ing to wage and labor relations stabilization developments in the Douglas fir, railroad, tool and die, and Pacific coast airframe industries; and reference material consisting of published issuances of the Committee and other Federal agen cies, relating to economic trends, the manpower situation, and labor conditions in war industries. See Leo Pascal, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Shipbuilding Stabilization Committee, PI 121 (1959). RECORDS OF THE SMALLER WAR PLANTS CORPORATION (RECORD GROUP 240) The Smaller War Plants Corporation (SWPC) was created by an act of June 11, 1942, to promote effective utilization of small businesses producing war material and essential civilian supplies. The Corporation made loans to small concerns; purchased plants, equipment, and supplies, which it sold or leased to small concerns; made procurement contracts with Government agencies and distributed them among small businesses; facilitated the settlement of contract termination claims of small contractors; and administered preferences in the disposal of surplus property to small businesses and veterans. A Board of Directors, appointed by the Chairman of the War Production Board, established policies for the Corporation and selected a Chairman, who also served as the Corporation's Executive Director (later General Manager) and also as Deputy Chairman of the War Production Board in charge of the smaller War Plants Division-a unit that provided administrative services for the Corporation until early 1943. After that date the Corporation operated as an autonomous unit having a separate administrative organization, although it reported through the Chairman of the War Production Board. An Executive order of December 27, 1945, provided for dissolution of the Corporation on January 28, 1946, and the transfer of its lending functions to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (see RG 234), its functions in obtaining priorities on surplus property to the War Assets Corporation, and all other functions-along with its field. offices-to the Department of Commerce. The functions transferred to the Department of Commerce were combined with those of the Small Business Division of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce (see RG 151) to form the Office of Small Business. The functions transferred to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation were abolished in 1947. There are 278 cubic feet of records dated between 1940 and 1948 in this record group. RECORDS OF THE CENTRAL Included are records of the Board of Directors, consisting primarily of minutes, 1942-46, records of Clerk of the Board Marion T. Woodruff, 1943-45, records of several Board officials, 194246, and SWPC general files, 1943-46. Records of the Chairman of the Board of Directors include correspondence and memorandums relating to policy and legal matters, 1943-46; correspondence and other records of Chairman Maury Maverick, 1943-46; records of Acting Chairman Albert M. Carter, 1942-45, and of Lawrence F. Arnold, 1945-46; and reports, correspondence, and memoran dums of Secretary Jesse Robison, 194346. Records of the Chairman and General Manager of the Corporation consist primarily of records of the Office of Special Consultants, including files of William J. Bray, 1943, Louis C. Reynolds, 194345, Coronado Walter Fowler, 1942-45, Luther B. Gulick, 1944-45, and others; correspondence reflecting the attitude of small businesses toward the SWPC, 1943-44; histories of the SWPC, 1945; and the general file and related records of the Office of Engineering Advisers, 1943-44. Also records of the Office of the General Counsel, including correspondence, memorandums, reports, and agenda maintained by Joseph W. Kaufman and other officials, 1944-47; and of the Office of Comptroller, including records of R. F. Nachtrieb, 1944-45. There are also records of the Office of Administrative Finance and Management, consisting of correspondence, memorandums, and reports, 1943-46; directives, forms, and other SWPC issuances, 1942-45; personnel records and investigative reports, 1942-45; Washington Office correspondence with regional offices, 1942-46; and a central file maintained by the Business Services Division, 1942-46. Records of the Office of Reports include correspondence, memorandums, and reports of the Director's office, 1944-46; reports and other records accumulated by Director John M. Blair, 194446; correspondence and memorandums relating to statistical matters and reporting, 1943-45; miscellaneous reports, 1941-46; correspondence and related records of Head of the Research and Statistical Section Frank A. Hanna, 1942-43; general records of the Chief of the Planning and Research Branch, 1943-44; correspondence and statistical and narrative reports maintained by Kenneth C. Beede of the Operating Analysis Branch, 1942-46; and records relating to the submission of bimonthly reports to the President and to the Congress, 1942-46. Records of the Office of Information consist principally of correspondence, memorandums, and reports of Director Paul H. Jordan, 1945-46. Records of the Office of Reconversion include studies and correspondence of Senior Economist Siegfried S. Hirsch, relating to industrial development corporations, 1944-45; company case files documenting procurement requests for materials and related services, 1943-46; and correspondence, memorandums, and other records maintained by officials of the Agency Contract, the Labor Policy, the Surplus Property, and the Contract Settlement Divisions, 1943-46. Records of the Loan Bureau include memorandums, reports, and time studies of Assistant Chief Loan Agent Carroll A. Gunderson, 1943-44; miscellaneous records of the Chief, 1943-45; loan management reports, correspondence, and memorandums, 1944-46; and correspondence and other records of officials of the Loan Management Division, 1943 46. Records of the Operations Bureau consist primarily of reports and correspondence, 1943-45, and of records of the following offices and divisions: Office of the Chief of Operations, including correspondence and other records of Jesse French, 1944, M. Rea Paul, 1943-46, Kennard Weddell, 1944-46, and other Division officials, and correspondence relating to surplus property, 194546; Contract Division, 1943-45; Pooling Section, including case files and reports, 1942-46; Lumber Section, consisting of inspection reports of lumber mills, progress reports of field activities and other general records, 1945-46, and miscellaneous records relating to lumber activities, 1943-45; Maritime Division, including memorandums and correspondence of the Maritime Staff, 194245, records of Division Chief William E. Flanagan, including correspondence and 1943-46, procurement and reports, 1943-46, award reports and correspondence, 1943-45, and correspondence with regional offices, 1943-44; Procurement Division, including records of Acting Director Eugene F. Kinnaird, 1944-45, and correspondence, memorandums, and reports of Chief of the Army Branch George J. Hoeflich, relating to procurements from the War Department and to operations of the Branch, 1943-46; Production Service Division, consisting of files of Jacob Levin, 1943-46, and other officials, 1942-45, and miscellaneous records, 1942-45; and the Technical Advisory Service, including a subject file, 1944-45, reports on industrial problems, 1943-46, and publications, 1945. Field Bureau records consist mainly of correspondence of the Chief, 194344; correspondence with field offices, 1944-45; field letters and memorandums, 1943-45; and minutes, agenda, and other general records, 1943-46. RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF Included are reports on services rendered to small business, 1946-47; general records, 1946-48, of Publications Officer Frank C. Cross, and a speech file and other publicity material, 1940-47; miscellaneous records of John E. Saunders of the Office of the General Counsel, 194348; records of Acting Chief of the Finance and Tax Division Warren F. Hickernell, 1946; correspondence, memorandums, and letters of the Business Counseling Division, 1944-46; correspondence, reports, and general records of the Management Division, 1942-47; and memorandums, correspondence, and reports maintained by Maj. Carroll W. Dunning, Harry E. Pontius, and other Industrial Production Division officials, 1946-48, and Division records, 1947-48. RECORDS OF FIELD OFFICES. 1943-46. 3 lin. ft. Reports of the San Francisco Regional Office, 1943-44, correspondence of the Baltimore Area Office, 1944-46, and miscellaneous records of certain area and regional offices, 1943-46. See Katherine H. Davidson, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Smaller War Plants Corporation, PI 160 (1964). RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES MARITIME COMMISSION The U.S. Maritime Commission was created as an independent agency by the Merchant Marine Act of June 29, 1936, to further develop and maintain a merchant marine for the promotion of U.S. commerce and defense. It was authorized to regulate U.S. ocean commerce, supervise freight and terminal facilities, and administer Government funds to construct and operate commercial ships. The Commission was the successor agency of the U.S. Shipping Board (see RG 32) and the U.S. Shipping Board Bureau of the Department of Commerce. It also took over the property and records of the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation, known as the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation after 1927. When the War Shipping Administration was established in 1942 (see RG 248), it took over many functions of the Commission, including the operation of the merchant marine; the shipbuilding activity remained under the Commission. These functions were returned to the Commission after September 1, 1946. The Commission was abolished on May 24, 1950, and its functions were transferred to the Department of Com Inerce where they were assigned to the Federal Maritime Board (see RG 358) and the Maritime Administration (see RG 357). See Fredrick C. Lane, Ships for Victory (Baltimore, 1951). There are 6,487 cubic feet of records dated between 1917 and 1950 in this record group. GENERAL RECORDS. 1936-50. 182 lin. ft. These consist of minutes, with exhibits and indexes, 1936-50; actions, orders, and memorandums, with indexes, of the Chairman, General Manager, and Executive Panel, 1947-50; and orders for the transfer of vessels to foreign registry, the transfer and surrender of vessel documents, and the approval of vessel charters, 1936-50. Records of Commissioners Henry A. Wiley, 1936-40, Edward C. Moran, Jr., 1937-41, John M. Carmody, 1941-46, and Howard L. Vickerey, 194246, relating to trade routes, subsidies, labor problems, personnel recruitment and training, and shipbuilding; and of special assistants to the commissioners, 1937-45, relating to shipbuilding, subsidies, inland waterways, and shipyard labor. Reference files of Executive Director S. Duvall Schell, 1940-46. Records of the General Counsel's Office, 1936-48, relating to legislation, statistical data, costs of foreign labor and material, and insurance. Records of the Public Information Office, 1936-47, consisting of press releases, speeches, and correspondence concerning censorship, merchant marine casualties, Liberty ships, and accounts of incidents involving merchant vessels and personnel. Records of the Historian's Office, 1944-47, including correspondence of Fredrick C. Lane, the historian, and reports of interviews with Commission officials. RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF REGULATIONS. 1917-48. 311 lin. ft. Included are a correspondence file; records relating to "conference" agreements among shipping companies in certain geographical areas and concerning rates and commodities, including inactive agreements, 1920-40 (in WNRC), and records of inactive freight-rate "conference" agreements (in WNRC); formal (in WNRC) and investigative dockets pertaining to tariffs and rebates; and periodical reports of the Division. RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF OPERATIONS. 1917-41. 4,242 lin. ft. These comprise a collection of merchant ship logs indexes and (4,158 lin. ft. in WNRC), vessel movement cards, and service records of shipboard personnel relating to vessels owned or operated by the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation and the U.S. Maritime Commission. RECORDS OF OTHER Included are records of the Finance Division, 1921-43, relating to contracts for construction and insurance, and reports of the Division; the East Coast Director for Construction, 1942-46: the Surplus Property Division, 1945-47, relating to the disposal of materials and facilities and the distribution of surplus materials through the Lend-Lease Act; the Production Division, 1940-47, relating to shipyard facilities, construction problems, and labor relations (in WNRC); and the Division of Research and Statistics, 1918-49, consisting of sta tistics of U.S. waterborne commerce and of Cargo, Mail, and Passenger Reports and Vessel Utilization Reports, or the equivalent (in WNRC), for privately owned vessels carrying non-Goverment cargoes. CARTOGRAPHIC AND AUDIOVISUAL RECORDS. 1924-50. 203 items. Included is a published map of the world showing ports of call, trade routes, and statistics of U.S. foreign trade, 1940. Motion pictures, 1924-45 (75 reels), illustrating recruiting, training, and other activities of the Commission at training schools and stations, a convalescent center, and aboard sailing vessels and steamships, 1938-44; the history of the merchant marine from Revolutionary times through World War II; peacetime shipping and passenger service on the Great Lakes and at sea; rescue work; and convoy duties to and from theaters of operations in World War II. There are films showing the construction of all types of merchant vessels during World War II; showing President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Henry J. Kaiser, and others at ship launchings; and relating to the repair and renovation of ships for the Victory Fleet and to the manufacture of material for World War II. Also films of Richard E. Byrd and Clarence Chamberlin during an early airmail flight from the deck of a ship, 1928; the work of the Coast Guard in keeping shipping lanes open, 1929; and British coastal fortifications, 1940. Sound recordings, 1941-45 (127 items), of radio broadcasts of "Information Please," "It's Maritime," "For This We Fight," "Heroes of the Merchant Marine," "Men at Sea," "Fibber McGee and Molly," "Sing Along," "Deeds Without Words," and similar programs concerning the work of the Commission and the merchant marine in the war effort. Included are dramatizations of the history of the merchant marine, including the arrival of the Franklin at Nagasaki, 1799, the voyage of the Margaret from Salem to Nagasaki in 1801, the beginning of American and Canadian shipping on the Great Lakes, and the life of Herman Melville; speeches; interviews; panel discussions; news commentaries; and award presentations. Participants in these broadcasts included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Commission members, Carl Sandburg, Edward R. Murrow, and other prominent individuals. SPECIFIC RESTRICTIONS I. Records: Minutes of the Commission and related exhibits, 1936-50. Restrictions: No one, other than employees of the Federal Government in their official capacity, may examine these records or be given information from them or copies of them except with the permission of both the Secretary of the Federal Maritime Commission and the Secretary of the Maritime Administration of the Department of Commerce, or their authorized representatives. Specified by: Federal Maritime Commission and the Maritime Administration. II. Records: Formal and investigative dockets, agreements, and correspondence of the Division of Regulation relating to the regulation of freight and tariff rates and other activities of the Division. Restrictions: No one, other than employees of the Federal Government in their official capacity, may examine these records or be given information from them or copies of them except with the permission of the Secretary of the Federal Maritime Commission or his authorized representatives. Specified by: Federal Maritime III. Records: Cargo, Mail, and Passen ger Reports and Vessel Utilization Reports, or the equivalent, for privately owned vessels carrying non-Government cargoes, 1918-48. |