TAYLOR/GATES COLLECTION
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
During the closing months of the Hoover administration James Spear Taylor,
chief of the Building and Housing Division of the Bureau of Standards, was directed to
collect materials which would document the accomplishments of the administration.
Taylor was assisted by Robert M. Gates in soliciting documentation from the various
departments and forwarding it to presidential secretary Lawrence Richey. It is evident,
from dates on several memoranda prepared by Taylor, that the project continued into
the early fall of 1933 and possibly a bit beyond.
Since there were no prescribed forms or ritual for reporting, each department
and agency responded as it saw fit. Consequently, some submitted brief lists of
accomplishments or only copies of their annual reports while others prepared detailed
memoranda or outlines of accomplishments. The Agriculture and Commerce departments
submitted very extensive outlines and memoranda, amounting to 44 and 62 pages
respectively, which were supplemented by almost 1300 separate exhibits. The
independent agencies and commissions occasionally prepared brief memoranda, but
generally sent only printed materials such as annual reports, transcripts of congressional
hearings, press releases, pamphlets and circulars, and copies of bills and resolutions
affecting them. The departments also sent these kinds of printed matter, but usually
sent more detailed memoranda in addition.
Taylor and Gates also prepared several specialized compilations and memoranda
which suggest that the ultimate purpose of their project was to facilitate research into
the period. These include special memoranda concerning appointments, the budget, the
President's relations with Congress, stabilization and relief of business and employment,
negroes, and women's interests; charts summarizing the authority, activities, and
liquidation of federal commissions; a report on the handling of the bills and resolutions
submitted for the signature of the President; and subject classified lists of bills, resolutions,
laws and executive orders. Some of the memoranda prepared by Taylor and Gates were
based on interviews with departmental officials and include comments as to significant
files, individual documents and other intriguing observations. A prime example may be
found in the attached copy of Taylor's memo of May 26, 1933 concerning the Navy
department.
Arrangement
The finding aid for the collection is in two parts. Part one describes the
arrangement and location of the various outlines of accomplishments, memoranda and
special lists. The printed materials submitted by the departments have been interfiled in
the Presidential Papers and the Library book collection. The current locations of
individual printed items are shown in part two of the finding aid.
CONTAINER LIST
PART 1. Outlines of Accomplishments, Memoranda, Special Lists.
Box Contents
1
General description and list of sources of information on the Hoover
administration (folder A-I).
Accomplishments of departments, etc. (folders A-II-1 through 30)
State Department
Treasury Department
Federal Farm Loan Board
War Department
Justice Department
Post Office Department
Navy Department
Interior Department
2
Agriculture Department
Commerce Department
Labor Department
U.S. Board of Mediation
Civil Service Commission
Federal Board for Vocational Education
Federal Farm Board
Federal Oil Conservation Board
Federal Power Commission
Federal Radio Commission
Federal Reserve Board
Federal Trade Commission
Interstate Commerce Commission
National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Public Buildings and Public Parks of the Nat'l Capitol
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
Tariff Commission
U.S. Shipping Board and Merchant Fleet Corporation
U.S. Veterans' Administration
Inland Waterways Corporation
Home Loan Bank Board
U.S. Board of Tax Appeals
District of Columbia Government
Cross references to Government Agencies (A-III)
Special Memoranda (A-IV-1 through 7)
Appointments
Budget
President's Relations with Congress
Stabilization and Relief of Business and Employment
Negroes
Women's Interests
Non-governmental Activities
3
Classified list of laws (A-VI)
List of simple resolutions (A-VII)
Disposition of bills and resolutions submitted for the signature of the
President (A-VIII)
List of printed House and Senate hearings (A-IX)
Tabulation of commissions and boards (A-X)
List of significant subjects in the President's official file (A-XI)
List of significant subjects in the President's personal file (A-XII)
4
List of subjects in White House press releases (A-XIII)
Topical list of executive orders (A-XIV)
List of printed materials submitted by departments and agencies (A-XV)
Suggestions for further work (X-VI)
PART 2. Printed Matter and Exhibits Submitted by Departments, etc.
The printed materials which were received from the departments, etc., have been
interfiled in the Presidential Papers and Library book collection. The current location of
these items is given in the pages which follow. This section of the finding aid is arranged
as per the following "table of contents" and has been tabbed for convenient use.
Cabinet Departments
1. Agriculture Department
2. Commerce Department
3. Interior Department
4. Justice Department
5. Labor Department
6. Navy Department
7. Post Office Department
8. State Department
9. Treasury Department
10. War Department
Agencies, Commissions and Boards
11. Alien Property Custodian
12. Citizens Reconstruction Organization
13. Civil Service Commission
14. Federal Board for Vocational Education
15. Federal Employment Stabilization Board
16. Federal Farm Board
17. Federal Home Loan Bank Board
18. Federal Oil Conservation Board
19. Federal Power Commission
20. Federal Radio Commission
21. Federal Reserve Board
22. Federal Trade Commission
23. George Washington Bicentennial Commission
24. Government Printing Office
25. Inland Waterways Commission
26. Interstate Commerce Commission
27. Library of Congress
28. Muscle Shoals Commission
29. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
30. National Advisory Committee on Education
31. National Advisory Committee on Illiteracy
32. National Business Survey Conference
Agencies, Commissions and Boards
33. National Capitol Park and Planning Commission
34. National Commission on Law Enforcement and Observance
35. National Committee on Wood Utilization
36. National Conference of Banking and Industrial Committees
37. National Conference on Street and Highway Safety
38. National Recreational Association
39. Public Buildings and Public Parks of the National Capitol
40. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
41. Senate Appropriations Committee
42. Smithsonian Institute
43. U.S. Board of Mediation
44. U.S. Bureau of Efficiency
45. U.S. Chamber of Commerce
46. U.S. Employees Compensation Commission
47. U.S. Shipping Board
48. Tariff Commission
49. Timber Conservation Board
50. Veterans Administration
51. White House Conference on Child Health and Protection
Political Parties
52. Republican National Committee
53. Democratic National Committee