and their distribution has been of real service to people throughout the country who are engaged in litigation arising out of such control. In addition thousands of inquiries from the public concerning documents on file were answered.

ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES

Organizational changes.-The organizational structure of the National Archives remained substantially the same during the fiscal year as that established by the Archivist in the major reorganization of January 1, 1947. Further progress was made toward implementing that reorganization so as to devolve upon the records divisions of the National Archives as much responsibility as possible for carrying out the substantive program of the agency.

At the beginning of the year, as already mentioned, the World War II Records Project was discontinued. On November 3, 1947, several significant organizational changes were made for the purpose of consolidating certain functions and effecting economies in operations. The Secretary's Office was abolished and the positions of Secretary and Assistant Secretary were discontinued. The Office of the Archivist absorbed those functions of the Secretary's Office relating to management planning and control, supervision of the authoritative issuance system, and records retirement staff activities. Staff supervision of the agency's internal current records management program and the personnel and functions of the Central Files Section and the Mail and Messenger Section were transferred from the Secretary's Office to the Administrative Services Division. In the Office of the Archivist the Division of Exhibits and Publications was abolished and in lieu thereof there was established the staff position of Exhibits and Information Officer, who was given responsibility for the informational, exhibit, and general publications programs of the National Archives Establishment. From the Division of Exhibits and Publications there was transferred to the Director of Records Control responsibility for editorial work and for the planning and preparation of publications of the National Archives relating to the records of the Federal Government. The General Reference Division in the Records Control Office was redesignated the General Reference Branch. Shortly thereafter, on November 12, 1947, the Stenographic Pool of the Division of Personnel Management in the Office of the Archivist was abolished.

In keeping with recommendations on uniform nomenclature for Government organizations made by the Senate Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments, the Archivist, on December 17, 1947, announced the redesignation of operating units established by him. Major operating units previously called "offices" were redesignated "divisions," and their subordinate units formerly called "divisions" were redesignated "branches." The Archivist also de

termined that the designation of such organizational units as are necessary below the branch level would be in terms of "section" and "unit," in that order.

The organization of the National Archives on June 30, 1948, is shown by the chart on the opposite page.

Personnel. The most extensive reduction-in-force the National Archives has ever had to carry out began soon after the fiscal year opened. Because no funds were appropriated for the World War II Records Project, those who were employed for the duration of the project had to be separated and members of the regular staff of the National Archives who had received limited promotions for work on the project had to be returned to their former grades. At about the same time the Civil Service Commission established a register of eligibles for archivist, P-1, positions and those on the staff holding such jobs who did not take the examination or who were rated ineligible had to be separated. It was decided to make this displacement a part of a general reduction program; consequently, all war-service or temporary employees holding archivist positions of various grades were separated, except for a very few specialists and four persons with veterans' status who were placed in vacant positions at lower levels. Thus some 50 persons were separated or transferred or resigned in anticipation of displacement.

The turnover did not cease there. By the end of the year there had been 105 separations, 53 percent of which were involuntary, and 62 persons had been added to the rolls, chiefly in clerical, typing, and stenographic positions. The turnover rate for the year was 31 percent as compared with 24 percent in the fiscal year 1947.

On June 30, 1948, there were 341 persons on the staff, including 15 at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library but not including persons on extended leave without pay. Of them, 34 percent were veterans and 75 percent had permanent civil-service status. Of the 71 persons promoted to higher grades during the year, 39 percent were veterans. Automatic salary advances were received by 241 employees and 7 salary advancements were made in recognition of superior accomplishments. In addition, cash awards were made to 4 employees for valuable suggestions for improving procedures or equipment. There were more demotions during the year than in any previous year of the agency's history-51, of which half were in the professional service. They resulted chiefly from the reduction-in-force, of course, but 18 percent of the demotions in the CAF service were requested by employees so they could obtain classified status.

The establishment of civil-service registers of eligibles for archivist positions, grades P-2 through P-6, will make it possible to obtain experienced people when vacancies occur on the staff of the National Archives, as well as on those of other agencies, that cannot be filled

by promotion from within. These registers are being administered by the Personnel Management Branch of the National Archives.

In common with other Federal agencies, the National Archives during the year submitted loyalty forms for a record check of its employees. As a result of this check, the Federal Bureau of Investigation made full investigations of four employees. All four cases were awaiting action by the agency loyalty board at the end of the year.

A number of changes in the top command of the agency, in addition to the resignation of Dr. Buck as Archivist of the United States, took place during the year. Dan M. Lacy, Assistant Archivist, resigned on July 11, 1947, to accept a position at the Library of Congress and he was succeeded on August 1 by Wayne C. Grover. When Dr. Grover became Archivist of the United States, Robert H. Bahmer, Chief of the Departmental Records Branch of the Adjutant General's Office of the Department of the Army, succeeded him as Assistant Archivist on June 7, 1948. Fred W. Shipman, Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, N. Y., since 1940, transferred on April 4, 1948, to the National Security Resources Board and no one had been appointed to succeed him by the end of the fiscal year. On June 5, Philip C. Brooks, Assistant Director of the General Records Division, also transferred to the National Security Resources Board to do research and records work. Collas G. Harris returned from military duty on April 16 and assumed the duties of Director of Administrative Services. A list of officials of the National Archives appears on page IV of this report.

Library. Specializing in Government documents, materials on United States history, particularly the administrative history of Federal agencies, American biography, political science, and archives administration both here and abroad, the Library of the National Archives continued during the year to serve members of the staff, searchers using records in the Archivist's custody, and students who attend courses sponsored by the agency. A special effort was made to obtain copies of the official war histories prepared by numerous Federal agencies at the behest of the late President Roosevelt and the Committee on Records of War Administration of the Bureau of the Budget in order to record the significant experience of the Government at war. Many of these histories were not published or were only processed in limited editions. They should be invaluable for use with the wartime records that already in large quantities have been transferred to the National Archives. In order to insure the most effective use of extra copies of Inventories of Federal Archives in the States, produced by the Survey of Federal Archives, and of certain

'On August 16, 1948, Herman Kahn, former Director of the Natural Resources Records Division in the National Archives, was named as the Director of the Library.

surplus National Recovery Administration materials, the Library turned them over to the Documents Expediting Project in the Library of Congress for distribution to interested Libraries throughout the country. An amendment of June 8, 1948, to the National Archives Act gave permanent authorization for the expenditure of funds for membership in societies whose publications are available to members only or to members at a price lower than to the general public, an authorization previously granted in appropriation acts. During the year the Library acquired 2,205 books and 1,880 pamphlets and disposed of others no longer needed. Its holdings at the end of the year therefore totaled 58,261 books and 41,965 pamphlets.

Public relations.-In view of the fact that the National Archives has never conducted a real publicity program about itself, there is a surprising amount of interest in the agency. Numerous letters of inquiry and telephone calls are received that seek general information about the agency, its functions, and its holdings. They are answered, of course, and visitors, including members of the press and other writers, are supplied with information or publications that give them the data they seek. The guide service the National Archives had before the war has never been restored because all available personnel is needed for work on the records, and there are many who come to the building expecting to see how the agency operates who must be turned away unsatisfied. No publications designed for the general public, except the exhibit catalog already referred to, were issued during the year and only five press releases, chiefly relating to exhibits or to appointments, were issued.

Building and equipment.-Space in the National Archives Building becomes scarcer and scarcer as more and more records are received each year. All the various devices to create records-storage space where none existed before have extended the capacity of the building to something less than 1,000,000 cubic feet. There are already 856,000 cubic feet of records in the custody of the Archivist, and if accessioning continues at approximately the present rate, it is obvious that the building will be overflowing in about 2 years. In fact it would be almost impossible to fit a very large accession into the building now, for the 100,000 or more cubic feet of space that does exist is scattered. In recognition of the agency's need for additional space, the Public Buildings Administration allocated to the National Archives the second and third floors of Federal Office Building No. 4 at Suitland, Md. Because the National Archives was not able to move records from the main building fast enough to fill this space at once, the second floor allocation was rescinded. By the end of the fiscal year, nearly half of the 32,000 cubic feet of space available at the Suitland Depository had been filled. The remaining storage area there and in the "The National Archives Act as amended is included in appendix I.