USGS Records and History - 1999

Federal & State Resources / US Geological Survey (USGS)

Rabbitt assembled this bibliography in 1999 and was published in 2000. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) was founded by an act of Congress dated March 3, 1879 (20 Stat. L., 394-395). The provisions of the act specified that “the salary of the Director of the Geological Survey, which office is hereby established, under the Interior Department, who shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, six thousand dollars: Provided, That this officer shall have the direction of the Geological Survey, and the classification of the public lands and examination of the Geological Structure, mineral resources and products of the national domain.” The act directed the termination of the three ongoing geological and geographic surveys (predecessor surveys) and the deposit of the USGS and other Federal scientific collections in the National Museum. Other clauses specified ethics for USGS employees. The act also provided for the publication of an annual report of the operations of the USGS, maps, and technical reports, a program of publications exchange, and the establishment of a library.

Although the agency was commonly referred to as the United States Geological Survey and routinely used that title on official publications, it was by the act of May 18, 1992 (106 Stat. L., 171), that the Federal Geological Survey officially became the United States Geological Survey The act of August 7, 1882 (22 Stat. L., 329), directed the USGS “to continue the preparation of a geologic map of the United States.” The legal interpretations of “national domain” in the USGS establishing legislation (or organic act) had restricted the agency’s operations to the public-land States and Territories west of the Mississippi River. As geologic mappers required accurate large-scale topographic maps on which to compile their data and interpretations, the new law was interpreted by the USGS as authorizing topographic and geologic mapping in the remainder of the United States. The Survey entered into cooperative arrangements with the States to conduct field examinations and compile maps.

Continuous funding for water-resources investigations by the USGS dates from the act of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. L., 398), that specifically authorized “gauging the streams and determining the water supply of the United States, including the investigation of underground currents and artesian wells in arid and semiarid sections.” The “Weeks Act” of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. L., 962), added responsibility for the examination of lands before they were purchased to “promote or protect the navigation of streams on whose watersheds they lie.”

The land-classification work specified in the organic act was not an active function of the USGS until 1906. That year the General Land Office and the USGS entered into a cooperative agreement that specified that the USGS was to be chiefly responsible for the examination and classification of lands and report its findings to the General
Land Office for action. In 1908 the Land Classification Board was established in the Geologic Branch. In 1925 when the Bureau of Mines was transferred to the Department of Commerce the Mineral- and Oil-Leasing Divisions of the Bureau of Mines were transferred to the USGS. With the transfer the USGS’ new Conservation Branch acquired responsibility for administering the provisions of the Mineral Leasing Act of February 25, 1920 (41 Stat. L., 437), and related legislation that formed the basis of regulatory responsibilities in the USGS.

In 1907 the USGS established a Technologic Branch to administer the programs of fuel- and structural-materials testing and analysis. The act of May 22, 1908 (35 Stat. L., 226), provided for investigations into the causes of mine explosions. A Mine Accidents Division was set up in the Technologic Branch to conduct these investigations.
In 1910, most of the Technologic Branch’s functions were transferred to the newly created Bureau of Mines. The same year structural-materials studies were transferred to the Bureau of Standards.

By 1920 the operational units that would carry out USGS programs for the next sixty years were in place - the Geologic Branch, Topographic Branch, Water Resources Branch, and Land Classification Board (later the Conservation Branch) [Organization Chart 1].

The first USGS Director, Clarence King, established field offices. John W. Powell, the second Director, closed the field offices and all off-season work was done at the Washington headquarters. Later the operational units found that field offices increased the staff’s time for field work and ensured the direct oversight of year-round operations such as stream gaging. The location and number of field offices differed from one operational unit to another depending on type of work and need.

USGS staff served on USGS committees, such as the Geologic Names Committee, that drew on the experience and expertise of employees to better administer the agency’s programs; departmental and regional field committees, such as the Water Resources Committee, to coordinate departmental programs and formulate long-range plans within the department; and interagency and coordination committees, such as the Pacific Northwest Coordination Committee, to facilitate cooperation between agencies of the Federal Government. USGS staffers also attended meetings of other departmental committees as observers or to serve a liaison function. The professional staff of the USGS also participated in conferences and meetings of professional, industrial, and international scientific organizations.

In the 1930's the USGS undertook programs with funds appropriated for economic recovery under the administration the National Recovery Administration, the Public Works Administration and the Work Projects Administration. The level of cooperative work between the operational units of the USGS, particularly the Topographic and Water Resources Branches, and other Federal agencies and States increased with funding provided by economic-recovery appropriations.

During World War I and World War II the USGS reoriented its programs to support the war effort. Just before the United States entered World War I USGS geologists were gathering data about worldwide strategic-mineral production and consumption. During the war many experienced topographers were commissioned in the military to
prepare maps. The water-resources staff made studies of ground water for the use of military installations. USGS involvement in World War II occupied more of the civilian staff over a longer period of time. The Branches worked under agreements with and funding from elements of the War Department to compile strategic terrain intelligence reports on enemy held areas, to identify the locations of critical minerals available to the enemy, and to prepare topographic maps of areas occupied by United States forces.

The growth of USGS programs and staff after World War II required fundamental changes in organizational structure. To handle the increased administrative demands on the Branch Chiefs, staff positions were created in the Divisions. In 1946 two staff units were add to the Topographic Branch, the Plans and Coordination Branch and the
Research and Technical Branch. In 1948 the Technical Control and Programs Control Branches were added to the Water Resources Branch; an Executive Officer began work in the Geologic Branch; and the position of Chairman of the Unit Plan Committee was created in the Conservation Branch. In 1949 Federal branches were renamed divisions with subordinate branches; the divisions were restyled branches, with subordinate sections and units.

Under Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1950 other organizational and administrative changes were made in the USGS. The plan vested some of the authority that had been exercised by the Director in the Secretary of the Interior. In the next several years the staffing plans of the Divisions were evaluated with the object of reorienting the lines of authority. The process was essentially complete in by 1958 [Organization Chart 2]. In the 1930's it became evident to USGS geologists that oil-bearing geological structures in the California and Gulf of Mexico coastal plains extended offshore. In 1945 an Executive Order placed the natural resources of the Continental Shelf under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. The Submerged Lands Act of 1953 established Federal jurisdiction over the Continental Shelf. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act of 1953 encouraged the exploration and development of fossil fuel and other mineral resources. Geological and geophysical exploration on the outer continental shelf was conducted by the Geologic Division and oversight of leasing and, later, application of environmental-protection laws, was the responsibility of the Conservation Division.

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, Water Resources Research Act of 1984, and other legislation about national environmental policy that reflected growing public concern about environmental and conservation matters augmented the work of the USGS. The Water Resources Division expanded a network of gaging stations set up to measure the flow of fresh water into estuaries. The Geologic Division developed new techniques for the study of marine geologic structures to determine environmental hazards associated with offshore drilling facilities. The Topographic Division used data from earth-observing satellites and high-altitude aircraft to compile maps to aid in land-use planning. The USGS established a data center in 1973 to collect data from remotely sensed sources under the Earth Resource Observation Systems (EROS) Program.

The Office of Earth Sciences Applications (OESA) succeeded the Land Analysis and Information Office, which had been established in 1975. Records concerning the earlier programs of the predecessor unit, the Geographic Applications Program are described with the records of the Office of the Geographer (entries 61, 65, and 66).
The OESA was abolished in 1982 and its functions were dispersed to the National Mapping, Geologic, and Water Resources Divisions.

The Office of the Naval Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (ONPRA) was established in the Office of the Director of the Geological Survey in 1977. In 1974 the Navy Department began a new exploratory program in Alaska’s Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4. The program was expanded with funds authorized by Congress. The Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of April 5, 1976 (90 Stat. L., 303), renamed the reserve the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and assigned the Department of the Interior oversight of the exploratory program and other duties associated with management of the reserve. In 1977 these tasks were delegated to the USGS. The program was terminated in 1982 and the oil and gas fields turned over to the North Slope Borough.

In 1982 the Minerals Management Service (MMS) was created by Secretarial Order 3071 (January 19, 1982) and amendment 1 (May 10, 1982) under the authority of Section 2 of Reorganization Plan 3 of 1950. The same year administrative functions relating to outer-continental-shelf leasing responsibilities in the Conservation Division were transferred to MMS. The following year revenue-management responsibilities of the Conservation Division were also transferred. Onshore leasing responsibilities on public and Indian lands were transferred to the Bureau of Land Management.

In 1993, Secretarial Order 3173 (September 29, 1993) established a National Biological Survey in the Department of the Interior composed of functions transferred from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Minerals Management Service, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, United States Geological Survey, and Bureau of Reclamation. The agency, renamed the National Biological Service in 1995, was responsible for providing scientific support and other assistance to other Federal agencies in forming policies that would effect the conservation and management of the biological resources of the United States. In 1996 the National Biological Service was abolished under the provisions of the act of April 26, 1996 (110 Stat L., 1321-165) and its functions transferred to the USGS, where it was reconstituted as the Biological Resources Division.

The United States Bureau of Mines was abolished under provisions of the act of April 26, 1996 (110 Stat. L., 1321-167). Functions relating to minerals information and analysis were transferred to the USGS. An important source of related records is Record Group 48, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. The USGS has been a bureau of the Department of the Interior since the agency’s establishment in 1879. The records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior contain many series that document departmental oversight of the functions and programs of the USGS. The records of the Office of the Secretary are organized in two major subgroups, pre-1907 and post-1907. The information presented herein is intended to highlight those series that contain readily identifiable and significant records relating to the USGS. Where entire series are cited the dates given are those of the series and not necessarily the items contained in the series that relate to the USGS.

An inventory of Record Group 48, Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior is available at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In the pre-1907 records administrative oversight of the USGS is documented in the letters received and letters sent of the Patents and Miscellaneous Division. Four other series in this division also contain records relating to the USGS and its predecessor surveys: (1) letters received relating to the United States Entomological Commission, 1877-80; (2) letters relating to the Geological Survey and its predecessors, 1868-80; (3) reports of the Geological Survey, 1883-87; and (4) records relating to forest reserves, 1891-1902. Matters in which the USGS was involved relating to areas under the jurisdiction of the General Land Office or the Bureau of Indian Affairs were handled through
the Lands and Railroads Division and the Indian Division, respectively, and are documented in the letters received and letters sent of those divisions. The records of the Lands and Railroads Division also include a series of records relating to specific reclamation projects, 1889-1907. The records of the Appointments Division included several series that contain records relating to the USGS: (1) central office appointment papers, 1849-1907, which include a few files items relating to the nomination and appointment of Directors of the USGS, including Clarence King, John W. Powell, and Charles D. Walcott; (2) departmental appointment papers, 1879-1906, which concern the appointment of the USGS’s scientific and technical employees, clerks, messengers, and others, but not seasonal field employees who were hired in the field; and (3) record cards for employees of the USGS, 1918 (for individuals with surnames beginning with the letters L-Z).

In the post-1907 records, the central classified files contain significant records about the USGS. In the central classified files dated 1907-53, most of the records documenting oversight of the USGS are in section 7 - Geological Survey. There are also related files in section 1 - Administrative, section 8 - Bureau of Reclamation, and section 11- Bureau of Mines. The central classified files dated 1954-58 contain pertinent records in section 3 - Geological Survey. The later central files, 1959-63, 1964-68, and 1968-72 include information about the USGS dispersed among many programs areas. Other post-1907 records also contain records about USGS activities. The general subject files, 1939- 58, of the Office of the Solicitor include files titled Geological Survey, oil and gas, water and power, and the outer continental shelf. The records of the Division of Information include press releases relating to the USGS in several sub-series dated 1938-61, 1959-62, and 1963-74. The records relating to legislation, in two series dated 1907-53, and 1954-58, are an important source of information about legislative mandates that affected USGS programs. The records concerning the department war history, 1941-48, contain a draft history of USGS activities during World War II. The general records, 1946-51, of the Minerals and Fuels Division; the central files, 1947-53, of the Program Staff; and the central classified files, 1937-56, of the Division of Land Utilization contain files titled Geological
Survey.

Several bureaus were formed entirely, or in part, or enhanced from functions that originated in the USGS. The records of those agencies that are found in the National Archives are designated: Record Group 49, Records of the Bureau of Land Management (created when the Division of Grazing, formed from functions transferred from the
USGS, was merged with the General Land Office); Record Group 70, Records of the United States Bureau of Mines; Record Group 90, Records of the Public Health Service; Record Group 95, Records of the Forest Service; Record Group 115, Records of the Bureau of Reclamation; and Record Group 423, Records of the Minerals Management Service.

Other records that contain information about cooperation with the USGS include Record Group 9, Records of the National Recovery Administration; Record Group 23, Records of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; Record Group 27, Records of the Weather Bureau; Record Group 68, Records of the United States Coal Commission; Record Group 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers; Record Group 79, Records of the National Park Service; Record Group 106, Records of the Smithsonian Institution; Record Group 114, Records of the Soil Conservation Service; Record Group 126, Records of the Office of Territories; Record Group 135, Records of the Public Works Administration; Record Group 138, Records of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (formerly the Federal Power Commission); Record Group 142, Records of the Tennessee Valley Authority; Record Group 232, Records of the Petroleum Administrative Board; Record Group 298, Records of the Office of Naval Research; Records Group 320, Records of the Office of Minerals Exploration; Records Group 324, Records of the Board on Geographic Names;
and Record Group 326, Records of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Summary descriptions of the records comprising each of the record groups are in the “Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States” (1995). The Guide also described records of the United States Geological Survey that are located in NARA field branches. The USGS records in the National Archives Branches are records and files that were created or maintained by the field offices of the USGS. More than 20,000 USGS field notebooks or files, 2,600 map groups, 2,000 folders, and 70,000 aerial photos (some annotated) that remain in the custody of the agency are in the Field Records Library, Special Collections, USGS Library, Denver, Colorado, where they support the agency’s work-in-progress. These materials, which date from 1871, include field and compilation maps, annotated topographic maps, planetable sheets, correspondence, drafts of papers, unpublished reports, well logs, and analysis reports.

The records described in this inventory constitute Record Group 57, Records of the United States Geological Survey in the National Archives of the United States. The records are located in Archives II in College Park, Maryland. This inventory includes all the records of the United States Geological Survey that were accessioned to the
National Archives as of December 31, 1997. The records consist of textual materials, maps and plans, aerial photographs, still photographs, motion pictures, and sound recordings. The textual records are in the custody of the Textual Archives Services Division (NWCTC). The non-textual records are in the custody of the Special Media
Archives Services Division (NWCS). The footage given is in linear feet unless otherwise stated.

The records in this inventory are organized in sections by the organizational units that created or maintained the records. There under the records are described in series. A series is defined as a collection of records that is arranged by a systematic filing system (decimal, alphabetical, chronological, map series), that share a unique format (indexes, geologists’ field notebooks, microfiche), or were maintained as a set of files by an organizational unit to document a program area or function. Whenever possible the nontextual records (maps and plans, aerial photographs, still pictures, motion pictures) are described with related textual records. The nontextual materials that do not relate to any particular series of textual records; they are described in a general category at the division level. All the appendices, with the exception of Appendix 1 (a select list of legislation) and Appendix 7 (a summary list of series contents), are
complete file-title lists.

The nontextual records are maintained in specialized custodial units. The maps and plans, aerial photographs, still pictures, and motion pictures are in the Special Media Archives Services Division  in the National Archives and are accompanied by the designation NWCS. A few nontextual records are filed with the textual records and are so indicated with the series description.

Sources for the history of the USGS include the three volumes by Mary C. Rabbitt, “Minerals, Lands, Geology for the Common Defence and General Welfare,

Volume 1, Before 1879" (1979), 
Volume 2, 1879-1904" (1980), and
Volume 3, 1904-1939" (1986) published by the U. S. Government Printing Office as USGS Special Books.

A fourth volume (1939-1979) is being prepared. Earlier analyses comprise those by Charles D. Walcott, 1904, “The United States Geological Survey: Its Origin, Development, Organization, and Operations,” USGS Bulletin 227, and the Institute for Government Research (IGR), 1918, “The United States Geological Survey, Its History, Activities, and Organization” published in New York and London by D. Appleton & Company as its Service Monograph of the United States Government No. 1. A book-length interpretive history of the early years of the USGS is Thomas G. Manning, 1967, “Government in Science: The U.S. Geological Survey, 1967-1894,” published in Lexington by the University of Kentucky Press. For detailed evaluations of the immediate predecessor surveys of the USGS, see Richard A. Bartlett, 1962, “Great Surveys of the American West,” published by the University of Oklahoma Press, and Chapters XI-XV in William H. Goetzmann, 1966, “Exploration and Empire: The Explorer and the Scientist in the Winning of the American West,” published in New York by Alfred A. Knopf.

Cooperation between the USGS and NARA in the years since 1980 facilitated the production of this inventory. The compiler thanks Clifford Nelson (USGS) and Sharon Thibodeau (NARA) for their encouragement and supervision. At NARA, archivists Charles Dewing, William Heynen, Deborah Lelansky, Edward McCarter, Michele
Pacifico, Joseph Schwarz, Richard Smith, Alan Walker, and Charles Zaid contributed to the completion of the work. Nelson and Robert Kvasnicka (NARA) also served as technical reviewers and revisers of the draft versions. The inventory report was edited using the standards of the USGS and the U.S. Government Printing Office.