• Archives.gov Home
• Subject Index
• Contact Us
• FAQs
• Español

Records of the Office of Strategic Services 1940-1946
(Record Group 226)

• Terms, Names, Organizational Abbreviations, and Code Words in OSS Records
• Sources & Methods Files ("Previously Withdrawn Material")
  • Entry 210, Boxes #1-300
  • Entry 210, Boxes #301-555b
  • Entry 211, Boxes #1-50
  • Entry 212
  • Entry 213
  • Entry 214
  • Entries 215-220
• Central Intelligence Agency Selected Documents, 1941-1947

In 1997 the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) transferred to NARA approximately 617 cubic feet of Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and Strategic Services Unit (SSU) records (in eleven series: entries 210-220) that represent the main body of documents withheld from OSS/SSU records opened by NARA between 1975-1996. The CIA retained those materials as an artificial "Sources and Methods" file. Because these records were withdrawn from other files, they are not organized by topic or activity. The records had been retained by the CIA under exemptions provided to it by the National Security Act of 1947 and the Freedom of Information Act. Most of these records were declassified in late 1999 and opened for research in June 2000. Some of the records, however, still remain classified. Both the CIA and NARA are continuing work on future releases with other federal agencies and with foreign governments that hold equities in the remaining body of classified records.

The records document the operations, intelligence gathering, weapons & methods, personnel, and organizational activities of the OSS during and immediately following World War II. Most of the records were created during the 1942-1945 period, but there are records pre-dating 1942 and a relative substantive quantity of records from 1946 and a few documents that post-date 1946.

Besides the listing provided below of key documents there are two finding aid to the records. Copies of these finding aids are available in the Textual Research Room and in the consultation area in Room 2400. The first is an incomplete-NARA-prepared listing, arranged by several listings (e.g., name, code word, geographic), that provides the Entry number and box number where information about the listing can be found. The Central Intelligence Agency prepared a 2 volume finding aid [CIA OSS DARE/PODS PRINTOUT] describing all the documents in the 1997 accession of "previously withdrawn records".

There is no particular order or arrangement of the documents in the DARE printout. The contents on any one box may be described on as many as 20 different, nonconsecutive pages. Careful note taking is essential for archival retrieval and efficient research in the records. Researchers will need to read the printout and make careful note of the entries to fill out reference service slips.

The following information is provided on the printout: Page number: Note the page number where the document is listed to be able to refer back to a listing. Withdrawn number: is a unique number assigned to this specific document or file (Enter the "WD#" on the reference service slip). Job number: identifies which of 11 series of records are being requested. For instance, 70-00332A is entry 210, the largest series in this accession encompassing 556 archives boxes. (Enter the job# (or the entry number, if you know it) on the reference service slip). Box number: identifies the box number assigned by the CIA and in almost all instances corresponds to the NARA box #. Entire boxes are pulled in response to a research request. (Enter the box # on the reference service slip). Folder number: Folder numbers are useful for the researcher to be able to locate the document within the archives box. Document number: The OSS/CIA annotated the document with a document number to register its place within the folder. Researchers can use the number to verify they are examining the exact document described in the DARE printout. Unit, Branch, & Category: reflect the OSS organizational sites, offices and types of documents being described. Day, Month, and Year: reflect the date of origin of the document or the initial date of documents in a file. Document Title: refers either to the exact document title of a summary description (provided in parenthesis). This information is useful to verify the correct document.

Researchers should use, in many instances, the listings provided below and the two finding aids cited above to ensure complete coverage of relevant records on a particularly subject. Researchers should also note that the records, in most instances because of their physical arrangement within the boxes, do not lend themselves to "research by mail." They need to be used in the Textual Research Room and even then researchers should be well aware that they will encounter some difficulties in locating precise documents.

The series of OSS records described as "Previously Withdrawn Documents" are located in Stack 250 for the declassified portion and Stack 630 for the still-classified documents.

• Archives.gov Home
• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Accessibility
• Freedom of Information Act
• No FEAR Act
• Top of Page

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001
Telephone: 1-86-NARA-NARA or 1-866-272-6272

• The National Archives Experience
• Our Documents
• Regulations.gov
• USA.gov