Office of Civilian Defense
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| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | May 20, 1941 |
| Dissolved | June 4, 1945 |
Superseding agency | |
| Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
| Headquarters |
|
| Employees | 75 |
Key documents | |
Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information, 1941–1945
The Office of Civilian Defense was a United States federal emergency war agency set up May 20, 1941, by Executive Order 8757 to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency.[1] Its two branches supervised protective functions such as blackouts and special fire protection and "war service" functions such as child care, health, housing, and transportation. It also created the Civil Air Patrol. The agency was terminated by Executive Order 9562 of June 4, 1945.[2] The Office of Civil Defense with similar duties was established later.
Fiorello La Guardia was the first head of the office, succeeded in 1942 by James M. Landis, followed in 1944 by General William N. Haskell.[3][4] While the agency only had a paid staff of 75, it supervised and coordinated the efforts of civilian volunteers estimated to have topped 11 million.[citation needed] Volunteer tasks included firefighting and air-raid preparedness. Children, under adult supervision, could volunteer in the Junior Citizens Service Corps, and were especially helpful in wartime scrap drives.
Director
[edit] Denotes acting capacity. |
| Name | Start | End | President(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiorello La Guardia | May 20, 1941 | February 11, 1942 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) | |
| James Landis | February 12, 1942 | April 15, 1942 | ||
| April 15, 1942 | September 8, 1943 | |||
| John Martin Acting |
September 8, 1943 | March 10, 1944 | ||
| William Haskell | March 10, 1944 | June 4, 1945 | ||
| Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) | ||||
See also
[edit]- Gilbert A. Harrison, chairman of the Youth Division
- Lorenzo D. Gasser, U.S. Army major general, War Department liaison to OCD, later assistant director in charge of civilian protection.[5]
- United States civil defense
References
[edit]- ↑ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T (May 20, 1941). "Franklin D. Roosevelt: 'Executive Order 8757 Establishing the Office of Civilian Defense'". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
- ↑ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T (June 4, 1945). "Harry S. Truman: Executive Order 9562—Termination of the Office of Civilian Defense". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
- ↑ "Civil Defense Museum History Page". www.civildefensemuseum.com.
- ↑ TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (March 11, 1944). "HASKELL IS NAMED AS DIRECTOR OF OCD; President in Letter to Landis' Successor Praises State and Local War Drive Aid" – via NYTimes.com.
- ↑ Ellis, Charles H. Jr. (January 15, 1942). "LaGuardia to Quit One of Two Jobs". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, PA. pp. 1, 4 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
[edit]- Richard Clem. "Boy Scout Civilian Defense Volunteers in WW2". Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- "Full text of government publications issues". United States Office of Civilian Defense.
- "How the Office of Civilian Defense Worked". June 4, 2009.
- "Civil Defense for National Security" (PDF).
- "Enrolled Volunteer Worker Groups for Civilian Protection".
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