RUBBER RESERVE COMPANY The Rubber Reserve Company (RRC) was organized June 28, 1940, under section 5d of the RFC Act, as amended. Its Board of Directors was appointed by the RFC, and they and its appointed officers also served as officials of the RFC or its subsidiaries. The purpose of the RRC was the acquisition and distribution of natural and synthetic rubber and rubber scrap for the national defense. The RRC received policy guidance from the Armed Services and other agencies concerned with international and economic affairs. The RRC conducted the natural rubber procurement program until February 23, 1943, when this became the function of the Rubber Development Corporation. Nevertheless, natural rubber acquired by the RDC was sold to the RRC and distributed by the latter to industrial users as directed by the War Production Board. RRC's synthetic rubber program was begun in 1941 with plans for the construction of plants having a combined annual capacity of 40,000 long tons. After Pearl Harbor the program was vastly accelerated so that by the end of the war the capacity of Government-owned facilities had reached about 1 million long tons. Fifty-one Government-owned plants were built during the defense and war periods, and expenditures under the program were about $2 million daily, with the total cost of the facilities approximating $700 million. The construction of the plants was financed and supervised by the Defense Plant Corporation subject to an obligation of the RRC to purchase the plants should the DPC elect to sell them. The DPC leased the plants to private operators for $1 per year. The plants were designed, constructed, and operated by private industries, and the rubber produced was for the account of the RRC and sold to industrial users under WPB allocations. The RRC also contracted with universities and private organizations for research in the development of synthetic rubber. It supervised the investigations at the Government laboratories at Akron, Ohio, which were established in 1944 under a contract with the University of Akron. By 1953 the laboratories had a staff of 180 persons. The RRC was dissolved on July 1, 1945, and its functions, assets, and liabilities were merged with those of the RFC as provided by an act of June 30, 1945. The Office of Rubber Reserve was established within the RFC to continue or to conclude the work of the RRC. Before its dissolution the RRC had provided funds sufficient to repay all but about $300 million of the $1.725 billion advanced to it by the RFC. After July 1, 1945, the Office of Rubber Reserve continued the liquidation of the assets and liabilities of the RRC and the amounts that were unrecoverable on June 30, 1947, were included in the RFC notes payable to the Secretary of the Treasury that were canceled at the direction of Congress. Repeated extensions of RFC's authority permitted continued operation of the Government's synthetic rubber plants until 1955, when they were sold to private industry under the Rubber Producing Facilities Disposal Act. Records of the RRC are described in entries 226-246. Entries 346 and 347 refer to the liquidation of the RFC by the General Services Administration. 226. INDEX TO MINUTES. 1940-45. 23 ft. Arranged alphabetically under each of the following headings: general subjects, names of agency personnel, agreements and related subjects listed by names of Far Eastern, Latin American, and African countries, and synthetic rubber projects listed by name of company or agency to which the project was assigned. Index cards (3 by 5 in.) showing the number of the volume containing minutes of the RRC, page number within the volume, and date of the meeting at which the subject indexed was considered by the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee. 227. MINUTES. 1940-45. 18 vols. 5 ft. Arranged chronologically. Signed original copies of the minutes of the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and the Buying Committee of the RRC from its organizational meeting on June 29, 1940, until its dissolution on June 30, 1945. They relate to deliberations, resolutions, authorizations, and decisions on policies and procedures and include its charter and bylaws, memorandums addressed to the Board of Directors, and correspondence sent by its President and Vice President to other Government agencies and to private rubber manufacturers. Included are lists of Board and staff members present. 228. GENERAL RECORDS. 1940-50. 2 ft. Arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. Copy of the charter of the RRC; organization and functional charts; memorandums to Washington office personnel; manuals of administrative procedures, including one on the liquidation of the natural rubber program issued by the RFC's Office of Rubber Reserve, successor to the RRC; form letters and memorandums to operators of synthetic rubber plants and to scrap rubber agents; bulletins and circulars; and copies of forms used by the RRC with an index in several sections, one for each series of forms. 229. MEMORANDUMS OF THE SECRETARY. 1940-48. 7 ft. Arranged chronologically and numerically. Memorandums from the Secretary to the Treasurer of the RRC relating to contracts between the RRC's buying agents and private rubber dealers for the purchase of rubber supplies by the RRC, and to agreements with rubber manufacturers for the testing and production of synthetic rubber for the RRC in Government-owned plants, numbered 25-5812, with gaps. Included are signed memorandums from the Secretary, RRC, to the Treasurer, RRC, concerning contracts and agreements with private manufacturers and institutions for research in synthetic rubber for the RRC, and amendments, July 1945-July 1948 (numbered 1-4558, with gaps). Also included are copies of some of the contracts and agreements referred to in the memorandums, and authorizations by several contracting companies naming officers and employees eligible to sign certificates against which payments were made by the RRC. 230. MINUTES OF THE BUYING COMMITTEE. 1940-42. 1 in. Arranged chronologically. Unsigned copies of the minutes of the Buying Committee of the RRC relating to plans for the establishment of a centralized buying program of all crude rubber exported from the Far East to the United States. 231. MINUTES OF THE RUBBER RESEARCH BOARD. 1943-44. 1 ft.. Arranged chronologically. Summaries of the proceedings of meetings of the Rubber Research Board of the Office of the Rubber Director, War Production Board. Officials of the RRC represented the agency as Board members. 232. RECORDS OF THE RESEARCH COMPOUNDING BRANCH. 1943-44. 4 ft. The reports and minutes of meetings are arranged chronologically; the summary sheets, numerically; the cards containing summaries of research programs, alphabetically by name of company, and numerically by number of Branch program and survey. Minutes and agenda of staff meetings of the Research Compounding Branch relating to the selection of chemical compounds for the production and manufacture of synthetic rubber; summary sheets containing reports of Branch programs and results of surveys conducted in chemical companies laboratories cooperating with the Government in synthetic rubber research; reports on studies of the Branch presented to the American Chemical Society in April 1944 by Dr. E. R. Gilliland, Assistant Rubber Director in charge of Research Development for Synthetics, War Production Board; copies of reports of experiments with chemical compounds in the production of synthetic rubber, submitted to the Branch by private chemical firms; and 5- by 8-inch cards containing summaries of research programs. 233. RECORDS OF THE COPOLYMER DEVELOPMENT BRANCH, OFFICE OF THE RUBBER DIRECTOR. 1943-44. 6 ft. Arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically. Minutes and agenda of meetings of committees of the rubber industry held under Branch auspices; correspondence and memorandums exchanged between the Branch and research technicians employed by rubber manufacturers and private educational institutions functioning as agents of the RRC; and copies of reports from the latter summarizing their research activities in the development of synthetic rubber. 234. CORRESPONDENCE OF R. R. WILLIAMS. 1942-43. 1 in. Arranged chronologically. Incoming letters and reports from rubber and chemical manufacturers to the Chief of the Copolymer Research Branch, Office of the Rubber Director, War Production Board, relating to the research program on synthetic rubber. 235. RECORDS RELATING TO GOVERNMENTEQUIPPED RUBBER PLANTS (PLANCORS). 1943-44. 2 ft. Arranged by name of company, except for purchase orders which appear in numerical sequence, DPRR 1 through DPRR 220. Correspondence between the Office of the Rubber Director and the RRC concerning the construction of a Government pilot plant and evaluation laboratory at Akron, Ohio, for experimental work on synthetic rubber; and between the Rubber Director and various rubber manufacturers acting as agents of the RRC, regarding the equipping and financing of laboratory pilot plants to be operated at Government expense. Included are blueprints of plant layout and buildings and specifications for machinery and equipment; and purchase orders and lists of equipment purchased for the Government pilot plant at Akron, Ohio. 236. MINUTES AND REPORTS OF THE BUTADIENE PRODUCERS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE. 1944-45. 1 ft. Arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. Minutes of meetings of a committee of representatives of the rubber industry and officials of the War Production Board's Office of the Rubber Director and the RRC, whose function was to provide technical assistance to manufacturers interested in producing butadiene from alcohol; and reports of the research activities of the companies represented on the committee. 237. REPORTS ON BUTADIENE PLANTS. 1942-43. 2 ft. Arranged alphabetically by name of company operating the plant. Reports to the RRC on butadiene plants installed by the Defense Plant Corporation and private oil-refining and chemical companies. The reports. provide information on the plants' locations and production capabilities, the contracts under which the plants were constructed, and the type of facilities available to each plant. 238. ACCOUNTING RECORDS FOR BUTADIENE PLANTS. 1943-44. 5 in. Arranged in the order listed below. Directives, charts, and working papers relating to systems of accounting for butadiene plants and charts of accounts the operators of the plants used. 239. TECHNICAL REPORTS BY PRIVATE MANUFACTURERS. 1943-44. 2 ft. Arranged alphabetically by name of company submitting the report. Reports and issuances of rubber and chemical manufacturing companies' research laboratories, summarizing the results of tests of various ingredients used in producing synthetic rubber. The reports were submitted to the Office of the Rubber Director, War Production Board, and to the RRC. 240. RESEARCH CONTRACTS AND AUTHORIZATIONS. 1942-48. 6 in. Arranged chronologically. Copies of contracts and amendments between the RRC and Princeton University for research in the field of synthetic rubber development, with related memorandums and correspondence. 241. MONTHLY RUBBER STATISTICS. 1940-45. 5 in. Arranged chronologically. Memorandums, charts, and statistical compilations of the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the RRC relating to the United States' rubber imports, exports, production, and consumption and the Nation's total stockpile of crude, liquid, synthetic, reclaimed, and scrap rubber. 242. RECORDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL RUBBER REGULATION COMMITTEE. 1940-44. 1 ft. Arranged chronologically. Copies of minutes and correspondence of the Committee, which consisted of representatives of the Governments of Britain, India, and the Netherlands. The Committee's function was to regulate the production and consumption of rubber in those countries and their territories. The records relate to international rubber regulations the Committee adopted, as well as to regulations in effect in nonmember countries. They also contain statistical compilations on production costs and stockpiling of rubber among the various rubber-consuming nations of the world. These compilations were submitted to the U.S. Rubber Manufacturers Association, which distributed them among its membership. 243. GERMAN REPORTS ON SYNTHETIC RUBBER. 1937-45. 5 in. Arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. Thirteen reels of 35mm. negative microfilm copies of reports in German on synthetic rubber research compiled by German technical writers. The reports were collected and submitted to the RRC by a group of American technicians sent to Germany to investigate synthetic rubber and rubber products plants. 244. BULLETINS, CIRCULARS, AND REPORTS. 1942-45. 10 in. Arranged in the order listed below. Public information and technical bulletins, circulars, and reports of the RRC and other Government agencies relating to latex, crude rubber stockpiles, and campaigns for collecting scrap rubber. 245. BUDGETARY RECORDS. 1942-48. 5 ft. Arranged by number of regulation and thereunder chronologically. Working papers and drafts of RRC tabulations and financial statements for different fiscal periods that Treasury regulations required to be submitted to the Bureau of Accounts, Department of the Treasury. 246. AUDIT REPORTS. 1944-46. 6 in. Audit reports by Price, Waterhouse, and Co., of the accounts of the RRC. Other RRC records are described in entries 346 and 347 below. OFFICE OF RUBBER RESERVE The Office of Rubber Reserve (ORR) was established July 1, 1945, as an operating division of the RFC after the Rubber Reserve Company was dissolved to continue some and to conclude other activities of the RRC. One goal of the ORR was to maintain synthetic rubber in a competitive position with natural rubber. At the President's direction, John W. Snyder, Director of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion, formed a committee representing Government agencies most interested in the Nation's rubber supply to formulate a national policy on rubber. The Interagency Policy Committee on Rubber, established September 7, 1945, and also known as the Batt Committee, after its Chairman, William L. Batt, presented two reports before disbanding in July 1947. Some of its proposals were enacted into law as the Rubber Act of 1948. The chief provisions of the Rubber Act were (1) the President could control both natural and synthetic rubber to insure use in the United States of at least one-third of the production capacity of synthetic rubber as set forth in the act; (2) the annual capacity was to be at least 600,000 long tons of general-purpose synthetic rubber and 65,000 long tons of special-purpose synthetic rubber; (3) research in rubber and related fields was to be conducted; and (4) the RFC was to begin immediately a study of the problems of transferring Government synthetic rubber facilities to private industry. The RFC was to report to Congress not later than April 1, 1949, and the President was to report not later than January 15, 1950. The ORR was supplanted by the Synthetic Rubber Division of the RFC in 1951. In August 1952 this Division was replaced by the Office of Synthetic Rubber, also within the RFC. Finally, in June 1954 the Federal Facilities Corporation was established in the Department of the Treasury, and all RFC functions relating to synthetic rubber and the Office of Synthetic Rubber itself were transferred to the FFC. ORR records are described in entries 247-265. Entries 344, 346, and 347 relate to the liquidation of the RFC by the General Services Administration. 247. GENERAL RECORDS. 1947-54. 8 ft. Arranged by subject and thereunder chronologically. Correspondence, memorandums, progress reports, tire test treadwear ratings, and National Bureau of Standards reports on synthetic rubber projects; notices, agenda, and minutes of meetings of the Polymer Research Discussion Group, 1947-51, numbered DRE 1-35; lists of technical papers relating to the Government's synthetic rubber program; publications of Government agencies and private firms engaged in rubber research; mailing lists for publications; and fiscal records detailing the costs of the synthetic rubber research and development program. Most of these records appear to have been created or received by the ORR. 248. GENERAL RECORDS OF THE ORR'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION. 1943-52. 5 ft. Arranged alphabetically by subject and thereunder chronologically. Correspondence with participating firms and universities, interoffice memorandums, and reports relating to the synthetic rubber program. 249. GENERAL RECORDS OF THE POLYMER RESEARCH BRANCH. 1949-55. 4 ft. Arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent and thereunder chronologically. Administrative records and correspondence with program participants reflecting the operations and activities of the synthetic rubber program through numerous organizational changes. The records accumulated by this branch of the Research and Development Division were subsequently absorbed and supplemented by the RFC's Office of Synthetic Rubber, and, after the 1954 transfer, by the Federal Facilities Corporation's Office of Synthetic Rubber. 250. SUMMARIES OF MEETINGS. 1944-53. 1 ft. Arranged in the order listed and thereunder chronologically. Summary minutes of the Research and Development Advisory Group, October 1944-February 1953, in three binders; digests of ORR Research and Development Management Committee meetings, February 1946-May 1947, in one binder; and summaries of proceedings of the Rubber Research Board, January-July 1944, together with reports of the synthetic rubber program submitted to the Board at each of its sessions, in one binder. 251. CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONTRACTORS. 1949-55.2 ft. Arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent and thereunder chronologically. Chiefly with universities, private firms, and Government agencies involved in the Government's synthetic rubber research and development program. Also included are memorandums on such operational and administrative matters as patent rights and agreements; progress reports by contractors; and tabulations and justifications of expenses incurred in rubber research and development. 252. OFFICE FILES OF PAUL S. GREER. 1951-56. 1 ft. Arranged alphabetically by subject or name of correspondent. Administrative records and correspondence with program participants relating to the synthetic rubber research and development program and to the program's liquidation. Greer accumulated these records as Chief of the Research and Development Division of the Office of Synthetic Rubber, RFC, as Chief of the Division in the successor Office of the Synthetic Rubber, Federal Facilities Corporation, and as head of the Rubber Research Group, National Science Foundation. 253. GENERAL RECORDS OF T. H. SWAN. 1948-55. 17 ft. Arranged chronologically in two parts, 1948-53 and 1951-55, and thereunder by subject: Correspondence with participating research firms and universities; reports of objectives and accomplishments of the synthetic rubber program; memorandums relating to administrative and budgetary matters and to plant disposal; and RFC press releases on the synthetic rubber program. Apparently Swan accumulated the 1948-53 records as Chief of the Polymer Research Section (or Branch), Research and Development Branch (or Division) or Synthetic Rubber Division, ORR, RFC, and the 1951-55 records as Assistant Chief of the Research and Development Division, Office of Synthetic Rubber, RFC and Federal Facilities Corporation. 254. READING FILE OF T. H. SWAN. 1948-55. 1 ft. Arranged chronologically. Copies of outgoing correspondence with participants in the synthetic rubber program relating chiefly to administrative matters. Swan was Chief of the Polymer Research Branch, Research and Development Division, ORR, RFC, and in 1955 Assistant Chief of the Research and Development Division, Office of Synthetic Rubber, Federal Facilities Corporation. 255. MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF THE POLYMER DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE. 1944-54. 2 ft. Arranged numerically by committee meeting. Minutes of the 32 meetings held from December 7, 1944, to July 15, 1954, and related records of the Polymer Development Committee. This Committee was sponsored by the Research and Development Division of the ORR and later by the Federal Facilities Corporation's Office of Synthetic Rubber. |