many of the cases are disputes over land and oil rights, railroad and agricultural damages, and insurance claims.
  
• Hawaii, District Court, Honolulu, 1900-95. The records are admiralty, common law, criminal, equity, and habeas corpus cases; naturalizations; Chinese deportation, and U.S. Commissioners' records. The cases relate to violations of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1904; suits by Japanese-Americans to recover U.S. citizenship denied them after service in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II; applications for writs of habeas corpus in defiance of the Military Governor of Hawaii order suspending habeas corpus during World War II; the Smith Act convictions of Charles Fujimoto, Jack Hall, and other purported leaders of the Communist Party; and a World War II habeas corpus case involving Hans Zimmerman, a naturalized American of German descent.

• Nevada, Ninth Circuit Court, District of Nevada, Carson City and Reno, 1865-1911. Nevada was added to the Tenth Circuit Court in 1865. A reorganization of circuits in 1866 redesignated the Tenth Circuit as the Ninth Circuit Court. The records include common law and equity cases, primarily concerning the mining and railroad industries, and land claims. Also included are:I30 , Registers, Dockets, and Naturalizations, U.S. Circuit and District Courts, District of Nevada, 1865-1952, and I33, Minutes, Journals, and Orders, U.S. Circuit and District Courts, District of Nevada, 1865-1956.

• Nevada, District Court (Reno "Division"), 1865-1970. This district was created in 1865. The Reno and Las Vegas "divisions" are unofficial; the entire State is included in the District of Nevada. Records are bankruptcy, common law, criminal, and equity cases, including mining company bankruptcies; disputes over water rights and mining claims; Federal condemnation proceedings during World War II; I30, Registers, Dockets, and Naturalizations, U.S. Circuit and District Courts, District of Nevada, 1865-1952; and I33, Minutes, Journals, and Orders, U.S. Circuit and District Courts, District of Nevada, 1865-1956.

• Nevada, State District Court, First Judicial District, Fallon (Churchill County), 1877-1956. The records are Declarations of Intention and Petitions for Naturalization. Nevada, State District Court, Second Judicial District, Reno (Washoe County), 1864-1949. The records are Declarations of Intention, Petitions for Naturalization, and final naturalizations.

The records document the actions of Federal district and circuit courts, which have jurisdiction over naturalization, bankruptcy, civil (law, equity, and admiralty), and criminal cases. Among general topics covered are biography, civil rights, commerce and corporate history, demographics, genealogy, immigration and ethnic groups, the impact of Federal regulatory programs, judicial administration, labor relations and union activity, maritime history, and State and local political activity. Among specific topics covered are collection of debts, enforcement of contracts, claims for damages; counterfeiting, and smuggling or violations of customs regulations; European immigration and the exclusion and deportation of Chinese; evasion of import duties; the illegal sale or manufacturing of alcoholic beverages; infringement of patent or copyright; interstate transfer of stolen property; mutiny or murder on the high seas; prize condemnations; theft, assault, or murder on Federal property; violations of Federal election laws and civil rights legislation, international agreements (such as the Migratory Bird Act); Selective Service regulations; and slave importation laws. References to specific cases are noted above under the name of the court. Records are primarily case files - papers in a specific case filed by attorneys or issued by the court, such as affidavits, complaints, depositions, indictments, judgments or final decrees, motions, petitions, subpoenas, and writs. Bankruptcy case files also contain petitions of creditors and schedules of assets and liabilities. Case files are arranged numerically by the docket number assigned when the case was filed. Documentary exhibits submitted as part of court proceedings usually were returned to the parties involved, but they are sometimes included in the case file. (Transcripts are seldom part of the file.)

There are also docket books - a summary of proceedings in each case, including a brief abstract of motions and orders, a record of the fees collected, and a statement of the disposition of the case; minute books or journals - a daily chronological record of court proceedings, often including information about financial accounts and the collection of fees, lists of jury members, names of attorneys admitted to practice, and the text of orders appointing court officials; naturalization papers - declarations of intention, petitions for naturalization, depositions, and certificates of naturalization; order or judgment books - the text of each order or judgment and a record of the amount of any monetary judgment; record of proceedings (only for U.S. commissioners) - a printed form that gives the name of the defendant, and summaries of the nature of the charge, the actions taken, and the disposition of the case. Nontextual records include maps and photographs.

Finding Aids

• Draft inventory or series title lists for each court.
• Indexes for specific courts, as follows:
  • California, U.S. Circuit Court, 9th Circuit: General index to civil cases, 1863-1891; Index to certificates of naturalization, 1868.
  • California, U.S. Circuit Court, 10th Circuit: General indexes to registers of U.S. and private cases [general records], 1863-1867; General index to registers of private cases [equity records], 1863-1866.
  • California, U.S. Circuit Court, Northern District: General index to civil and appellate cases, 1863-1891; index to certificates and petitions for naturalization, 1855-1912.
  • California, U.S. District Court, Northern District:  docket indexes (on microfiche), 1851-1972; index to admiralty cases, 1867-1921; bankruptcy indexes, 1898-1928; indexes to declarations of intention, 1851-1956, petitions for naturalization, 1906-28, naturalizations, 1853-67, and certificates of naturalization, 1857-1906; and the following microfilm publications:
    
    M1744, Index to Naturalizations of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, ca. 1860-1989;
    T1214, Index to Private Land Grant Cases, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1853-1903 ;
    T1216, Index by County to Private Land Grant Cases, U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of California;
    T1220, Selected Indexes to Naturalization Records of the U.S. Circuit and District Courts, Northern District of California, 1852-1928;
    I5, Index of the Spanish-Mexican Private Land Grant Records and Cases of California;
    and I19, Index to the Records of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and Predecessor Courts, 1882-1927.
  • California, U.S. District Court, Eastern District, Southern Division (Fresno): Civil, common law and equity case indexes, 1900-41; criminal cases index, 1907-44.
  • Hawaii, U.S. District Court: Admiralty case files, 1900-66; civil case files and estate case files of deceased and deserting seamen, 1900-77; common law and equity case files, 1900-27; equity case files, 1916-41; habeas corpus case files, 1900-66; criminal case files, 1900-77; miscellaneous case files, 1917-77; naturalizations, 1900-76.
  • Nevada, U.S. District Court: Criminal cases index, 1907-44; I30, Registers, Dockets and Naturalization Records, U.S. Circuit and District Courts, District of Nevada, 1865-1952.
• Inventories and descriptions for specific courts, as follows:
  • California, Northern District: Arthur R. Abel, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, San Francisco, 1851-1950, (1964); Guide to the Records of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (nd, Historian for the USDC Northern District of California); Microfilm Publications Concerning Spanish Private Land Grant Claims, (nd, NARA's Pacific Region (San Francisco); Records of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and Predecessor Courts, 1851-1950 (1977, The National Archives at San Francisco), describes microfilm publication T717; Jane Woolway and Jo Ann Williamson, comps., Private Land Grant Cases in the Circuit Court of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California Records, (1975). Describes microfilm publication T1207.
  • California, Eastern District: Mel Menegaux, Pat Queen, et al, comps., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Eastern District of California (Sacramento and Fresno), 1900-73, (1979).
  • Hawaii: Mel Menegaux, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the U.S. Territorial and District Courts, District of Hawaii, 1900-1968, (1978).
  • Nevada:  John Webb and Jo Ann Williamson, comps., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada (Reno), 1865-1953, and of the Naturalization Records of Two State District Courts, 1853-1956 (1977).

Related Microfilm Publications

M1526, Index to Naturalized Citizens from the Superior Court of San Diego County, California, 1868-1958;
M1547, Naturalization Records of U.S. District Courts in the Southeast, 1790-1958 (roll 107 only);.
M1607, Index to Naturalization Records of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1931;
M1608, Naturalization Index of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California, 1852-1915;
M1609, Index to Citizens Naturalized in the Superior Court of San Diego County, California, 1853-1956;
M1610, Equity Case Files from the Western District Court of Texas at El Paso Relating to the Chinese Exclusion Acts, 1892-1915;
T1215, Index to Private Land Grant Cases, U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.

Records of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (RG 22)

Administrative History

The Fish and Wildlife Service was formed on June 30, 1940, by merging the Bureau of Fisheries (established in 1903) with the Bureau of Biological Survey (established in 1885). The service is responsible for administering Federal laws for the control and conservation of fish, game, birds, and other wildlife and administering national wildlife refuges.

Records Description

Dates: 1942-67
Volume: 19 cubic feet

Records of the Area Coordinator of Fisheries, San Francisco, California, 1942-46, serving San Francisco and Monterey Bays. The records document the coordinator's work with fisheries to maintain seafood production during World War II. The office conducted promotional campaigns to increase production; helped increase the number of fishing vessels; recruited labor; secured draft deferments for fishermen; and collected fishery data. There are also a few records of the War Production Board's Pacific pilchard administrator in San Francisco, who coordinated pilchard fishing and sardine canning operations during World War II. The records consist of correspondence, issuances, and reports.

Records of the Division of River Basin Studies, Sacramento, 1946-67. The records relate to the potential environmental effects of water-use projects proposed by Federal agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Included is a 1956 study of angler use of the Truckee River. The records consist of correspondence, forms, notes, printed materials, and statistical tables. Nontextual records include maps, photographs, and thermograms interfiled with textual records.

Finding Aids

Series title list.

Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey (RG 23)

Administrative History

The Coast and Geodetic Survey originated with an act of February 10, 1807, which authorized a survey of U.S. coasts. It was made a part of the Department of the Treasury in 1816 as the Survey of the Coast. It was abolished from 1818 to 1832 due to lack of funds, and was transferred to the Department of the Navy in 1834 and back to the Department of the Treasury in 1836. It was designated the Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1878. In 1903, the Coast and Geodetic Survey was transferred to the Department of Commerce and Labor; and in 1913, to the Department of Commerce. In 1965, it was made a part of the Environmental Science Services Administration within that department.

The functions of the survey have included surveying and charting the coasts of the United States and its possessions, studying tides and currents, compiling aeronautical charts, and conducting research in terrestrial gravity and seismology.

Records Description

Dates: 1856-1915
Volume: 4 cubic feet

Records of the Assistant in Charge of Tidal Operations on the Pacific Coast, San Francisco, 1856-1877. The records relate to coordination of tidal observers along the Pacific coast and tidal observations at times of earthquakes. The records consist of letters received and sent.

Record titled Coast Pilot of California, Oregon, and Washington, (1889). The record documents Pacific coast hydrography and geography. It is a published volume. Nontextual records consist of many drawings of Pacific coast harbors and coastlines bound within the volume.

Records of the Assistant, Honolulu, 1901-07. The records relate to survey work and administrative matters, and consist of letters sent.

Records of the suboffice, San Francisco, 1908-15. The records relate to routine administrative matters and office activities and consist of letters received and sent.

Finding Aids

• Descriptions of some series.
• Entries 105, 106, and 109 in Nathan Reingold, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, PI 105 (1958).

Records of the National Labor Relations Board (RG 25)

Records Description

Dates: 1933-37
Volume: 9 cubic feet

Records of the Regional Labor Board, San Francisco, which in 1934 had jurisdiction over northern California, Nevada, and Utah. The records document board actions in industrial and agricultural labor disputes involving unfair labor practices or labor representation issues. Activities of regional boards included settling strikes, averting strikes by amicable agreement, and informally negotiating minor disputes that carried a threat of industrial disturbance. Records relating to the 1934 San Francisco longshoremen's strike are included. The records consist of correspondence, decisions, issuances, memorandums, and reports.

Finding Aids

Series title and box contents lists.

Records of the U.S. Coast Guard (RG 26)

Administrative History

The U.S. Coast Guard was established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of January 28, 1915, which consolidated that department's Revenue Cutter and Lifesaving Services. The Coast Guard took over the administration of lighthouses in 1939, and in 1942 assumed functions of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation relating to navigation and inspection laws and to merchant marines. On April 1, 1967, the Coast Guard became a part of the Department of Transportation and assumed responsibility for Bureau of Customs (see RG 36) pertaining to the admeasurement and documentation of U.S. vessels.

Records Description

Dates: 1876-1985
Volume: 769 cubic feet

• Coast Guard vessels operating from the coast of northern California, from Hawaii, in the western Pacific Ocean, and in South Vietnam, 1945-85;
• Light stations and fog signals in California, 1876-1974, and Hawaii, 1947-74;
• Lifesaving stations in California, 1878-1942 and 1970-76, and Honolulu, 1971-72;
• San Francisco air station, 1971-72; -Long Range Aids to Navigation (LORAN) stations in Hawaii, 1970-73;
• Coast Guard activities in Guam and the Mariana Islands, 1970-73.

Records of the Marine Safety Office, San Francisco Bay. The records relate to merchant vessel daily activities, regulation and protection of American seamen, inspection of hulls and boilers, and merchant vessel ownership. They are primarily logbooks, with some certificates, letters, reports, and vessel admeasurement and initial inspection files.

Records of the Twelfth Lifesaving District, 1887-1898, and Thirteenth Lifesaving District and Thirteenth Coast Guard District, 1893-1929. The Twelfth District served the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. The same area became the Thirteenth District when the districts were renumbered in 1900. The records document administrative matters and consist of circulars and letters.

Finding Aids

• Draft inventory (1996).
• Entries 81, 229, 241, and 245 in Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the United States Coast Guard, NC 31 (1963).

Related Microfilm Publications

M63, Lighthouse Letters, 1792-1809; M94, Lighthouse Deeds and Contracts, 1790-1853; M641, Alaska File of the Revenue Cutter Service, 1867-1914; M1373, Registers of Lighthouse Keepers, 1845-1912.

Restrictions
Access to some files or portions of documents may be restricted due to privacy concerns.

Records of the Weather Bureau (RG 27)

Administrative History

The Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress of October 1, 1890, in the Department of Agriculture. It took over the Weather Service that had been established in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer of the War Department in 1870. The Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce in 1940. In 1965, the Bureau was consolidated with the Coast and Geodetic Survey to form the Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA). When ESSA was abolished in 1970, the Weather Bureau, now renamed the National Weather Service, was incorporated into the newly formed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). See RG 370 for related records.

Records Description

Dates: 1858-1963
Volume: 53 cubic feet

Records of the Pacific Supervisory Office, Honolulu, 1949-63, which oversaw substations on Pacific islands, such as Guam, Johnston Island, and the Marshall Islands. The records relate to civil defense, establishment of stations, instrument calculations of weather conditions, marine meteorological observations, public relations, research programs, weather data collection and analysis, and administrative matters. They include correspondence, forms, memorandums, and reports. Nontextual records consist of charts and maps interfiled with textual records.

Records of the airport station, San Francisco, 1915-47. The records document temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, and other data recorded at fire-weather stations in California. They consist of data summary forms.

Records of the Surgeon General's Office, 1858-1868. The records document meteorological observations made at U.S. Army posts in California. They are bound volumes.

Records of the U.S. Naval Station, Guam, 1902-19. The records contain basic meteorological data and notes on earthquakes. They consist of meteorological record forms.

Finding Aids

• Series title list.
• Series descriptions, folder title lists, and box contents lists for some records.
• Entry 131 in Helen T. Finneran, comp., Preliminary Inventory of Operational and Miscellaneous Meteorological Records of the Weather Bureau, NC 3, May 1965.

Related Microfilm Publications

T907, Climatological Records of the Weather Bureau, 1819-1892 (rolls for Nevada only).

Records of the Post Office Department (RG 28)

Administrative History

The Office of the Postmaster General was created by an act of September 22, 1789, that continued regulations that originated with the appointment on July 26, 1775, of Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General by the Continental Congress. Legislation providing for a Post Department was passed in 1792, and subsequent legislation expanded its duties. The Postmaster General became a member of the Cabinet in 1829. Assistant postmasters general, authorized by acts of 1792, 1810, 1836, and 1891, were assigned administrative supervision over specific functions of the Department.

Records Description

Dates: ca. 1883-1956
Volume: 37 cubic feet

Records of the San Francisco Post Office, ca. 1883-1956. The records relate to daily administration and operations, mail handling during World War II, and buildings. They are correspondence. Nontextual records consist of a separate series of architectural drawings and afew maps interfiled with textual records.

Records of the Stockton, California, Post Office, 1893-1912. The records relate to activities,operations, and mail delivery; building construction; and appointment of personnel. Included area construction diary, correspondence, and reports.

Finding Aids

Preliminary inventory.

Related Microfilm Publications

M601, Letters Sent by the Postmaster General, 1789-1836;
M841, Record of Appointmentof Postmasters, 1832-Sept. 30, 1971;
M1126, Post Office Department Reports of SiteLocations, 1837-1950 (selected rolls);
M2075, Record of Appointment of Substitute Clerks in First- and Second-Class Post Offices, 1899-1905, M2076 , Index and Registers of Substitute Mail Carriers in First- and Second-Class Post Offices, 1885-1903;
M2077, Indexes to Rosters of Railway Postal Clerks, ca. 1883-ca. 1902.