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Records of the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics

(Record Group 176)
1904-60
772 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

• 176.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  
• 176.2 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF HOME ECONOMICS 1913-23 6 lin. ft.
  
• 176.3 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF HOME ECONOMICS 1923-39 203 lin. ft.
  
• 176.4 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS OF THE BUREAU OF HOME ECONOMICS 1923-37 506 lin. ft.
  
• 176.4.1 Records of the Division of Economics
  
• 176.4.2 Records of the Division of Textiles and Clothing
  
• 176.4.3 Records of the Division of Food and Nutrition
  
• 176.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF HUMAN NUTRITION AND HOME ECONOMICS
  
• 176.6 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL) 1904-39 227 images

176.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the Agricultural Research Administration, Department of Agriculture, by Research Administration Memorandum 5, February 13, 1943.

Predecessor Agencies:

• Office of Experiment Stations (1894-1915)
  
• Office of Home Economics, States Relations Service (1915-23)
  
• Bureau of Home Economics (BHE, 1923-42)
  
• BHE, Agricultural Research Administration (1942-43)
  

Functions: Conducted research on food, fiber, and other agricultural products; housing and household buying; textiles and clothing; use of income; and household management and equipment.

Abolished: November 2, 1953, by Secretary of Agriculture's Memorandum 1320, supplement 4.

Successor Agencies: Agricultural Research Service.

Finding Aids: Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics," NC 68 (August 1964).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics and its predecessors in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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176.2 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF HOME ECONOMICS
1913-23
6 lin. ft.

History: Established within the newly created State Relations Service, July 1, 1915, by the Agricultural Appropriation Act (38 Stat. 1109), March 4, 1915, to carry out certain provisions of the Smith-Lever (Agricultural Extension Work) Act (38 Stat. 372), May 8, 1914, and to continue nutrition studies conducted since 1894 by the Office of Experiment Stations. Elevated to bureau status, 1923. SEE 176.3.

Textual Records: General and subject correspondence, 1917-23. Schedules relating to a national dietary study, 1917-19. Survey of farm homes in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, 1913-17.

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176.3 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF HOME ECONOMICS
1923-39
203 lin. ft.

History: Established by Secretary of Agriculture's Memorandum 486, effective July 1, 1923, from former Office of Home Economics. Assigned to the Agricultural Research Administration by EO 9069, February 23, 1942. Redesignated Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, 1943. SEE 176.1.

Textual Records: General correspondence; and correspondence with other government departments and bureaus and with the Secretary of Agriculture, 1923-39. Subject correspondence of the bureau, 1923-34. Subject correspondence of the chief of the bureau, 1923- 30. Correspondence, reports, and studies, relating to the White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, 1929-31.

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176.4 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS OF THE BUREAU OF HOME ECONOMICS
1923-37
506 lin. ft.

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176.4.1 Records of the Division of Economics

Textual Records: General and miscellaneous correspondence, 1923- 35. Correspondence of the Farm Housing Survey, 1933-34. Publicity issuances, 1925-33. Studies of employer-employee relationships, 1928-33. Records of a study of women living in towns and on farms, 1926-27. Records relating to a "Use of Time on Farms" study, 1925-30. Records relating to the Consumer Purchases Study conducted by the BHE and the Bureau of Labor Statistics as a joint Works Progress Administration project, 1935-36 (470 ft.).

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176.4.2 Records of the Division of Textiles and Clothing

Textual Records: General and subject correspondence, 1923-37. Summaries, card records, and correspondence relating to a study of the average costs and quantities of clothing worn ("Clothing Survey"), 1925-33.

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176.4.3 Records of the Division of Food and Nutrition

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1923-30. Correspondence regarding a survey of refrigerated foods, 1927-30. Braille version of Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes Revised, 1932.

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176.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF HUMAN NUTRITION AND HOME ECONOMICS

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1917-60 (bulk 1940-49)
47 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Records relating to the World War II national nutrition program, 1940-60 (bulk 1940-49). Records of Richard O. Cummings relating to the history of the U.S. Food Administration in World War I and the World War II nutrition program, 1917-60.

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176.6 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1904-39
227 images

Photographs: Nutrition experiments and investigations, and food preparation methods (HE).

Finding Aids: Shelf list.

Related Records: Records of the Food and Drug Administration, RG 88.

Subject Access Terms: Fibers (photographs of); textiles (photographs of); Latrobe, Benjamin (photograph of a drawing of); Lavoisier, Antoine (photograph of a drawing of); Trollope, Mrs. (photograph of a drawing of).

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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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