INTRODUCTION

The Retraining and Reemployment Administration was established in the Office of War Mobilization by Executive Order 9427 of February 24, 1944. Under this order, the Administration's functions were to be carried out by an Administrator, appointed by the Director of War Mobilization. With the assistance of the Retraining and Reemployment Policy Board, consisting of representatives of nine Federal agencies, the Administration served as a clearing house for Federal programs dealing with the retraining and reemployment of both veterans and nonveterans. Its specific functions, as stated in the Executive order, were:

(1) To have general supervision and direction of the activities of all Government agencies relating to the retraining and reemployment of persons discharged or released from the armed services or other war work, particularly all work affected by the ending of the war or by the reduction of the war program.

(2) To develop programs, in consultation with the Government agencies concerned, for the orderly absorption into other employment of persons discharged or released from the armed services or other war work, including adequate provisions for vocational training, for finding jobs for persons so discharged or released, for aiding those persons and their families pending their reemployment, and for dealing with problems connected with the release of workers from industries not easily convertible to peacetime activities.

(3) To develop programs, in consultation with the Government agencies concerned, for the care of persons discharged or released from the armed services, including physical or occupational therapy for the wounded and disabled and the resumption of educational activities interrupted by the

war.

Under the authority of Administrative Order 1, issued by the Administrator on March 17, 1944, there was established in each State a veterans' service committee composed of one employee from each of three agencies, the Selective Service System, the United States Employment Service, and the Veterans' Administration. These committees were responsible for keeping the Administrator informed of the programs for veterans being carried on within the States by the three agencies and of any other existing programs for veterans. Thus, through the committees, the Administration served as the Federal contact for State, municipal, and private organizations dealing with veterans.

The War Mobilization and Reconversion Act of October 3, 1944 (58 Stat. 785), established the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion to replace the Office of War Mobilization, made the Retraining and Reemployment Administration an administrative unit of the new Office, and set up the Advisory Council, composed of 1 representative from each of 12 Federal agencies, to replace the Policy Board. Section 302 of the act specifically excluded the activities of the Veterans' Administration

from the supervision of the Retraining and Reemployment Administration, and section 603 stipulated that all the provisions of the act should terminate on June 30, 1947. The Retraining and Reemployment Administration continued as an administrative unit in the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion until, by the provisions of Executive Order 9617 of September 19, 1945 the Administration was transferred to the Department of Labor. Thereafter, until its termination on June 30, 1947, the Administration remained under the supervision of the Secretary of Labor.

The succession Administrators were Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines, 1944-45, and Maj. Gen. G. B. Erskine, U.S.M.C., 1945-47.

The following work is a preliminary inventory of the materials in Record Group 244, Records of the Retraining and Reemployment Administration. These records were received by the National Archives in two groups in April and October 1947. They amount to 84 cubic feet. Some other records of the Administration are in the National Archives in Record Group 250, Records of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion; some are in the Labor Department; and some are in Federal Records Center No. 3, at Alexandria, Va. Notations of such records are made at the appropriate points in this inventory. Measurements of the series in this inventory are in linear feet.

RECORDS OF THE RETRAINING AND REEMPLOYMENT ADMINISTRATION

These records consist of two large series of general correspondence and four smaller series. The first general series covers the period from the establishment of the Administration in February 1944 until its transfer to the Department of Labor on September 19, 1945. The second general series covers the period from the latter date until the termination of the agency on June 30, 1947.

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE. Feb. 1944-Sept. 1945. 23 ft.

This series consists of general correspondence, office memoranda, pamphlets, bulletins, publications received or issued by the agency, minutes of meetings, circulars, tables, charts, and miscellaneous ma¬ terial. The records are arranged by the subject-numeric classification system indicated below. Appendix I of this inventory outlines the classification scheme.

1

No. 0. Individual and Firm Name Files.-This subseries includes general correspondence with individuals, firms, institutions, and other organizations; pamphlets; bulletins; minutes of meetings; copies of speeches; and other records relating to the problem of providing reemployment and rehabilitation for war veterans and, in less degree, for displaced war workers. Most of the correspondence consists of requests for informational material and letters in reply, relating to employment, vocational guidance, and other benefits.

No. 1. General.-General correspondence with Government departments and bureaus concerning activities and programs of Government agencies on behalf of returning war veterans; with nongovernmental organizations such as the American National Red Cross, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars pertaining to their programs for aiding veterans; with officials of States and cities; with personnel in employment centers, information and service centers, veterans' service committees, and other such groups throughout the country regarding the coordination of their functions with those of the Administration; with boards, committees, councils, and conference groups regarding such matters as proposed pertinent legislation and such means of publicity as the press, radio, and motion pictures. The subseries also includes many bulletins, circulars, and pamphlets; press releases; tables; charts; copies of plans for aiding returning veterans, submitted by local groups; invitations to meetings; trip reports; mailing lists; copies of reports, hearings, and bills; and posters.

No. 2. Personnel.-Correspondence and other material dealing with personnel matters within the Administration. The subseries includes letters of application for employment and replies to them; daily records of regular employees, instructions concerning working hours, overtime compensation, leave regulations, and related matters; and correspondence on efficiency rating regulations and their application, retirement benefits for civilian employees, the morale and welfare of employees, war fund campaigns, salaries and payrolls, and instruction and training for employees.

The individual personnel folders for employees who left the Administration before Sept. 19, 1945, are in the National Archives with the records of the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion (see entry 89 of the preliminary inventory of the records of that Office); some other personnel records, Feb. 1944-Sept. 1945, are among the fiscal records of the Office in Federal Records Center No. 3, at Alexandria, Va.

No. 3. Administration and Postwar Plans.-Correspondence, detailed reports, circulars, pamphlets, tables, charts, and memoranda concerning administrative problems, plans, and activities, such as determination of of policy and cooperative planning for handling postwar cut-backs, reconversion, and demobilization. The subseries also contains letters, reports, and memoranda from State governors and other officials relating to State postwar programs for rehabilitation and reemployment and the integration of such programs with those of the Administration; circular letters; executive orders; census reports; industrial studies; reports and surveys; and lists of finding aids in the National Archives that are pertinent to the retraining and rehabilitation program.

No. 4. Supplies, Services, and Equipment.-Correspondence pertaining to the purchase and delivery of supplies and equipment used by the Administration, the termination and adjustment of supply contracts, and the handling of surplus property and supplies. The subseries also contains invoices, requisition forms, inventory reports, and office memoranda.

No. 5.

Transportation.-Correspondence on such matters as requests for travel authorization for officials and employees of the Administration, Government requests for transportation, and the furnishing of transportation to certain war workers to and from their place of work. The subseries includes travel authorization forms, travel vouchers, and transportation statistical tables.

Most of the transportation records of the Administration to Sept. 1945 were retained by the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion and are among the fiscal records in Federal Records Center No. 3, at Alexandria, Va.

No. 6. Space, Projects, Reconversions, and Cut-backs.--Correspondence pertaining to problems of industrial reconversion, cut-backs, and demobilization and to public works projects, such as building and highway construction, land reclamation, and flood control, designed to solve these postwar problems. The subseries includes reports, circulars, statistical studies, pamphlets, and other illustrative material concerning the reconversion problem and a small amount of material relating to the acquisition or lease of office space for veterans' service committees, information centers, employment centers, and the like.

No. 7. War Workers.--Correspondence and records pertaining to plans, programs, studies, and statistics concerning the problem of aiding displaced war workers during the postwar period.

No. 8. Legal Matters.--Correspondence regarding legal action brought by veterans for the purpose of regaining their former positions in private industry and correspondence regarding the effect of State workmen's compensation laws on employment opportunities for disabled persons.

No. 9. Finance.--Correspondence pertaining to the fiscal affairs of the Administration, including such matters as appropriations, budget estimates, and allotments. The subseries contains tables of budget estimates, printed copies of deficiency appropriation bills, administrative memoranda, and miscellaneous items relating to fiscal matters.

Most of the financial records of the Administration to Sept. 1945 were retained by the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion and are among the fiscal records in Federal Records Center No. 3, at Alexandria, Va. No. 10. Veterans.--General correspondence with private corporations, organizations, and individuals and with Government agencies regarding many aspects of the program of aid and preference for returning veterans, with particular emphasis upon the reemployment of such veterans by private industry and by the Government. Some of the veterans' rights and benefits discussed in the correspondence are unemployment compensation, employees' insurance, readjustment allowances, housing priorities, preferential rentals, hospital and medical benefits, educational aid and retraining, vocational rehabilitation for the disabled and wounded, and counseling and guidance service. The subseries includes reports, surveys, studies, and circulars; copies of minutes of meetings and conferences; pertinent laws; and some correspondence with individual veterans concerning their problems.

GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Sept. 1945-June 1947. 63 ft.

IN

This series includes general correspondence, publications received or issued by the agency, bulletins, pamphlets, circulars, minutes of meetings, tables, and charts. It is arranged by the subject-alphabetic scheme outlined below. The series contains one miscellaneous subseries, which is described at the end of this entry. Appendix II of this inventory outlines the scheme of classification for the records in this series.

Accreditation.-Correspondence, memoranda, form letters, and other record material relating to procedures whereby members of the armed services and veterans could apply to civilian educational institutions for high school or college credit for their military training, service experience, and off-duty education. Much of the correspondence is with State and school officials regarding the granting of such credit to veterans for service-acquired experience and training.

Advisory Center Guide.--Correspondence with local groups and organizations regarding the need for veterans' advisory centers throughout the country. The subseries includes many requests for booklets prepared by the Administration as a guide for the planning, operation, and maintenance of such centers.