Records of the War Industries Board
(Record Group 61)
1916-23
872 cu. ft.
Table of Contents
- 61.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
- 61.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1916-23
800 lin. ft.
- 61.2.1 Consolidated files
- 61.2.2 Records of the Chairman's Office
- 61.2.3 Records of staff offices
- 61.3 RECORDS OF OPERATING UNITS
1916-19
246 lin. ft.
- 61.3.1 Records of the Business Management Division
- 61.3.2 Records of the Price-Fixing Committee
- 61.3.3 Records of the Planning and Statistics Division
- 61.3.4 Records of the Conservation Division
- 61.3.5 Records of the Priorities Division
- 61.3.6 Records of the Labor Division
- 61.3.7 Records of the Raw Materials Division
- 61.3.8 Records of the Requirements Division
- 61.3.9 Records of the Finished Products Division
- 61.3.10 Records of the Resources and Conversion Division
- 61.3.11 Records of the Facilities Division
- 61.3.12 Records of the Hide, Leather, and Leather Goods Division
- 61.3.13 Records of the Textile and Rubber Division
- 61.3.14 Records of the Steel Division
- 61.3.15 Records of the Chemical Division
Established: By and in the Council of National Defense, July 28, 1917.
Predecessor Agencies:
In the Council of National Defense:
- Munitions Standards Board (Mar. 1917)
- General Munitions Board (Mar.-Jul. 1917)
Transfers: To independent agency status by EO 2868, May 28, 1918.
Functions: Analyzed the industrial requirements and capacities of the United States and the other Allies. Issued clearances on government orders. Set priorities in commodity production and delivery. Arranged price-fixing agreements for raw materials. Encouraged resource conservation and development. Supervised Allied purchasing in the United States.Abolished: By EO 3019-A, December 31, 1918; liquidation completed, July 22, 1919.
Finding Aids: National Archives staff, comps., Preliminary Inventory of the War Industries Board Records, PI 1 (May 1941).
Related Records: Record copies of publications of the War
Industries Board in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the Council of National Defense, RG 62.
Records of the Domestic Wool Section, War Industries Board, in RG
83, Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics.
Subject Access Terms: World War I agency.
61.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1916-23
800 lin. ft.
History: By resolution of February 28, 1917, passed on March 3, 1917, Council of National Defense established a Munitions Standards Board to aid in the standardization of munitions specifications. Munitions Standards Board absorbed by General Munitions Board, created by Council of National Defense resolution, March 31, 1917, to coordinate munitions purchases for the army and navy, assist in the acquisition of raw materials and manufacturing facilities, and establish order priorities. General Munitions Board superseded by War Industries Board, July 28, 1917. SEE 61.1.
Textual Records: Administrative files, 1917-18. Technical or commodity files, 1916-23 (583 ft.). Correspondence assembled for the U.S. Senate and the Department of Justice, 1917-19. Miscellaneous subject files, 1917-19.
61.2.2 Records of the Chairman's Office
Textual Records: General correspondence of the secretaries of the General Munitions Board and the War Industries Board, 1916-18, with index, 1916-17. Subject correspondence of the secretary, War Industries Board, 1917-19. Correspondence of the general counsel and liquidating officer, 1918-19. Cables sent and received, 1918- 19. Minutes of meetings, 1917-19. Weekly, monthly, and final reports of sections and divisions, 1917-18. Press releases and other issuances, 1917-18.
61.2.3 Records of staff offices
Textual Records: Reports of the Advisory Committee on Plants and Munitions, 1918. Records of the Legal Section, 1917-18, consisting of general correspondence, and record cards of memorandums of emergency and general state legislation. General correspondence of the Inland Traffic Section, 1918, with card indexes. Index to records of the Power Section in the consolidated technical or commodity file (SEE 61.2.1) relating to electrical power resources and production, ca. 1917-19.
61.3 RECORDS OF OPERATING UNITS
1916-19
246 lin. ft.
61.3.1 Records of the Business Management Division
Textual Records: Records relating to the construction of buildings in Washington, DC, 1917-18.
61.3.2 Records of the Price-Fixing Committee
Textual Records: Chairman's correspondence, 1918. Minutes, March- December 1918, with index, March-April 1918. Price-fixing circulars, 1918.
61.3.3 Records of the Planning and Statistics Division
Textual Records: Questionnaires, 1916-18, with card indexes. Bulletins and circulars, 1918.
61.3.4 Records of the Conservation Division
Textual Records: Card index to division correspondence and other records in the consolidated technical or commodity file (SEE 61.2.1), ca. 1917-19.
61.3.5 Records of the Priorities Division
Textual Records: Reading files of the Priorities Commissioner, 1917-18. Historical files of the Priorities Division, January- November 1918; and the Priorities Committee, November 1918. Circulars and bulletins, 1917-18.
61.3.6 Records of the Labor Division
Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19.
61.3.7 Records of the Raw Materials Division
Textual Records: Correspondence of the Lumber Committee, 1917, and its successor, the Lumber Section, 1917-19.
61.3.8 Records of the Requirements Division
Textual Records: Correspondence, 1916-19. Minutes of division meetings and related records, 1918. Record cards of requirement schedules of the army, navy, federal agencies, allied governments, and nongovernment welfare agencies, 1918, and of the Allied Purchasing Commission, n.d., the originals of which are in the consolidated technical or commodity file (SEE 61.2.1), ca. 1917-19. Records of Clearance Office actions, 1917-18, with card indexes, 1918.
61.3.9 Records of the Finished Products Division
Textual Records: General correspondence, Machine Tool Section, 1917-18.
61.3.10 Records of the Resources and Conversion Division
Textual Records: Indexes and record cards of the Industrial Inventory Section, 1917-18.
61.3.11 Records of the Facilities Division
Textual Records: Building construction permits, 1918. Military building construction projects cleared or rejected, 1918.
61.3.12 Records of the Hide, Leather, and Leather Goods Division
Textual Records: Tables and charts of leather stocks, 1918.
61.3.13 Records of the Textile and Rubber Division
Textual Records: Tabulations of reports and clearances, 1918.
61.3.14 Records of the Steel Division
Textual Records: Reports, lists of producers, and records of allocations of orders and contracts, 1917-18.
61.3.15 Records of the Chemical Division
Textual Records: Records of the Wood Chemicals Section, 1917-18.
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