Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of Labor (War Food Administration)


(Record Group 224)
1941-47
56 cu. ft.

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 224.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 224.2 GENERAL RECORDS 1941-47 72 lin. ft.
  • 224.3 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL) 1944 2 items

224.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the War Food Administration (WFA), effective June 23, 1943, by Administrator's directive, June 21, 1943.

Predecessor Agencies:

In the Department of Agriculture:

Division of Labor and Rural Industries (DLRI), Office of

  • Agricultural Defense Relations (OADR, Oct.-Dec. 1941)
    Farm Labor Division (FLD), Office of Agricultural War Relations (OAWR, Dec. 1941-Dec. 1942)
  • Food Distribution Administration (FDA, Dec. 1942-Jan. 1943)
  • Manpower Branch (MB), FDA (Jan. 1943)
  • Food Industries Labor Branch (FILB), FDA (Mar. 1943)
    FILB, FDA, Administration of Food Production and Distribution (AFPD, Mar.-Apr. 1943)
  • FILB, FDA, War Food Administration (WFA, Apr. 1943)
  • Food Production Administration (FPA, Dec. 1942-Jan. 1943)
  • Agricultural Manpower Branch (AMB), FPA (Jan. 1943)
  • Agricultural Labor Branch (ALB), FPA (Feb. 1943)
  • Agricultural Labor Administration (ALA, Mar. 1943)
  • ALA, AFPD (Mar.-Apr. 1943)
  • ALA, WFA (Apr. 1943)
  • Office of the Deputy Administrator (ODA), WFA (Apr.-June 1943)
Functions: Administered wartime farm labor activities of the Department of Agriculture.

Abolished: Concurrently with the WFA by EO 9577, June 29, 1945.

Successor Agencies: Office of the Secretary of Agriculture (July- Aug. 1945); Labor Branch, Production and Marketing Administration (PMA, Aug. 1945-1948).

Finding Aids: Harold T. Pinkett, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Office of Labor of the War Food Administration, PI 51 (1953).

Related Records: General Records of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, RG 16. Records of the Extension Service, RG 33.
Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, RG 83.
Records of the Agricultural Marketing Service, RG 136.
Records of the War Manpower Commission, RG 211.
Records of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, RG 250.

Subject Access Terms: World War II agency.

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224.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1941-47
72 lin. ft.

History: Division of Labor and Rural Industries established in the Office of Agricultural Defense Relations by the Secretary of Agriculture, October 20, 1941, to coordinate defense farm-labor operations of the Department of Agriculture. Became the Farm Labor Division in the renamed Office of Agricultural War Relations, December 1941. Farm labor functions divided between the Food Distribution Administration and the Food Production Administration by EO 9280, December 5, 1942. Manpower Branch established in FDA, January 13, 1943, to deal with manpower shortages in the food industries; MB redesignated Food Industries Labor Branch, March 1943. Agricultural Manpower Branch established in FPA, January 22, 1943, to develop manpower programs and to stabilize farm wages; AMB redesignated Agricultural Labor Branch, February 1943. ALB abolished and functions assigned to newly established Agricultural Labor Administration by order of Secretary of Agriculture, March 1, 1943. ALA and FILB (as part of FDA) assigned to newly established Administration of Food Production and Distribution by EO 9322, March 26, 1943. AFPD redesignated WFA by EO 9334, April 19, 1943. ALA and FILB abolished when farm labor functions centralized in Office of the Deputy Administrator, established April 30, 1943. Functions assigned to Office of Labor, June 1943. SEE 224.1.

Following abolishment of WFA and its components, effective June 30, 1945, by EO 9577, June 29, 1945, its functions reverted to the Secretary of Agriculture. Farm marketing and production functions assigned to the Production and Marketing Administration, established by Secretary's Memorandum 1118, August 18, 1945. PMA included a Labor Branch to which farm labor functions were delegated. Upon termination of the farm labor supply program, effective December 31, 1947, by act of April 28, 1947 (61 Stat. 55), the Labor Branch was abolished, 1948.

Textual Records: General correspondence of the ALA; Office of Labor, WFA; and Labor Branch, PMA, 1943-47. Correspondence relating to work of the Farm Security Administration, 1943-44. "Precedent File," 1943. Manual of policies and procedures of the farm-labor program under the Office of Labor, 1943-46. Manual for state WFA and U.S. Department of Agriculture wage boards, 1942- 46. Transcripts of hearings on wage adjustments before state wage boards, 1942-46. Reports and manuals of agricultural workers' health associations, 1941-44. Minutes of meetings of the Production Urgency Committees of the War Production Board and the Manpower Priorities Committees of the War Manpower Commission, 1943-45.

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224.3 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
1944
2 items

Maps: Basic land resource areas in the United States, 1944.


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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