Guide to Federal Records

Records of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization [OCDM]


(Record Group 304)
1947-62
754 cu. ft.

Table of Contents

  • 304.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
  • 304.2 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESOURCES BOARD 1947-53 437 lin. ft.
  • 304.2.1 Records of the Office of the Chairman
  • 304.2.2 Records of the Administrative and Coordinating Staff
  • 304.2.3 Records of the Mobilization Planning Staff (1947-51 organization)
  • 304.2.4 Records of the Mobilization Planning Staff (1951-53 organization)
  • 304.2.5 Records of the Production Office, Mobilization Planning Staff (1947-51 organization)
  • 304.2.6 Records of the Natural Resources Office, Mobilization Planning Staff (1951-53 organization)
  • 304.3 RECORDS OF THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATION 1948-54 110 lin. ft.
  • 304.3.1 General records
  • 304.3.2 Records of the Office of Program and Requirements
  • 304.3.3 Records of the Office of Production
  • 304.3.4 Records of the Office of Aluminum
  • 304.4 RECORDS OF THE OFFICES OF DEFENSE MOBILIZATION 1947-56 138 lin. ft.
  • 304.5 RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATION 1950-58 1 lin. ft.
  • 304.6 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF DEFENSE AND CIVILIAN MOBILIZATION AND THE OFFICE OF CIVIL AND DEFENSE MOBILIZATION 1950-62 5 lin. ft.
  • 304.6.1 General records
  • 304.6.2 Records of OCDM Region 1
  • 304.7 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL) 1952-60 66 reels
  • 304.8 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL) 1952-59 66 images

304.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: In the Executive Office of the President (EOP), by an act of August 26, 1958 (72 Stat. 861).

Predecessor Agencies:

Coordination of emergency military, civilian, and industrial mobilization; and general preparedness planning:

  • National Security Resources Board (NSRB, 1947-49)
  • NSRB, EOP (1949-53)
  • Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM), EOP (1950-53)
  • Defense Production Administration (DPA, 1951-53)
  • Office of Defense Mobilization (ODM), EOP (1953-58)
  • Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization (ODCM), EOP (1958)
Administration of civil defense programs:
  • Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA), Office for Emergency
  • Management (OEM), EOP (1950-51)
  • FCDA (1951-58)
  • ODCM, EOP (1958)
Functions: Administered the national civil defense program. Coordinated military, industrial, and civilian mobilization. Civil defense functions transferred to the Office of the Secretary of Defense by EO 10952, July 20, 1961.

Abolished: By act of September 22, 1961 (75 Stat. 630).

Successor Agencies: Emergency mobilization and general preparedness planning: Office of Emergency Planning, EOP (1961- 68); Office of Emergency Preparedness, EOP (1968-73); Office of Preparedness, General Services Administration (GSA, 1973-75); Federal Preparedness Agency, GSA (1975-79).

Civil defense programs: Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Department of Defense (DOD, 1961-64); OCD, Department of the Army, DOD (1964-72); Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, DOD (1972-79).

Consolidated emergency mobilization, general preparedness planning, and civil defense: Federal Emergency Management Agency (1979- ).

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

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government. Records of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, RG 311.
Records of the Office of Emergency Preparedness, RG 396.
Records of the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency, RG 397.

RECORDS

RECORD TYPES RECORD LOCATIONS QUANTITIES
Textual Records Washington Area 733 cu. ft.
  Boston 4 cu. ft.
Motion Pictures College Park 66 reels
Still Pictures College Park 66 images
  Boston 1,019 images

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304.2 RECORDS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY RESOURCES BOARD
1947-53
437 lin. ft.

History: Established as an independent agency by the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 499), July 26, 1947, to advise the President on mobilization coordination. Transferred to Executive Office of the President by Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1949, effective August 20, 1949. Abolished and functions transferred to ODM by Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1953, effective June 12, 1953.

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304.2.1 Records of the Office of the Chairman

Textual Records: Office files of the Chairman, 1949-53. Correspondence of the office of the Vice Chairman, 1947-53. Office files of special assistants and consultants for labor, public relations, information, and economic affairs, 1947-53.

Finding Aids: Elaine C. Everly and Patricia Andrews, comps., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the National Security Resources Board," NM 69 (1966).

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the National Security Resources Board in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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304.2.2 Records of the Administrative and Coordinating Staff

Textual Records: Minutes of boards, committees, and task groups, 1947-52. NSRB issuances, 1947-53. Board correspondence, 1948-53. Records of the Administrative Office, 1947-53. Office files of the Records Service and Management Division, 1947-53. Subject files of the Information Office, 1948-51. Records of the Office of the General Counsel, 1947-53. Records of the Office of Plans and Programs, including subject files, 1947-49; records of the Interagency Liaison Committee on National Resources and National Security, 1948-49; and records of the Program Division and Program Adjustment Division, 1948-49. Subject files of the Resources and Requirements Office, 1948-51. Records of the Office of the Secretary, including subject files, 1947-51; correspondence of the secretariat, 1948-50; and subject files and other records of the Committee Operations Division, 1948-51, General Research and Reports Division, 1947-51, and Institutional Resources and Survey Division, 1947-49. Records of the economic adviser, executive assistant, and program assistant, 1948-53.

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304.2.3 Records of the Mobilization Planning Staff (1947-51
organization)

Textual Records: Records of the Civilian Mobilization Office, 1949-50. Records of the Economic Management Office relating to production controls and priorities, 1947-51, including records of the Production Controls Coordinating Committee, 1948-50; and records relating to the Advisory Committee on Priorities Administration, 1950-51. Subject file and other records of the Energy and Utilities Office, 1948-50. Correspondence of the Foreign Activities Office relating to economic warfare and industrial mobilization, 1947-51. Records of the Health Resources Office, 1948-51. Reports and correspondence of the Manpower Office, 1948-51. Records of the Materials Office, consisting of subject files of the Forest Products Division, 1948-50; Light Metals Division, 1948-51; and Non-Metallic Minerals Division, 1948-51. Records of the Transportation Office, consisting of subject files, 1948-51; and records relating to the Air Coordinating Committee, 1948-51.

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304.2.4 Records of the Mobilization Planning Staff (1951-53
organization)

Textual Records: Records of the Office of Aluminum, 1951. Records of the Human Resources Office, including subject files, 1948-53; and records of the Housing and Community Facilities Division, 1951-52, and Manpower Division, 1949-52. Subject files of the Production Resources Office, 1952-53; and the Special Security Programs Office, 1951-53.

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304.2.5 Records of the Production Office, Mobilization Planning
Staff (1947-51 organization)

Textual Records: Subject files of the Production Office and its directors, 1948-51. Subject files, 1948-51, of the following divisions: Agricultural Machinery, Aircraft, Automotive and Transportation, Construction and Mining Machinery, Containers and Packaging, Facilities and Construction Materials, and Production and Industrial Equipment. Subject files of the Communications and Electronics Division, 1948-50; and the Industrial and Government Dispersion Division, 1947-50. Office file of the Director of the Scientific and Technical Equipment Division, 1949-51. Correspondence, 1948-51, of the following divisions: Service Equipment and Consumer Durable Goods, Shipbuilding, Small Business, and Textiles and Leather, 1948-51.

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304.2.6 Records of the Natural Resources Office, Mobilization
Planning Staff (1951-53 organization)

Textual Records: Director's correspondence, 1952-53. Reports relating chiefly to the President's Materials Policy Commission, 1952-53. Subject files of the secretary of the Scientific Manpower Advisory Committee, 1950-52. Subject files of the Materials Division, 1948-53. Records of the Technology Division, consisting of the records of technology consultant Ruth Miller, 1952.

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304.3 RECORDS OF THE DEFENSE PRODUCTION ADMINISTRATION
1948-54
110 lin. ft.

History: Established by EO 10200, January 3, 1951, to exercise general control of the defense production program. Abolished by EO 10433, February 4, 1953, and functions transferred to ODM.

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304.3.1 General records

Textual Records: Reports of the DPA and National Production Authority (NPA), 1951-53. Records of the Office of Progress Evaluation, 1951-53.

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304.3.2 Records of the Office of Program and Requirements

Textual Records: Records relating to transportation, 1948-54. Special transportation surveys and reports, 1949-54. Records concerning forest products, 1948-52. Records of DPA-NPA coordination, 1951-53. NPA requirements summaries, 1951-52. Claimant agency requirements summaries, 1951-52. General records of the Statistics Staff and the Materials Accounting Staff, 1951- 53. Records of the Requirements Committee, including numerical documents file, 1951-52; staff files, 1950-53; program determinations, 1951-53; and records of meetings of the Program Adjustments Committee, 1951-52. Communications and electronics subject file of the Materials and Products Division, 1950-53. General records of the Construction, Iron and Steel, Military and Atomic Energy, and Production Divisions, 1951-53. Records of the Foreign Branch, Production Division, including general records, 1951-52; subject file, 1951-53; and operational file, 1951-53. General records of the Oil and Gas Staff, Production Division, 1951-52.

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304.3.3 Records of the Office of Production

Textual Records: Minutes and correspondence of the Regional Defense Mobilization Committees, 1951-52. Records of the Conservation Division, including subject file, 1950-53; records of the Office of the Director, 1951-53; and records relating to private sector industrial conservation, 1951-53.

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304.3.4 Records of the Office of Aluminum

Textual Records: Aluminum tax amortization records, 1951-52. Aluminum expansion progress reports, 1951-52.

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304.4 RECORDS OF THE OFFICES OF DEFENSE MOBILIZATION
1947-56
138 lin. ft.

History: First ODM established in the EOP by EO 10193, December 16, 1950, to direct federal mobilization activities. Acquired responsibility for disaster relief coordination by EO 10427, January 16, 1953. Absorbed functions of DPA, pursuant to EO 10433, February 4, 1953. Superseded by second ODM, also under EOP, by EO 10461, June 17, 1953, pursuant to Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1953, effective June 12, 1953, which also transferred the functions of NSRB and responsibility for critical materials stockpiling to ODM. Consolidated with the FCDA to form the ODCM by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958, effective July 1, 1958.

Textual Records: Application files for defense loans to private enterprises, 1951-54. Subject files of constituent ODM offices relating to Congressional legislation, price and wage stabilization, and the International Materials and Munitions Stockpile Committees, 1948-56. Records of Thomas Curtis, Assistant to the ODM Director, 1951-56. Records of William N. Lawrence, Acting Assistant Director for Production, 1951-54. Records relating to rubber, 1947-53. Numerical and geographical docket files of the Critical Defense Housing Areas, 1951-53. Records of the International Materials Conference, 1951-54. Records of the Office of General Counsel relating to the Defense Production Act of 1950, 1951-53. General records of the Committee on Defense Transportation and Storage, 1951-53.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Office of Defense Mobilization in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

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304.5 RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATION
1950-58
1 lin. ft.

History: Established in the Office for Emergency Management, EOP, by EO 10186, December 1, 1950, to develop a national civil defense program. Made an independent agency by the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 (64 Stat. 1245), January 12, 1951. Consolidated with the ODM to form the ODCM by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958, effective July 1, 1958.

Textual Records: Issuances, 1950-58.

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304.6 RECORDS OF THE OFFICE OF DEFENSE AND CIVILIAN MOBILIZATION
AND THE OFFICE OF CIVIL AND DEFENSE MOBILIZATION
1950-62
5 lin. ft.

History: Office of Defense and Civilian Mobilization established in EOP by Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1958, effective July 1, 1958, consolidating the FCDA and the ODM. Administered the national civil defense program and coordinated military, industrial, and civilian mobilization. Name changed to OCDM, August 26, 1958. SEE 304.1.

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304.6.1 General records

Textual Records: Issuances, including manuals, 1958-61. Tax amortization case files, 1950-60.

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304.6.2 Records of OCDM Region 1

Textual Records (in Boston): Records of the Office of the Administrator, including minutes of meetings, annual reports, conference agendas, speeches, and memorandums, 1951-61.

Photographs (1,019 images, in Boston): Hurricane and flood rescue, civil defense exercises, women's auxiliary activities, and nuclear testing at Indian Springs, NV, 1952-62. SEE ALSO 304.8.

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304.7 MOTION PICTURES (GENERAL)
1952-60
66 reels

Documentary motion pictures produced by predecessor agencies of OCDM showing nuclear bomb explosions, flood damage, and all phases of civil defense, 1952-60.

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304.8 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1952-59
66 images

Posters: Promoting recruitment, safety, and civil defense, from the publication history files of the Distribution Division of the Publication Office (304-P).

SEE Photographs UNDER 304.6.2.

Related Records: Publication history files of the Distribution Division of the Publication Office in 397.2.2.


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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