Guide to Federal Records

Records of the War Trade Board [WTB]


(Record Group 182)
1910-42 (bulk 1917-21)
722 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 182.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 182.2 RECORDS OF THE EXPORTS ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD 1917 1 lin. ft.
  • 182.3 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE WAR TRADE BOARD 1917-21 160 lin. ft.
  • 182.3.1 Records of the Executive Office
  • 182.3.2 Records of the Contraband Committee
  • 182.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF EXPORTS, WTB 1917-19 117 lin. ft.
  • 182.4.1 Records of the Office of the Director
  • 182.4.2 Records of divisions
  • 182.4.3 Records of the Exports Executive Committee
  • 182.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF IMPORTS, WTB 1917-20 22 lin. ft.
  • 182.5.1 General records
  • 182.5.2 Records of divisions
  • 182.6 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ENEMY TRADE, WTB 1917-21 35 lin. ft.
  • 182.7 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION, WTB 1917-19 27 lin. ft.
  • 182.8 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF WAR TRADE INTELLIGENCE (WTI), WTB 1913-20 533 lin. ft.
  • 182.8.1 Records of the Office of the Director
  • 182.8.2 Records of the Examining Division
  • 182.8.3 Records of the Research and Investigation Division
  • 182.8.4 Records of the Listing Division
  • 182.9 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF FOREIGN AGENTS AND REPORTS, WTB 1915-19 48 lin. ft.
  • 182.9.1 Records of the Washington office
  • 182.9.2 Records of the Barcelona office
  • 182.9.3 Records of the Paris office
  • 182.9.4 Records of the Stockholm office
  • 182.9.5 Records of the Hague office
  • 182.10 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF RESEARCH AND STATISTICS, WTB 1910-21 72 lin. ft.
  • 182.11 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF BRANCHES AND CUSTOMS, WTB 1917-19 121 lin. ft.
  • 182.12 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ADMINISTRATION, WTB 1917-21 11 lin. ft.
  • 182.13 RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF INFORMATION, WTB 1917-21 5 lin. ft.
  • 182.14 RECORDS OF THE WAR TRADE BOARD SECTION, DEPARTMENT OF STATE 1916-42 13 lin. ft.
  • 182.15 RECORDS OF THE EXPORTS COUNCILS 1917 2 lin. in.
  • 182.16 RECORDS OF THE RUSSIAN BUREAU, INC. 1918-20 28 lin. ft.
  • 182.17 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)

Top of Page

182.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: As an independent agency by EO 2729-A, October 12, 1917, under authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act (40 Stat. 411), October 6, 1917.

Predecessor Agencies:

  • Export Licenses Division, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic
  • Commerce, Department of Commerce (June-Aug. 1917)
  • Exports Administrative Board (EAB, Aug.-Oct. 1917)
Functions: Licensed exports and imports, rationed supplies to neutrals, and conserved commodities and shipping facilities for American and Allied use. Sought to keep strategic goods out of enemy hands and prohibit the use of enemy credit and financial holdings in the United States.

Abolished: Effective June 30, 1919, by EO 3059, March 3, 1919, and EO 3086-A, May 12, 1919, as amended by EO 3099, June 23, 1919, under authority of the Executive Bureaus Consolidation Act (40 Stat. 556), May 20, 1918.

Successor Agencies: War Trade Board Section, Department of State.

Finding Aids: Alexander P. Mavro, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the War Trade Board, PI 100 (1957).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the War Trade Board in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

Subject Access Terms: World War I agency.

Top of Page

182.2 RECORDS OF THE EXPORTS ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
1917
1 lin. ft.

History: Export Licenses Division established in Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce, by EO 2645, June 22, 1917, to execute foreign trade regulation provisions of the Espionage Act (40 Stat. 217), June 15, 1917. Superseded by the EAB, pursuant to EO 2687-A, August 21, 1917. EAB, which had been meeting informally since June 26, 1917, consisted of representatives of the Departments of State, Agriculture, and Commerce; the U.S. Food Administration; and the U.S. Shipping Board. EAB superseded by War Trade Board, October 1917. SEE 182.1.

Textual Records: Minutes, June-October 1917, with index. Miscellaneous policy documents, June-October 1917.

Top of Page

182.3 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE WAR TRADE BOARD
1917-21
160 lin. ft.

Top of Page

182.3.1 Records of the Executive Office

Textual Records: Minutes of WTB, 1917-19, with index. General correspondence, 1917-19, with index. Executive country file, 1917-19. Executive subject file, 1917-19. Rules and regulations of WTB, 1917-19, with index. Records relating to WTB organization, 1917-19. Instructions, 1917-19, with index. License procedure and rulings, 1917-19. Reports, 1917-19. Records relating to personnel, 1917-19; and to trade negotiations, n.d. Miscellaneous correspondence, 1917-19. Cables sent and received, 1917-21, with index and register. Proclamations and executive orders, 1917-19. Minutes of the Superior Blockade Council, 1919; Supreme Blockade Council, 1919; Allied Blockade Committee, 1918- 19; Supreme Economic Council, 1919; interallied trade committees, 1917-19; and British Contraband Committee, 1917-18.

Top of Page

182.3.2 Records of the Contraband Committee

History: Appointed by WTB, February 12, 1918, to formulate rules governing issuing of licenses. Terminated October 11, 1918. Superseded by Exports Executive Committee. SEE 182.4.3.

Textual Records: Minutes, 1917-18. Resolutions, 1918.

Top of Page

182.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF EXPORTS, WTB
1917-19
117 lin. ft.

Top of Page

182.4.1 Records of the Office of the Director

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19. Correspondence with U.S. agencies and departments, 1917-19; and with foreign governments, 1917-19. Instructions of EAB and WTB, 1917-19, with index. Register of incoming cables, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.4.2 Records of divisions

Textual Records: Country file of the Trade Distributors Division, 1917-19. Records of the Trade Advisers Division, consisting of trade advisers file, commodity file, and export conservation lists, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.4.3 Records of the Exports Executive Committee

History: Established October 18, 1918, as successor to Contraband Committee (SEE 182.3.2). Abolished July 1, 1919.

Textual Records: Consolidated general correspondence of the Contraband Committee and Exports Executive Committee, 1918-19. Card index to consignors and commodities, 1918-19. Applications for export licenses, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF IMPORTS, WTB
1917-20
22 lin. ft.

Top of Page

182.5.1 General records

Textual Records: General correspondence of the Office of the Director, 1917-19. WTB instructions, 1918-19. Report of operations of the Bureau of Exports, 1918-19. Minutes of the Conference Committee, 1918-19. Correspondence of the Director of Hearings, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.5.2 Records of divisions

Textual Records: Records of the Division of Interpretation and Rulings relating to import restrictions, 1917-20. Division of Issuing card index to import licenses, 1918-19. Records of the Trade Advisers Division, consisting of card index to commodities correspondence, 1917-19; allocation accounts for crude rubber, cocoa beans, and Japanese foodstuffs, 1917-19; and crude rubber and leather import records, 1917-18.

Top of Page

182.6 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ENEMY TRADE, WTB
1917-21
35 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Issuances, 1917-19, and regulations of the Office of the Director, 1917-21. Card indexes and record cards of the Exports and Imports Division relating to applications for enemy trade licenses, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.7 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF TRANSPORTATION, WTB
1917-19
27 lin. ft.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19. Correspondence with special agents and collectors of customs, 1918-19. Correspondence regarding bunkers, 1918-19. Instructions and rulings, 1917-19. Licenses, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.8 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF WAR TRADE INTELLIGENCE (WTI), WTB
1913-20
533 lin. ft.

Top of Page

182.8.1 Records of the Office of the Director

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1918-20, with indexes. Records relating to confiscation and sale of properties, 1917-19. British government publications, Who's Who in Relation to War Trade and Cable Censor's Handbook, 1917-19. Daily reports of the U.S. chief cable censor, 1917-19. Weekly intelligence summaries of the Military Intelligence Division (U.S.), 1919. British MI-8 intelligence records, 1917-19. WTI trade letter bulletin, 1917- 19. Business directories, 1913-19. Card index to Honolulu postal censorship, 1917-18.

Top of Page

182.8.2 Records of the Examining Division

Textual Records: Digest record cards, 1917-19, on firms in New York, NY; in other U.S. locations; and in foreign countries.

Top of Page

182.8.3 Records of the Research and Investigation Division

Textual Records: Digest record cards on political and economic conditions abroad, 1917-19; on munitions exports, 1918-19; on firms in the West Indies, 1918-19; on individuals dealing with the Transatlantic Trust Co., 1918-19; and on secret service investigations of firms, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.8.4 Records of the Listing Division

Textual Records: Rulings of the Violations Committee, 1918-19. Enemy trade lists, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.9 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF FOREIGN AGENTS AND REPORTS, WTB
1915-19
48 lin. ft.

Top of Page

182.9.1 Records of the Washington office

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19. Miscellaneous letters, 1917-19. Interbureau memorandums, 1917-19. Correspondence regarding motion pictures, 1919. Personnel lists, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.9.2 Records of the Barcelona office

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19. Correspondence on trade with the enemy, 1917-19; and with the Madrid office, 1918-19. Spanish agreements on importation of cotton, 1918-19; and guaranties regarding oil, 1918-19. Miscellaneous letters, 1917-19; and documents and publications, 1918-19. Cable file, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.9.3 Records of the Paris office

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1918-19. Correspondence with U.S. representatives in Morocco, Spain, Switzerland, and Greece, 1918-19. Card record of firms and individuals on the blacklist, 1917-19. Correspondence of Alonzo Taylor, Department of Agriculture representative to WTB, 1918-19; and of George McFadden, Paris representative to WTB, 1918. Correspondence relating to the Commission Permanente Internationale des Continents, 1918-19. Miscellaneous records of L.P. Sheldon, London representative of the Bureau of Foreign Agents and Reports, 1918-19. Letters received from the Societe Suisse de Surveillance Economique, 1918-19. Miscellaneous records, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.9.4 Records of the Stockholm office

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1918-19. Cables sent to the Department of State, 1919. Correspondence with Swedish importers, 1919; and film exhibitors, 1918-19. Administrative records, 1916-19. Printed materials of the British War Trade Department, 1915-18. Minutes of the Interallied Trade Committee, 1918-19.

Top of Page

182.9.5 Records of the Hague office

Textual Records: Correspondence with the Netherlands Overseas Trust Co., 1918.

Top of Page

182.10 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF RESEARCH AND STATISTICS, WTB
1910-21
72 lin. ft.

Textual Records: Country studies, 1917, with index; commodity studies, 1910-19, with index; and reports on foreign economic conditions, 1911-19, of the Division of Research. Tabulated country studies, 1917-21; and record cards on Argentine trade, 1915-19, of the Division of Tabulation and Statistics.

Top of Page

182.11 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF BRANCHES AND CUSTOMS, WTB
1917-19
121 lin. ft.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-19. Correspondence with branch offices, and with collectors of customs, 1917-19. Correspondence of the Division of Rules and Regulations, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.12 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ADMINISTRATION, WTB
1917-21
11 lin. ft.

Textual Records: General records, 1917-21. Reference file, 1917- 19. Records management data, 1917-19. Card records of administrative appointments, 1917-19. Appropriation ledgers of the Division of Accounts, 1917-21, with index.

Top of Page

182.13 RECORDS OF THE DIVISION OF INFORMATION, WTB
1917-21
5 lin. ft.

History: Established as the Bureau of Information, September 15, 1917. Redesignated as a division, January 14, 1918.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-21. Records of the Digest of the Press Section, including daily digests of news and comments, 1917-19; WTB Daily Record, 1917-19; press releases, 1918-19; and miscellaneous WTB publications, 1917-19.

Motion Pictures (1 reel): WTB building, Washington, DC, with board members and employees, 1919.

Top of Page

182.14 RECORDS OF THE WAR TRADE BOARD SECTION, DEPARTMENT OF
STATE
1916-42
13 lin. ft.

History: Established in the State Department as functional successor to abolished WTB by departmental orders of July 1, 1919, and October 7, 1919, under authority of EO 3059, March 3, 1919, and EO 3086-A, May 12, 1919, as amended by EO 3099, June 23, 1919. Abolished by an act of May 27, 1921 (42 Stat. 9). Residual responsibilities devolved upon the State Department.

Textual Records: Letters and memorandums prepared by E.W. Van Dyke, custodian of WTB records, 1917-25. Miscellaneous records regarding control of trade with Russia, 1919-27. General correspondence relating to dyes, 1917-22. Records relating to Swedish claims, 1917-32; and to the Netherlands Florin claim, 1916-35. General enemy trade licenses, 1919. Requests received for information on WTB, 1919-42. Memorandums regarding WTB and State Department relations, 1919-42. WTB bureau and committee forms and releases, 1917-19. Branch office letters, 1917-19.

Top of Page

182.15 RECORDS OF THE EXPORTS COUNCILS
1917
2 lin. in.

History: First Exports Council established by EO 2645, June 22, 1917, to formulate policies for Export Licenses Division. Consisted of Secretaries of State, Agriculture, and Commerce; and U.S. Food Administrator. Superseded by new Exports Council, established by EO 2687-A, August 21, 1917, to advise the EAB. Second council consisted of members of first council and Chairman of U.S. Shipping Board. Superseded by War Trade Council, WTB, pursuant to EO 2729-A, October 12, 1917.

Textual Records: Minutes, 1917.

Top of Page

182.16 RECORDS OF THE RUSSIAN BUREAU, INC.
1918-20
28 lin. ft.

History: Incorporated in the State of Connecticut as the War Trade Board of the United States Russian Bureau, Incorporated, November 5, 1918, to facilitate purchase of war supplies for Czechoslovak forces operating in Siberia. Dissolved by EO 3094-A, June 5, 1919, and EO 3099-A, June 24, 1919.

Textual Records: Minutes, 1918-20. Minutes of daily staff conferences, 1918-19. General records, 1918-20, with index. Card index to job applicants, 1918-19. Correspondence with U.S. firms regarding supplies for Russia, 1918-19, with index; and with U.S. representatives regarding shipment of goods to Murmansk and Vladivostock, 1918-19. Correspondence relating to Siberia, 1918- 19, with index. Cable file, 1918-19, with index. Fiscal records, 1918-20. Contraband commission agendas, 1918.

Top of Page

182.17 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)

SEE UNDER 182.13.


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.


Top of Page

Guide to Federal Records >

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272