Guide to Federal Records

Records of the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief


[POUR]
(Record Group 73)
1928-33 (bulk 1930-33)
107 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 73.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 73.2 RECORDS OF POUR AND ITS PREDECESSORS 1928-33 96 lin. ft.
  • 73.2.1 General records
  • 73.2.2 Records of the Office of the Assistant Director (POUR)
  • 73.3 RECORDS OF OPERATING UNITS OF POUR AND ITS PREDECESSORS 1930-32 125 lin. ft.
  • 73.3.1 Records of the Public Works Section
  • 73.3.2 Records of the Relief Division
  • 73.3.3 Records of the Industrial Division
  • 73.3.4 Records of the Women's Division
  • 73.3.5 Records of the Statistical Division
  • 73.3.6 Records of the Publicity Section
  • 73.4 RECORDS OF COMMITTEES 1930-32 3 lin. ft.
  • 73.5 RECORDS OF FIELD REPRESENTATIVES 1930-32 1 lin. ft.

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73.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: By reorganization of the President's Emergency Committee for Employment (PECE), August 19, 1931.

Predecessor Agencies:

  • Cabinet committee on employment (1930)
  • President's Emergency Committee for Employment (1930-31)
Functions: Stimulated and coordinated employment and relief activities during the economic depression that began in 1930.

Abolished: By failure of appropriations, June 30, 1932.

Successor Agencies: Emergency Relief Division, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, as liquidator.

Finding Aids: Leo Pascal, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief, PI 137 (1962).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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73.2 RECORDS OF POUR AND ITS PREDECESSORS
1928-33
96 lin. ft.

History: Special cabinet committee, composed of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, the Interior, Labor, the Treasury, and War, and the Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, was appointed October 17, 1930, to consider plans to deal with rising unemployment. Superseded by the appointment of PECE, composed of industrialists, economists, and government officials, October 21, 1930. PECE advised and facilitated efforts of nonfederal public and private organizations to stimulate employment. Reorganized as POUR, 1931. SEE 73.1.

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73.2.1 General records

Textual Records: Correspondence and memorandums of PECE Secretary Edward Eyre Hunt, chiefly as Secretary of the Committee on Recent Economic Changes and as Executive Secretary of the President's Research Committee on Social Trends, 1928-31. Central files of PECE, 1930-31 (37 ft.) and POUR, 1931-32 (42 ft.). Card index of names of PECE members, PECE and POUR employees, and POUR Advisory Committee members, 1930-32. Correspondence and other records of POUR Director Walter S. Gifford, 1931-32.

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73.2.2 Records of the Office of the Assistant Director (POUR)

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1930-33. Office files of Fred C. Croxton, north central states regional adviser to PECE, Acting Chairman of PECE, Assistant Director of POUR, and Chairman of its Committee on Administration of Relief, 1930-33. Completed questionnaires from manufacturers on their employment practices and financial situations, 1932. Correspondence with state and city relief organizations, and local public and private organizations, 1930-32. Office files of executive assistant Erving P. Hayes, 1930-33.

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73.3 RECORDS OF OPERATING UNITS OF POUR AND ITS PREDECESSORS
1930-32
125 lin. ft.

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73.3.1 Records of the Public Works Section

Textual Records: Questionnaires relating to construction of public works, 1930-32 (28 ft.). Public works project summaries, 1930-32 (69 ft.). Correspondence, reports, and other records relating to construction projects, 1930-32.

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73.3.2 Records of the Relief Division

Textual Records: Office files of the division chief, 1930-31. Issuances concerning programs for community action, 1931-32.

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73.3.3 Records of the Industrial Division

Textual Records: Correspondence and other records relating to business, employment, relief conditions, and activities of local organizations, 1930-32.

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73.3.4 Records of the Women's Division

Textual Records: Files relating to activities of division officials, 1930-31. Correspondence, reports, and other records relating to the role of women in providing relief and employment, the replacement of married women workers whose husbands were employed, and the effect of unemployment on women's health and morale, 1930-31.

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73.3.5 Records of the Statistical Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, statistics, and other records relating to economic conditions, employment, relief, and public works, 1930-32.

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73.3.6 Records of the Publicity Section

Textual Records: General records, 1930-32. Press releases, 1930- 32. Weekly bulletins, 1930-31. Publications file, 1930-32, with index.

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73.4 RECORDS OF COMMITTEES
1930-32
3 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Minutes and reports of the Committee on Cooperation with National Groups and Associations, and correspondence of Chairman Eliot Wadsworth, 1931-32. Files of Chairman Harry A. Wheeler and publications file of the Committee on Employment Plans and Suggestions, 1930-32. Office files of the Washington representative of the Committee on Mobilization of Relief Resources, 1931.

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73.5 RECORDS OF FIELD REPRESENTATIVES
1930-32
1 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Office files of John F. Lucey, southwest regional director, PECE, and member of the Advisory Committee to POUR, 1930-31. Office files of Rowland Haynes, PECE member and regional adviser of POUR, 1930-32.


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.

Ordering information

This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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