-
Re: Seeking records of USIS & activities in China
Thomas RichardsonSep 25, 2020 11:43 AM (in response to Edward Lanfranco)
Dear Mr. Lanfranco,
Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!
The United States Information Service (USIS) was established in the Office of Government Reports. In 1942, USIS became the Division of Public Inquiries of the Bureau of Special Services, Domestic Operations Branch, Office of War Information (OWI). USIS was reestablished in the reconstituted Office of Government Reports following the termination of OWI, and it took over the records of the OWI's Bureau of Special Services.
We searched the National Archives Catalog and located 1 series, 4 file units & 5 items in the Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State (Record Group 84) that include USIS & China during the 1940s. The items are digitized. We also checked the Records of the Office of Government Reports (Record Group 44) and located 37 results for the Bureau of Special Services. For access to the non-digitized records, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Textual Reference (RDT2) via email at archives2reference@nara.gov.
In addition, we located the Photographs Depicting "Life in the United States", 1942 - 1946 in the Records of the Office of War Information (Record Group 208) that includes the file unit STATE DEPARTMENT - USIS - China. For access to these photographs, please contact the National Archives at College Park - Still Pictures (RDSS) via email at stillpix@nara.gov.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and pursuant to guidance received from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), NARA has adjusted its normal operations to balance the need of completing its mission-critical work while also adhering to the recommended social distancing for the safety of NARA staff. As a result of this re-prioritization of activities, you may experience a delay in receiving an initial acknowledgement as well as a substantive response to your reference request from RDT2 and RDSS. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.
We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!
-
Re: Seeking records of USIS & activities in China
Edward Lanfranco Sep 26, 2020 2:16 PM (in response to Thomas Richardson)Mr. Richardson-
Thanks for responding to my request for information. Before I start digging through the digital links you kindly provided, I thought I might be able to cut to the chase by showing you an example of the five USIS documents I collected in Beijing more than a decade ago. I'm hoping to find out where more of these are archived, as well as their history.
-