Records of the Bureau of Vocational Information, 1908-1932

This collection contains some of the office files of the Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations and Bureau of Vocational Information. The bulk of the material consists of Bureau of Vocational Information correspondence, questionnaires, and printed material, the material about secretarial work making up the largest portion. The Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations files consist mostly of the transcripts of a series of lectures (1915-1916) on vocational opportunities for women. Some of the information gathered by Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations was incorporated into Bureau of Vocational Information files in 1919 and is still to be found there. Except for the minutes of one joint meeting of the Bureau of Vocational Information Board of Managers and the Advisory Council in 1926 (#28), this collection does not include the administrative or financial records of either organization.

The papers provide information about occupational opportunities available to women, the training required, the advantages of certain fields, and also about the people and other organizations involved in the effort to educate women about these opportunities. The employer and employee questionnaires and interviews reveal much about contemporary attitudes towards working women, and social and economic conditions for women in the 1920s.

Beatrice Doerschuk, who was associated with Bureau of Vocational Information from 1916-1926, "reorganized" the papers (ca.1928), using Bureau of Vocational Information folder headings. Her overall arrangement and description were retained, with only minor changes.

In researching fields of employment, Bureau of Vocational Information corresponded with and sent out many questionnaires to employers and employees. Correspondence was filed separately in some cases and with questionnaires in others. Correspondence within a folder is arranged chronologically, with the exception of exchanges of letters with an individual or an organization that were found clipped together. In folders that contain a variety of materials, these are also arranged chronologically, with undated items at the end.

The questionnaire numbering system is not consistent. Some have more than one set of numbers; a few have no numbers. In folders in which questionnaires predominate, they are arranged numerically, with unnumbered ones at the end. Further explanations of which of the Bureau of Vocational Information numbering systems was followed appear in the inventory when necessary. Not all numbers in all folders are sequential. In some instances, Bureau of Vocational Information subdivided returned questionnaires into branches of that occupation and filed them accordingly.

Bureau of Vocational Information detached the name portions of some of the questionnaires and filed them separately. Wherever possible they have been returned to their proper places.

In gathering information, Bureau of Vocational Information collected a large amount of print and near-print material: e.g., publications of the United States Departments of Labor, Agriculture and Interior, the Federal Board for Vocational Education, universities and colleges, professional organizations and societies, trade associations, museums and libraries, as well as newspaper and magazine articles and reprints. Printed items that concern women's employment, education, and training specifically were retained where they were found throughout the collection. They are listed in the inventory only when the entire contents of a folder are printed. Items dealing with various occupations in a general way, and readily available on microfilm or at other repositories (e.g., reprints, clippings, government publications), were discarded. Printed items dealing with occupations in a general way, but less likely to be available, were given to an appropriate repository.

Newspaper clippings, with the exception of enclosures, were removed from all folders and filmed separately at the end of the collection (Series IV). The inventory indicates which folders included clippings.

Although questionnaires, correspondence, and printed items make up the bulk of this collection, such other items as interviews, office notes, lists, bibliographies, lectures and reports are also present in many folders. The inventory is not exhaustive, listing only the items that make up the bulk of the material in each folder, or what seem to be particularly significant items.

Series I, Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations, includes one folder of publications by and about Intercollegiate Bureau of Occupations and a lecture course, "Women in Industry: Her Opportunities in Business Today," which is arranged chronologically.

Series II, Bureau of Vocational Information, includes most issues of the News-Bulletin (1922-1926), and the files on occupations containing correspondence, questionnaires, printed material, etc. These files are arranged alphabetically by the name of the occupation, ending with sections entitled "Unclassified" and "Women (general)."

Series III, the Bureau of Vocational Information Study of Secretarial Work includes employee and employer questionnaires and correspondence, information about the statistical analysis of the questionnaires, correspondence with individuals and agencies involved in the study, and the draft of "The Woman Secretary." Employee questionnaires are arranged alphabetically by state. Within folders, questionnaires are arranged numerically and correspondence chronologically. On many of the questionnaires there are small numbers in the margins and elsewhere on the page. These were written in red ink and were evidently added by Bureau of Vocational Information to facilitate the evaluation and analysis of the responses. The correspondence with cooperating agencies and individuals is arranged alphabetically according to the order used by Bureau of Vocational Information.

Series IV, Clippings. These were removed from #43-368, arranged numerically by folder, and so identified.