Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Displaced Persons Commission [DPC]


(Record Group 278)
1948-52
85 cu. ft.

Table of Contents

  • 278.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 278.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE COMMISSION 1948-52 29 lin. ft.
  • 278.2.1 Central records
  • 278.2.2 Records of commissioners
  • 278.3 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS 1948-52 45 lin. ft.
  • 278.3.1 Records of the Legal Division
  • 278.3.2 Records of the Information and Editorial Division
  • 278.3.3 Records of the Records and Statistics Division
  • 278.3.4 Records of the Resettlement Division
  • 278.3.5 Records of the European Division

278.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: By the Displaced Persons Act (62 Stat. 1009), June 25, 1948.

Functions: Administered selection and resettlement in the United States of certain European displaced persons.

Abolished: August 31, 1952, as provided in Displaced Persons Act.

Successor Agencies: Department of State, as liquidator, by EO 10382, August 9, 1952.

Security-Classified Records: This record group may include material that is security-classified.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Displaced Persons Commission in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

RECORDS
RECORD TYPES RECORD LOCATIONS QUANTITIES
Textual Records Washington Area 85 cu. ft.

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278.2 GENERAL RECORDS OF THE COMMISSION
1948-52
29 lin. ft.

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278.2.1 Central records

Textual Records: Central subject file, documenting administrative activities, complaints about the DPC, histories of refugee matters, and DPC conferences (17 ft.), 1948-52. Budget files, 1948-52.

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278.2.2 Records of commissioners

Textual Records: Subject files, 1948-52, of Commissioner Harry N. Rosenfield, documenting state and federal regulations and legislative activity, including DPC opposition to the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950; and of Commissioner Edward M. O'Connor, consisting primarily of correspondence with volunteer and state agencies regarding refugees' personal, financial, medical, and adjustment problems.

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278.3 RECORDS OF DIVISIONS
1948-52
45 lin. ft.

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278.3.1 Records of the Legal Division

Textual Records: General subject file, 1948-52, including records concerning the rejection of applicants, membership in "inimical organizations," and the loyalty and security provisions of the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950. Records of the General Counsel, consisting of a reading file, 1949-52; and a subject file dealing with "inimical organizations," Jewish refugees, war orphans, ethnic Germans, citizens of Venezia-Giulia, and a plan to resettle Asian Kalmak refugees in Alaska, 1948-52.

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278.3.2 Records of the Information and Editorial Division

Textual Records: Subject file, 1950-52. Letters of inquiry about refugees, 1949-52, with copies of some responses.

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278.3.3 Records of the Records and Statistics Division

Textual Records: File of statistical charts, reports, tables, and lists ("Statistical Subject File"), 1948-52. Miscellaneous subject file, 1948-52. Fact books, 1949-52. Reference files of material used in responding to Congress, and material about pertinent Congressional actions, 1948-52. Records relating to refugee youth, consisting of correspondence with volunteer organizations, June-July 1949, and with state agencies, July- September 1949; and a youth survey file, June-July 1949.

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278.3.4 Records of the Resettlement Division

Textual Records: Correspondence with state committees and commissions, 1949-52. Corerspondence concerning resettled refugees, 1949-52. Records of the Orphan Section, including a subject file, 1950-52; correspondence with state committees and commissions, 1950-52; and letters of request for the adoption of orphans, sent to Church World Services and forwarded by that organization to the DPC, June-July 1951.

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278.3.5 Records of the European Division

Textual Records: Subject file, 1948-52. Correspondence, 1948-52. European History Project records, 1948-52, consisting of a general topic file and a research card file.


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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