The War Production Board and Historical Research: Some Observations on Writing Public History

Abstract

ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON, October 15, 1942, War Production Board (WPB) Director of Organization Planning Luther H. Gulick proposed to Board Chairman Donald M. Nelson a reorganization designed to ensure that after the war the history of this period will be written proper balance and with full knowledge of the basic documents.' Gulick, however, was not solely concerned with laying the groundwork for historical research. The WPB's own administrative operations were impaired by a lack of institutional memory and the means to acquire it. Many of the chairman's top assistants were handicapped in dealing with persons who [had] lived with particular problems for many months. Other members of Nelson's staff were forced to piece together the story by relatively casual inquiries made to various people with whom chance brought them into contact.2 Gulick also foresaw other advantages accruing to the WPB daily administration and congressional relations should Nelson and his cabinet group accept the proposal. These incidental advantages aside, however, the need to provide for a historical account that could critically appraise our policy