of Records in Annapolis. In December 1936 the Chief of the Division visited the Archives Division of the Illinois State Library and the Illinois State Historical Library at Springfield and attended the midwinter conference of the American Library Association in Chicago. All members of the Division attended the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists at Washington and seven members attended the annual conference of the American Library Association at New York.

A number of librarians and catalogers visited the Division during the year and discussed cataloging problems. Those from foreign countries included Dr. Wilhelm Munthe, librarian of the University of Oslo Library, Oslo, Norway; Dr. James D. Stewart, librarian and curator of the Bermondsey Public Libraries and Museum, London, England; Mr. John D. Cowley, director of the School of Librarianship, London, England; and Mr. S. Harte Rasmussen, head of the map section of the League of Nations Library, Geneva, Switzerland.

DIVISION OF REFERENCE

(From the report of the Chief, Mr. N. V. RUSSELL)

The primary function of the Division of Reference is to make the resources of The National Archives available to Government officials and to scholars. During the fiscal year the Division passed from the formative stages of organization and planning to a more routine procedure. On November 1, 1936, the central search room was formally opened to qualified investigators and, as the accessions from the various Government agencies have increased, so has the work of the Division.

SERVICES

General.-A large number of inquiries come by mail, entailing a heavy correspondence. The staff of the Division wrote 2,343 letters during the fiscal year to correspondents in all the States except Nevada and South Carolina, in the District of Columbia, in two Territories, and in nine foreign countries. The preparation of 1,441 of these letters required examination of pension records for the verification of the ages of applicants for old-age assistance, the determination of citizenship, genealogical facts, or other data; 413 of the letters were sent to State and local government agencies. Telephone inquiries numbered 1,077, of which all but 55 were from Government agencies.

Rules and regulations designed for the purpose "of protecting, preserving, and furthering the efficient use of the public records in the custody of the Archivist of the United States" were prepared and published in December 1936. They require persons desiring to use the records to apply for a card of admission, and cards were issued

to 118 searchers who, according to the daily register of investigators, made 736 visits during the year. Searchers came from 17 different States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, and Canada.

Private research projects.-The development of The National Archives into a center of research in history and the social sciences is reflected in the list of subjects upon which private individuals consulted its resources during the year. The logbooks of naval vessels have aided scholars investigating the operations of the Navy in the neighborhood of the Hawaiian Islands during the nineteenth century, the visit of Commodore Perry to Japan, and the military conquest of California in 1846-47, and have also helped persons compiling data concerning the service of individuals in the Navy. Pension records have furnished information to persons compiling biographical and genealogical data, including one instance in which the settlement of a twenty-million-dollar estate was involved. The Senate files were examined in connection with a book on the Florida treaty of 1819. The records of the Food Administration were studied to determine their contents for the States of Indiana, Missouri, Washington, Idaho, and Oregon and their general interest to scholars. The records of the National Labor Board yielded information regarding the wages and hours of airplane pilots; those of the National War Labor Board were searched for data on street railway hearings; and those of the Railroad Administration were examined for information on loading methods for automobiles. Of the records of recent emergency agencies, those of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Scotland, Pa., were studied by a scholar interested in appraising the work of the Corps, and those of the National Recovery Administration were searched for data relating to an aviation corporation. In several instances the persons engaged in these studies have been furnished photostats of material of interest to them.

Government investigations.-The steady concentration of records in the building has also drawn representatives of many Government agencies to The National Archives. The Treasury, War, Interior, Justice, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor Departments, and the Railroad Retirement Board, the Maritime Commission, the Export-Import Bank, the National Mediation Board, and the Works Progress Administration conducted investigations on numerous problems, ranging in subject matter from the location of the Natchez Trace to the weather in the cotton region of Texas during June and July 1899. These investigations involved the use of records of the Senate; of the State, Treasury, Agriculture, and Commerce Departments; and of the Railroad Administration, the National Recovery Administration, the Export-Import Bank, and the National Labor Relations Board.

Assistance to members of Congress.-Service was given on records in the custody of the Archivist to 23 Senators, 74 Representatives, and 1 Territorial Delegate. These services included the loan of 305 pension files to the House Committee on Pensions and of 23 to the Senate Committee. In addition, a considerable number of Executive orders and proclamations were furnished in the form of printed copies or, if such copies were not available, of photostats. Other Congressional requests necessitated searches in the Senate files, in naval logbooks, and in National Recovery Administration records.

Photostats and certifications.-Orders for photostats and certification of records are made through the Division, which is responsible for requisitioning the original documents from the Divisions of Department Archives, having them reproduced, and transmitting the copies, with the order blanks properly filled in, to the office concerned. During the fiscal year, 378 requisitions (334 for Government officials) were made for photostats of 1,247 documents, and the sum of $123.08 was collected for those furnished to private individuals; 164 requisitions (130 for Government officials) were made for copies of 499 documents to be certified by the Administrative Secretary, and the sum of $12.25 was received for certifications made for unofficial use.

Loans of records.-The temporary withdrawal of public records in the custody of The National Archives for official use by any agency of the Government is permitted, and a number of departments have borrowed records generally records that originated in their own offices. The Veterans' Administration, which has transferred over four million pension files to the custody of the Archivist, borrowed 13,659 files during the year. Of this number 11,219 were returned, but 2,315 cases were reopened by the Administration and the corresponding files were retained. During the fiscal year 44 other loans were made to various Government offices, and in five instances the files were permanently restored to the office of origin.

THE STAFF

At the beginning of the year the Division adopted a plan of study and specialization, which is proving to be of great advantage in answering inquiries and assisting those who come to the search rooms to use the records. Each member of the Division, in addition to acquiring a good working knowledge of the Government and its records, particularly those in the custody of The National Archives, has been making a detailed study of an executive department of the Government. As a result, an increasing amount of information on the records and the functions of the Government departments is being assembled in an "information file."

In handling inquiries relating to records in the custody of the Archivist, extensive searching is often required, not only because of

the scope and complexity of the subjects themselves, but because at present there is only a modicum of catalogs, classification lists, indexes, and other finding mediums. The members of the professional staff render service on the documents and cooperate in every way possible with Government officials and scholars. They assist investigators or make searches for officials in all kinds of Government records from meteorological statistics to Senate committee reports. Extensive searches for private individuals cannot be undertaken by the staff because of the pressure of regular work, but such individuals are referred upon request to competent professional searchers.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

One of the reference supervisors, Harold Larson, was given leave of absence from the Division from August 17, 1936, through April 15, 1937, to direct a survey of records in the Virgin Islands for the Survey of Federal Archives. As a result of his work a considerable quantity of records was brought to The National Archives for permanent custody.

The Division was represented by Elizabeth Drewry, reference associate, at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association. On February 6, 1937, the Chief of the Division read a paper on the work of The National Archives at the annual history conference sponsored by the State University of Iowa.

DIVISION OF RESEARCH

(From the report of the Chief, Mr. FLIPPIN)

The principal work of the Division for the past year has been the completion of a comprehensive collection of data concerning the movement for the preservation of the archives of the Federal Government-a project that was described in the preceding annual report. A considerable quantity of additional material has been accumulated and added to this collection, and indexes and a table of contents have been prepared to make the data more accessible.

In connection with the projected "Guide to the Federal Archives of the United States", the Division has been assigned the responsibility of preparing a bibliography of the history, organization, functions, and procedure of the executive departments, independent offices and establishments, and other agencies of the Federal Government. The first step was to search the card catalog of the Library of Congress for appropriate items, and at the end of the year 12,000 titles had been selected. When the process of selection has been completed, printed Library of Congress cards for the items chosen will be purchased and used as the basis for the bibliography. Subsequently other available sources of information, including the libraries of Government agencies, will be consulted to make the bibliography as com

plete as possible. The Division also selected, arranged, and classified for the Director of Publications, who is in charge of the preparation of the guide, a large number of Executive orders relating to the organization, functions, or records of Government agencies. An inventory of Federal court records outside the District of Columbia, which was compiled by workers of the Survey of Federal Archives, is being edited by the Division and will be available for use in the preparation of the portion of the guide dealing with the archives of the Federal courts.

The Chief of the Division has continued to serve as chairman of the committee on fire record of the Federal Fire Council and to compile information concerning fires in Government buildings from the beginning of the Federal Government to 1936. An investigation was recently undertaken to ascertain whether branches of the Government report promptly all fires occurring in their respective buildings, and a report on the subject was presented to the Federal Fire Council.

DIVISION OF THE LIBRARY

(From the report of the Chief, Mr. HAMER)

ACCESSIONS

A total of 69,913 pieces were received by the library during the year. From the Superintendent of Documents two copies of all publications issued by the Government Printing Office were received as provided by law. These totaled 31,320 pieces, of which 16,495 were Congressional bills, calendars, slip laws, and the like.

Some 30,000 pieces were transferred to The National Archives, without cost except for transportation, by other agencies of the Federal Government. Most of them were printed Government documents, and many could have been obtained otherwise only with great difficulty and at considerable expense of time and money. Particular mention should be made of the transfer of 1,182 pieces from the library of the American Legation at The Hague, 602 from the State Department, 7,392 from the War Department, 2,087 from the Navy Department, 482 from the Interior Department, 319 from the Interstate Commerce Commission, 610 from the Superintendent of Documents, 106 from the Library of Congress, 2,856 from the District Court in Wilmington, Del., and 2,339 from the offices of the Customs Service in Philadelphia, Pa. The last two groups were located and their transfer was effected through the instrumentality of the Survey of Federal Archives, as were 8,645 items from other Government agencies and non-Government libraries from Maine to California. The total received by transfer, by gift, and by exchange was 31,362. In the purchase of materials for the library the principles of selection described in the report of the Division for the fiscal year 1936