| Record Group: | New Jersey Salvage Committee |
| Series: | Records, 1942-1944 |
| Accession #: | Unknown |
| Series #: | SZSAL001 |
| Guide Date: | Pre-1998 (DJ) |
| Volume: | 3 c.f. [4 boxes] |
Content Note | Contents
Institutional
History
The
New Jersey State Salvage Committee originated as early as March
1942, but its existence remains largely undocumented until Charles
A. Eaton, then executive vice-president of the New Jersey State
Chamber of Commerce, was appointed chairman in July. His time was
probably loaned to the committee by the chamber, because he continued
to operate from its office in Newark. Beginning in December 1942,
he was assisted in the same office by an administrative director,
Robert B. Skinner. The committee's authority came from a hybrid
of state and federal jurisdictions. Eaton received his appointment
from Governor Charles Edison, and was notified of the same by Leonard
Dreyfuss, state civilian defense director. Dreyfuss's office was
created by P.L. 1942, c. 251, passed May 23.
The committee appears to have received direction principally from Clinton M. White, the executive secretary for New Jersey of the General Salvage Branch, Conservation Division, of the federal War Production Board. The board itself had been created by executive order of President Roosevelt on January 16, 1942. The salvage committee's authority to accept federal direction probably derived from P.L. 1941, c. 393, passed December 23, which sweepingly empowered the governor "to render to the government of the United States, ...any and all resources within the state." Among its many activities, the War Production Board directed the salvage and recycling of fat, rubber, tin, and newspapers to support wartime production. It operated through a field structure that included 12 regional offices and 101 district offices. Oddly, however, neither these records nor histories of the board indicate that New Jersey (or Newark, where Clinton White's office was located) served as either a regional or district office. Bibliography
Blum,
John Morton, V Was for Victory. Harvest/HBJ, New York,
1976.
Civilian Production Administration, Bureau of Demobilization, Field Organization and Administration of the War Production Board and Predecessors, May 1940 to November 1945. Historical Reports on War Administration: War Production Board, Special Study No. 25. |
|
The records consist of correspondence files, minutes, press releases, other publicity, local salvage ordinances, and financial records. The correspondence files contain the most useful information, tracing the activities of the committee from March 1942 to September 1944. They are primarily of three types: 1) Eaton's and Skinner's correspondence with Clinton White, of the War Production Board's Newark branch, addressing key aspects of the salvage programs; 2) their correspondence with the business community to encourage its participation; and 3) internal correspondence between Eaton and Skinner and the district chairmen that document most of the day-to-day operations of the committee. Since there are few other organizational materials, the correspondence files serve as the principal record of the committee's structure and activities. Less crucial to the committee's documentation are administrative files: a ledger book, and a few folders of minutes, press releases, and newsclippings. Rounding out the collection are several publicity files of the War Production Board and other non-New Jersey salvage organizations, including newsletters, advertisements and posters. In processing these records, the following types of documents were destroyed: duplicate copies, newsclippings not directly related to the activities of the committee, canceled checks, and letters documenting the monthly reimbursements made to members of the committee. |
|
Box 1 Correspondence,
March - June 1942 Box 2 Correspondence,
February 1944
Ledger
Book - Receipts/Disbursements, December 1942 - September 1944
Fat
Salvage Committee Releases, not dated Box 3 Unprocessed Material Box 4 Weeded Material |
| Created
November 2004 |
|
|||
|
Relative to research and mail reference services - archives.reference@sos.state.nj.us Relative to records transfers and donations - archives.collections@sos.state.nj.us |
|
||
 |
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
