History at the Department of Labor
In-Depth Research
This section presents research on the Department's history plus a selection of historical source materials. The Historical Office produced all of the items found under Articles, Monographs and Conference Papers. Under the Documents heading are primary and secondary historical source materials produced elsewhere in the Department. A Department of Labor Bibliography lists selected publications from both governmental and private publishers.
Articles
These pieces originally
appeared in the Monthly Labor Review, published by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
Black Studies in the Department of Labor, 1897-1907.
The Origin of the Department of Labor.
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Monographs
Previously
unpublished works produced by Historical Office staff.
MDTA: The Origins of the Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962.
Government Regulation of Workers' Safety and Health, 1877-1917.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 1971-1984.
Change at the Department of Labor during the Truman Administration.
The Federal Government and Negro Workers under President Woodrow Wilson.
Proceedings of the 1933 Special Industrial Recovery Board
Immediately upon passage of the National Industrial Recovery Act (June 16, 1933), President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 6173, establishing organizational structures to implement the new legislation. The Executive Order appointed a Special Industrial Recovery Board to put policies into action that were intended to foster fair competition and provide a public works program. The proceedings of the weekly meetings of this Board are included, along with occasional attachments or corrections to the minutes.
The American Worker.
This was
published as a lavishly illustrated book by the Department of Labor in 1976, in
observance of the National Bicentennial. Edited by Professor Richard B. Morris
of Columbia University, the core of the book consisted of seven specially
commissioned sections by distinguished labor historians. These sections are
reproduced in their entirety, along with selected materials from the appendix.
Not included are the picture essays and portfolios of readings.
Overview of the Nixon/Ford Administration
at the Department of Labor, 1969-1977.
This summary of the Department's
activities was attached to an extensive documentary narrative prepared by
departmental staff at the end of the Administration of President Gerald R.
Ford. The Historical Office maintains the complete narrative history in its
collections.
The Labor Department in the Carter
Administration: A Summary Report.
Similarly, this report was part of a
larger documentary narrative on the Administration of President Jimmy Carter,
1977-1981. The Historical Office maintains that narrative also.
"The Moynihan Report": The Negro Family,
the Case for National Action.
This historic and controversial report
was prepared in 1965 by the Department's Office of Policy Planning and Review.
The principal author was Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
who later served as a United States Senator from New York.
Department of Labor Bibliography
This list, divided into categories below, focuses on major books and academic
dissertations and does not attempt to be comprehensive. Some items are listed
under more than one category. A recommended source for additional titles is the
Department's Wirtz Labor Library.