National Recovery Administration (NRA) St. Louis Clothing Industry Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: LH-wua00547

Staff Only

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) St. Louis Clothing Industry Collection consists of thirteen bound volumes of documents related to the Industrial Recovery Association of Clothing Manufacturers and the Curlee Clothing Company, headquartered in St. Louis. Includes trial transcripts, correspondence, duplication of newspaper articles, and other documents reflecting the interaction of clothing/textile companies with New Deal regulations.

Unknown who originally gathered and organized these documents. They were bound in St. Louis prior to being obtained by the library.

Dates

Creation: 1933-1936

Creator

United States. National Recovery Administration (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Open

Conditions Governing Use

Users of the collection must read and agree to abide by the rules and procedures set forth in the Materials Use Policies..

Providing access to materials does not constitute permission to publish or otherwise authorize use. All publication not covered by fair use or other exceptions is restricted to those who have permission of the copyright holder, which may or may not be Washington University.

If you wish to publish or license Special Collections materials, please contact Special Collections to inquire about copyright status at (314) 935-5495 or spec@wumail.wustl.edu. (Publish means quotation in whole or in part in seminar or term papers, theses or dissertations, journal articles, monographs, books, digital forms, photographs, images, dramatic presentations, transcriptions, or any other form prepared for a limited or general public.)

Extent

2 linear feet

4 boxes

Additional Description

Historical Information

The Great Depression was a global crisis in the 1930's affecting all countries including the United States. One quarter of the work force, was out of work and those fortunate enough to have jobs worked under unfavorable conditions. Overproduction in the 1920's led to inflation, and in 1929 the Wall Street Crash flattened the United States' economy. The New Deal was the set of federal programs launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt after taking office in 1933, in response to the calamity of the Great Depression, and lasting until American entry into the Second World War in 1942.

One of several "New Deal" programs, the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) was signed into law on June 16, 1933 by Roosevelt. The NIRA was administered in part by the National Recovery Administration (NRA), which was established after the passage of NIRA as an independent agency by Executive Order (EO) 6173. The NIRA was broadly intended to spread available work among a larger number of workers by a) limiting hours and launching a public works program and b) increasing individuals' purchasing power by establishing minimum wage rates. Generally speaking, NIRA legalized collective bargaining and exempted businesses from anti-trust laws that barred anticompetitive practices. The proposition and enforcement of Codes of Fair Competition were left to trade associations of specific industries. In a short two years, 557 Codes were approved by the President, and hundreds more were proposed and either revised or not approved. However, the NIRA was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in May 1935 and was abolished January 1, 1936.

https://guides.loc.gov/national-recovery-administration