DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE The Department of Agriculture, See Department of Agriculture, Yearbook 1940: Farmers in a Changing World (1940), and Century of Service, the First 100 Years of the United States Department of Agriculture (1963); and George McGovern, ed., Agricultural Thought in the Twentieth Century (Indianapolis, 1967). There are 7,642 cubic feet of records dated between 1839 and 1964 in this record group. RECORDS OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTION OF THE PATENT OFFICE. 1839-60. 5 lin. ft. These records concern the preparation and distribution of annual reports and the collection and distribution of seeds and plants. Records relating to annual reports include letters from farmers about crop prospects and agricultural practices, completed questionnaires, and articles and essays, with correspondence. Records relating to seed and plant distribution include reports from consular officials, foreign seed firms, and missionaries; requests from agricultural societies and farmers; and reports about cultivating seeds and plants. Also included are reports and letters concerning studies of native grasses and European markets for cotton, collecting tea seeds. in China and native grape cuttings, and developing sprays for orange trees. RECORDS OF THE These records consist chiefly of the subject files of the Office of the Secretary, 1906-64, and letters sent by the Secretary, 1893-1941. The reports, letters, memorandums, and other records received, with letters sent, are filed under the names of objects, commodities, events, transactions, and activities of interest to the Department. These files include not only correspondence of the Secretary but also a large part of the correspondence received or prepared by the Assistant and Under Secretaries; by property, fiscal, and personnel officers attached to the Secretary's Office; and by special assistants and committees. Many of these records are concerned with policy, organization, and procedure rather than with details of research or program execution. The letters sent form a separate and nearly complete set of all letters signed by the Secretary from 1893 through 1941. Many such letters were prepared in the bureaus of the Department, and the main file on a particular transaction may be among the records of the bureau most concerned or in the subject files of the Office of the Secretary. There are also three small series of letters sent, 1879-97, chiefly concerning requests for seeds, publications, special reports, and information. For the years before the initiation of the subject files in 1906, the only incoming correspondence is a small series covering the years 1893-1906. Other records of this Office include transcripts of press conferences, 193340; speeches of Secretary Ezra Taft Benson, 1953-60; orders, circulars, and memorandums, 1897-1942; records relating to the national agricultural achievement "A" awards program, 1943-44; and minutes of Rural Electrification Administration's local electric cooperatives, 1941-44. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF Included are letters sent by Assistant Secretaries and special assistants, 18891929; reports and correspondence of Under Secretary Paul H. Appleby, concerning wartime food management, 1942-43; office files of Assistant and Under Secretary Milburn L. Wilson, 1934-40; office files, 1932-36, and records relating to emergency relief RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF The Office of the Solicitor was renamed the Office of General Counsel in 1955. General records consist of correspondence, 1900-1942, and records relating to real or alleged violations of laws enforced by the Department, 1891-1943, national defense and food control during World War I, and applications for patents by Department employees, 192244. There are also case files relating to land acquisition for resettlement and rehabilitation projects, 1935-42, and national forestry purposes, 1920-38. The functions and records of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration's Legal Division were taken over in 1935 by the Solicitor's Office. Included are records relating to enforcement of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, 1933-37, correspondence concerning licenses, 1933-37, and orders, notices, transcripts of hearings, and marketing agreements, 1933-41. In similar fashion the legal work and records of the General Counsel of the Resettlement Administration were taken over in 1937 by the Solicitor's Office. Its records consist of case files, 1935-37, and newspaper clippings relating to housing projects, 1935-36. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF In July 1913 the Office of Information was established to publicize the discoveries and recommendations of Department scientists, specialists, and field workers. Its records include correspondence, 1913-44, press releases, 1913-63, radio releases, 1926-54, the Daily Digest, 1921-42, the Official Record, 1922-33, and the Weekly News Letter, 1913-21. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF Many CCC camps were under technical supervision of Department bureaus, especially the Forest and Soil Conservation Services. The Secretary delegated to the Forest Service responsibility for liaison with the Office of the Director of the CCC and for coordinating and supervising CCC work of the Department as a whole. It was not until July 27, 1938, that the Office of the Civilian Conservation Corps Activities was established to perform those functions. Its records include correspondence, memorandums, camp directories, and maps. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE FOR In May 1941 the functions of the Division of Agriculture in the Advisory Commission to the Council of National Defense were transferred to the Office of Agricultural Defense Relations under the Secretary of Agriculture. The Office, the name of which was changed in 1942 to the Office for Agricultural War Relations, adjusted the agricultural program to meet defense needs, disseminated information about agricultural defense problems, coordinated defense efforts in the Department, and assisted the Secretary in communicating with defense agencies about production, procurement, and prices. These records consist chiefly of correspondence relating to Division activities, 1940-41, and to agricultural defense programs and problems, 1941 43. RECORDS OF OTHER UNITS. 1862-1948. 433 lin. ft. Included are records of the Office of Irrigation Inquiry, 1890-95; letters sent by the Director of Scientific Work, 192029; records relating to the Department's emergency relief work performed in cooperation with the Works Progress Administration; correspondence and reports concerning labor relations in the meatpacking industry and other records of the Office of the Government Representative for Meat Supply, 1946; correspondence and letters sent by the Office of Feed and Food Conservation, 1948; letters sent by the Office of the Chief Clerk, 1893-1929; cashbooks, ledgers, employee salary records, money receipts, and appropriation ledgers of the Office of the Disbursing Clerk, 18681921; and records of the Office of Budget and Finance, 1933-42, including correspondence of the Director of Finance, 1935-37. Records of the Office of Plant and Operations, 1903-43, include warranty deeds, 1913-41, and reports and correspondence of its Real Estate Division about buildings owned or occupied by the Department in and near the District of Columbia, 1906-39; the operation of the Administration Building and the construction and operation of the South Building, 1926-39; and the construction of the Beltsville Research Center, 193942. Records of the Office of Personnel, 1862-1940, include folders for certain Department employees. There are also correspondence, reports, and minutes of the Joint Committee on Projects, 1914-15; correspondence about the Department representative on the Committee on Food Supply and Prices, 1917-18; correspondence and reports of the President's Agricultural Conference, 1919-25; reports of the Committee on Fire and Explosion Risks, 1921; records relating to the General Supply Committee, 1914-18, Federal Board for Vocational Education, 191732, Federal Power Commission, 1923-30, Federal Real Estate Board, 1921-34 and 1939-42, and Federal Traffic Board, 1932; correspondence of the National Drought Relief Committee secretary, 1930-32; reports exchanged between the Department and the National Emergen cy Council, 1933-36; minutes of the Combined Food Board, 1941-42; correspondence and reports of the Interbureau Committee on Post War Planning, 194145; correspondence, minutes, reports, and speeches relating to the Famine Emergency Committee, 1946; and correspondence of the Cabinet Food Committee, 1947-48. RECORDS OF THE WAR FOOD In March 1943, to assure an adequate supply and efficient distribution of food, the Food Production Administration (except the Farm Credit Administration), Food Distribution Administration, Commodity Credit Corporation, and Extension Service were consolidated to form the Administration of Food Production and Distribution, renamed the War Food Administration the following month. It was abolished in 1945. The records consist chiefly of the Administrator's correspondence, reports, and memorandums. CARTOGRAPHIC AND AUDIOVISUAL RECORDS. 18861959. 25,463 items. Cartographic records (2,081 items) include atlases relating to agricultural statistics and farm taxation and tenure, 1889 and 1922-37; regional maps of the United States prepared by postwar planning committees, showing industrial development, transportation facilities, and soil-type, crop, livestock, and population distributions, 1941-45; maps of the United States published decennially that show State, territorial, and county boundaries from 1840 to 1940; and maps showing the progress of aerial photographic surveys, 1944-47. Audiovisual records (23,382 items) consist of engravings and portrait photographs of scientists, 1886-1925; the Erwin F. Smith collection of portrait photographs of scientists, 1886-1927; photographs of agricultural research activities, Government buildings, and scenes in and near Washington, D.C., 1899-1938; photographs received by the Office of Information from the Extension Service, Forest Service, Rural Electrification Administration, Biological Survey, Bureau of Entomology, Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and other departmental units, 1900-1959; the Frank Lamson-Scribner collection of photographs of exhibits and plantlife, 1901-36; and hand-colored lantern slides of the halls, buildings, streets, statuary, and exhibits of the Department in the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, 1915. See Harold T. Pinkett, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office for Agricul tural War Relations, PI 37 (1952). Microfilm Publication: Letters Sent by the Secre tary of Agriculture, 1893-1929, M440, 563 rolls, DP. RECORDS OF THE FOREST SERVICE The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture originated in 1881 as the Division of Forestry. By an act of March 2, 1901, the Division was designated the Bureau of Forestry, and in 1905 was renamed the Forest Service. The Congress in 1891 authorized forest reserves (national forests) from timberlands of the public domain; in 1905 responsibility for their administration was transferred from the Department of the Interior (see RG's 48 and 49) to the Department of Agriculture and vested in the Forest Service. The Weeks Act of 1911 and the Clarke-McNary Act of 1924 gave impetus to programs of land acquisition, fire control, and State cooperation. Responsibilities for forest research and utilization were increased by the McNary-McSweeney Act of 1928. From 1933 to 1942 the Service supervised a large part of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work program (see RG 35). Under the Emergency Appropriation Act of June 19, 1934, the Service carried out the Prairie States forestry ("Shelterbelt") project until it was transferred to the Soil Conservation Service in 1942 (see RG 114). During World War II the Service was assigned several major war-related programs. The Service is now responsible for promoting conservation and the best use of national forests and grasslands. Its activities are oriented around the administration and development of the national forest system, cooperation with and assistance to administrators of State and private forests, and forest and range research. There are 2,439 cubic feet of records dated between 1882 and 1965 in this record group. GENERAL RECORDS. 1882-1958. 268 lin. ft. These records concern legislation, cooperation with private organizations and Federal and State governmental agencies, working plans, administration, and testing, measuring, and identifying timber, and comprise Division of Forestry letters received, 1888-99, and sent, 1886-99; general correspondence of the Division, Bureau, and Service, 18981908; correspondence of the Office of the Chief (known as the Forester before 1935), 1908-48; and miscellaneous records, 1882-1934. There are also records relating to the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy, 1904-10, Forester Gifford Pinchot's administration, 1905-10, the Keep Commission, 1904-8, National Conservation Commission, 1908-9, National Conservation Congress, 1909, National Conservation Exposition, 1912-13, National Forest Reservation Commission, 1911-58, emergency rubber project administered by the Service, 1942-46, and the Northeastern Timber Salvage Administration, 1938-41. Minutes of the Service Committee provide information about Service administration, 1903-35; correspondence and reports of the Section of Inspection, 1906-8, and "general integrating inspection reports," 1937-55, concern field evaluations of policies, programs, and regulations; and correspondence of the Law Office, relating to administration, legislation, claims, and litigation concerning forest lands, 1905-9. Selected official diaries illustrate activities of district and assistant district rangers, nursery superintendents, and prominent Service officials, 1906-44. RECORDS RELATING TO Included are records, 1900-1944, of the Division of Operation (the Branch of Operation before 1935), comprising reports, memorandums, and correspondence relating chiefly to administrative operations, compilation of administrative statistics, purchases of equipment and supplies, maintenance of buildings, and budgetary matters; and records relating to forest reserves, 1905-7, and to the 10th and 20th Regiments of forest engineers activated for service in World War I, 1917-18. Records, 1927-51, of the Division of Fiscal Control (the Office of Fiscal Control in the Branch of Operation before 1935), include reports and correspondence relating to allotments, budgets, and audits. The Division of Information and Education was created in 1935; its records and those of its predecessors-the Office of Publication and Education (established in 1905), the Office of Editor (established in 1910), and the Branch |