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Classification 101: Hatch Act (Obsolete)

A provision of the Hatch Act (PL 252 76th Congress), passed in 1939, made it illegal for any federal employee or contractor "to have membership in any political party or organization which advocates the overthrow of our constitutional form of government." Until 1949 the investigations took place only after a request came from the Department of Justice or the employing agency, and when there was some "derogatory" information to indicate that an investigation was necessary.

In 1947, President Truman's Executive Order 9835 established another federal employee and applicant loyalty program that far exceeded the World War II effort in scope and number of investigations opened. The FBI records for that program are in Classification 121. Though Classification 101 became inactive after 1947 and obsolete in 1973, documents on individuals first investigated under the Hatch Act continued to be maintained in these records.

NARA online catalog descriptions of holdings for Classification 101: Hatch Act (Obsolete)

Record Group	NARA Identifier	Series Title
65	568773	Headquarters Files from Classification 101 (Hatch Act) Released Under The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Disclosure Acts

Some records under Classification 101: Hatch Act (Obsolete) are not yet described in NARA's online catalog. Please contact NARA's Special Access Program at specialaccess_FOIA@nara.gov with your reference request.

Record Group	Finding Aid Entry	Series Title
65	UD 04D 7	Classification 101 - Field Office Case Files and Index
65	UD 09D 6	Classification 101 - Hatch Act, Field Office Case Files, Washington, 1939 - 1973
65	UD 07D 8	Classification 101 - Hatch Act, Headquarters, 1939 - 1947
65	UD UP 32	Classification 101 - Headquarters Case Files
65	UD UP 31	Classification 101 - Headquarters Case Files and Index

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