Ralph W. Hollenberg collection of materials relating to the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, 1924-1949, bulk (bulk 1938-1945)

Summary

Creators:

Hollenberg, Ralph W.

Abstract:

Contains materials collected by Ralph W. Hollenberg chiefly during his tenure as Acting Director of the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, from 1939 to 1941. Contains administrative records, program files, and farm labor research materials relating to FSA activities in Region IX, which included Calif., Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. Administrative files include a small amount of correspondence, reports, speeches, and press releases, along with minutes of meetings, and publications, which includes several bibliographies with a focus on agricultural labor in the west, particularly Calif. The bulk of the collection is dedicated to a variety of agricultural, housing, and social programs created and administrered by the FSA, and may include correspondence, reports, memoranda, statements, and clippings. Farm labor research files focus on farmer organizations and agricultural development in Calif., and includes a few files containing reports, statements, talks, and press releases, with other printed material and clippings from 1942-1945, concerning the evacuation of Japanese Americans from the west coast during World War II.

Extent:

Number of containers: 9 cartons Linear feet: 11.25

Language:

Collection materials are in English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of documents collected by Ralph W. Hollenberg during his tenure as Acting Director of the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, from 1939 to 1941. Included are administrative records, program files, and farm labor research materials relating to FSA activities in Region IX, which included California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.

Administrative files include a small amount of correspondence, reports, speeches, and press releases. Minutes of cooperative meetings and legislative strategy sessions illustrate professional affiliations between the FSA and the La Follette Committee and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Publications includes several bibliographies with a focus on agricultural labor in the west, particularly California.

The bulk of the collection is dedicated to the variety of agricultural, housing, and social programs created and administered by the Farm Security Administration, and may include correspondence, reports, memoranda, statements, and clippings. The farm labor research files, with a focus on farmer organizations and agricultural development in California completes the collection.

Biographical / historical:

Ralph W. Hollenberg collected a variety of materials during his tenure as Acting Director, Region IX, U.S. Farm Security Administration, from 1939-1941. The materials range from before and after his tenancy, and cover the period of 1938-1945. The FSA was created on September 1, 1937, as an agency to replace the Resettlement Administration.

The FSA divided the United States into twelve regions, grouping states by agricultural similarities; Region IX included California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada. The regional office was responsible for making loans and coordinating resettlement projects. Each regional director had the services of advisers in Business Management, Labor Relations, Personnel and Information.

During Hollenberg's tenure, the priorities for Region IX included the Farm Rehabilitation Program, the Tenant Purchase Project and Emergency Relief Grants. Beginning in 1941, the FSA stressed increased food production as part of the War Food Administration. This period was a busy one for the FSA, but their basic philosophy was that the FSA was one program and that one part of the program would not produce results unless complemented by the other parts. The Farm Security Administration believed that farmers must be aided as a whole, whatever their position on the agricultural ladder. They stressed that agriculture can only prosper as a whole, and that low-income farmers must be assisted whether they are owners, tenants, share croppers, or agricultural workers.

Acquisition information:

Materials relating to the Farm Security Administration, Region IX, San Francisco were given to The Bancroft Library by Ralph W. Hollenberg from 1942 through 1945, via Paul Schuster Taylor.

Physical location:

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Location of this collection:

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library

Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US

Contact:

510-642-6481

bancref-library@berkeley.edu

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