Guide to the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989 (Record Group 233)
Chapter 9. Records of the Committees on Education and Labor
Table of Contents
Records of Committees Relating to Claims 1794-1946 from Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States
Committees discussed in this chapter:
- Committee on Education and Labor (1867-1883)
- Committee on Education (1883-1946)
- Committee on Labor (1883-1946)
- Committee on Education and Labor (1947-1968)
Records of the Committee on Education and Labor, 1947-1968
History and Jurisdiction
9.36. Under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Committees on Education and on Labor were combined to form this committee. Its jurisdiction included:
- (a) Measures relating to education and labor generally, (b) Child labor, (c) Columbia Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind; Howard University; Freedmen's Hospital; and Saint Elizabeths Hospital, (d) Convict labor and the entry of goods made by convicts into interstate commerce, (e) Labor standards, (f) Labor statistics, (g) Mediation and arbitration of labor disputes, (h) Regulation or prevention of importation of foreign laborers under contract, (i) School-lunch program, (j) United States Employees' Compensation Commission, (k) Vocational rehabilitation, (l) Wages and hours of labor, and (m) Welfare of miners.
Records of the Committee on Education and Labor, 80th-90th Congresses (1947-1968)
| Record Type | Volume | Dates (Congresses) |
| Minutes | 2 feet | 1947-48 (80th), 1953-68 (83d-90th) |
| Petitions and Memorials | 1 foot | 1947-52 (80th-82d), 1955-58 (84th-85th), 1963-68 (88th-90th) |
| Committee Papers | 70 feet | 1947-68 (80th-90th) |
| Bill Files | 47 feet | 1947-68 (80th-90th) |
| Total volume | 120 feet | |
| Committee Records Summary Table | ||
9.37 The unpublished records of the committee provide less insight into its workings than is desirable. The records shown on the table above consist mainly of copies of printed documents.
9.38. Detailed minutes of committee meetings were kept in looseleaf binders and are filed with the committee papers for each Congress. The minutes vary in detail and completeness. The minutes from 1961-62 (87A-F4.3, 4 in.) include those of subcommittee meetings as well as full committee meetings. The minutes for 1967-68 (90A-F4, 6 in.) include vote tallys. The minutes from 1955-60 were on loan to the committee and not examined for description in this guide.
9.39 Petitions and memorials include appeals for federal aid to education (80A- H3.1, 81A-H3.2, 82A-H4.1, 85A-H4.1), fair employment practices (80A-H3.2, 81A-H3.1), the minimum wage law (84A-H4, 89A-H4), repeal of the Taft-Hartley Act (81A-H3.3), concern for safety in workplaces (82A-H4.1), and other subjects.
9.40. Over half of the committee papers consist of printer's copies and page proofs of published hearings that were preserved with the records of the 80th Congress. For most Congresses the committee papers contain copies of all committee published hearings, prints, legislative calendars, and selected reports. Although the committee published most of the hearings it held, there are unprinted transcripts of hearings from 1959-68 on subjects such as labor/management relations reform (86A-F5.4), juvenile delinquency (88A-F4), and Vocational Rehabilitation Act amendments (89A-F4).
9.41. The committee papers generally contain part or all of the executive communications that were referred to the committee. These usually consist of annual reports and special reports from the Commissioner of Education; the National Labor Relations Board; the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service; the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; St. Elizabeths Hospital; and other organizations under the committee`s jurisdiction. Another type of communication from executive departments are the drafts of proposed legislation prepared by these and other executive departments. Some messages of the President that were referred to the committee are also retained in the files of the committee; for example, Truman's 1950 message regarding the federal takeover of the coal mines (81A-F5.4) and Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1954 message on labor relations legislation (83A-F5.6).
9.42. The volume of the bill files (47 ft.) is deceptive because it consists primarily of printed copies of the bills and accompanying reports and only occasionally the written comments of the federal agencies affected by the legislation. The sheer volume of the bill files, however, reflects the increase in legislation referred to the committee. The 80th-83d Congresses averaged 290 bills referred and 12 bills reported per Congress, while the 87th-90th congresses averaged over 820 bills referred and 38 bills reported per Congress.
Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 1789-1989: Bicentennial Edition (Doct. No. 100-245). By Charles E. Schamel, Mary Rephlo, Rodney Ross, David Kepley, Robert W. Coren, and James Gregory Bradsher. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1989.
