Research: Military: They Also Served
They Also Served --- Series Descriptions
Farm Manpower Service
A4348. Farm Labor Correspondence, 1943-1945. 3 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by correspondent's last name, subject, or organization name.
This series contains the correspondence of the Farm Manpower Service detailing how it coordinated and provided information to individuals and organizations concerned with the farm labor shortage. It includes suggestions, inquiries about the placement of both children and adults in food harvesting and processing jobs, appeals for additional labor on farms, questions concerning assistance in buying farms, and inquiries about the details of Selective Service classifications and releases from service in order to work in food production. Many of these letters were written in response to an address on farm labor given by Governor Dewey on February 25, 1943. Also included is correspondence between the Farm Manpower Service and other agencies which details its efforts to alleviate the farm labor shortage. Among the topics discussed in this series are price ceilings for produce; the possibility of recruiting laborers from non-traditional sources, such as State mental health facilities, to work in food production; and the difficulties in obtaining and repairing farm equipment.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4349. Farm Labor Program Procedure Manuals, 1944-1945. 0.7 cu. ft.
Arrangement: By topic.
This series contains the procedure manuals used by county agricultural extension agents in the implementation and operation of the Farm Labor Program, which the Farm Manpower Service served to coordinate. The Extension Service of the New York State College of Agriculture had the general responsibility, through the county agents, Farm and Home Bureaus, and the 4-H Clubs organization, for implementing the recruitment, placement, housing, and general educational functions of the Farm Labor Program. Included in the manuals are lists of potential sources of labor, budget forms, monthly farm labor report forms, policies concerning cooperative and membership corporations, information on the transportation, health maintenance, and insurance of workers, and certificates and insignia given to workers in recognition of satisfactory performance.
A4355. Farm Cadet Victory Corps Program Administrative Records and Correspondence, 1943-1944. 2 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by name or subject.
This series contains records concerning the insurance, training, housing, and supervision of the cadets participating in the Farm Cadet Victory Corps Program, an effort to recruit, train, place, house, and employ several thousand high school students as seasonal farm laborers. It includes reports on the arrivals, departures, and performance of farm cadets submitted by County Agricultural Extension agents and maintained by the Farm Manpower Service as part of its responsibility for the program's overall administration. Also included are transcripts of radio programs relating to the Farm Cadet Victory Corps and a sample of a questionnaire given to farmers, one of the many sources of the information necessary for the Farm Manpower Service to fulfill its duty to provide statistics on farm labor. The correspondence concerns details of the program such as work permits, insurance, and insignia. It contains complaints regarding the conditions of work and housing made by cadets, their parents, or the hiring farmers and the subsequent investigation of these complaints. This series also includes materials from related programs used by W.J. Weaver, a State Department of Education supervisor, in his work with the Farm Cadet Victory Corps Program.
Finding aids: Folder list.
A4356. Farm Labor Program Administrative and Organizational Records, 1943. 1 cu. ft.
Arrangement: Alphabetical by subject.
This series documents the activities of federal, State, and local agencies and organizations implementing the Farm Labor Program, which the Farm Manpower Service served to coordinate. It includes draft and final legislation regarding the Farm Labor Program's creation, organization, and goals. Other records relating to the program's organization and administration include mission statements, meeting minutes, and annual reports, providing information on the program itself as well as information used by the Farm Manpower Service in its provision of a statistical service concerning farm labor. Plans for programs and campaigns to mobilize workers on a local level, work plans of County Agricultural Extensions helping to implement the Farm Labor Program, and news releases by federal, State, and local agencies reflect worker mobilization efforts in response to the farm labor shortage. Drafts to amend existing legislation regarding the employment of minors and patients from mental health facilities show the program's efforts to recruit labor from non-traditional sources.
The series contains the Farm Manpower Service's records regarding and correspondence with individual labor camps involved in the program. These deal with issues such as health inspections, the suitability of the camps for housing farm laborers, nutrition, and rationing of food and materials. Also included are records concerning groups of food production workers from various sources, such as Army troops for emergency work, Navy trainees, Italian prisoners of war, Jamaicans, vacation workers, and the Women's Land Army, an organization of women working in food production.
