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Archives 140
ECA Film Project
Records, 1951-1953

The records of the ECA film project were transferred to Washington State University Libraries in July, 1974 and February, 1975 (WSU 192). They were processed in December, 1983 and January, 1984 by Paul Green.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY

In February, 1951 the Economic Cooperation Administration, the unit of the federal government designed to administer the Marshall Plan, designated the Office of Technical Services of the U.S. Department of Commerce to select appropriate industrial and agricultural films for use overseas. A State College of Washington official heard of the project and the College submitted the low bid. The project ran from May 24, 1951 to June 15, 1952. By the latter date, over six thousand films had been screened and evaluated. The State College of Washington, a land-grant school featuring agriculture and engineering, as well as a stong audio-visual program, proved to be the perfect location for the project.

ARRANGEMENT AND DESCRIPTION

The ECA film project at Washington State University took place in 1951 and 1952, and those are the bulk dates of the records; there are a few items from 1953. The records are composed of film digests with evaluations, correspondence, reports, subject headings and index, financial statements, publicity material, and other papers. There are lacunae in this collection. All but a very few of the digest- evaluations are present, but only a small portion of the correspondence with film suppliers is included. The material is arranged as it was received in 1974 with only negligible changes. There are five series: Film Digests, Subject Access, Correspondence, Office of Technical Services Film Guides, and Other Records and Reports. Additional material of a later date, photographs, articles, a history of the project, and publicity material have been placed at the end of the records.

CONTAINER LIST

Box	Folder	Description	No. of Items
Series I: Film Digests
1	1-13	Completed Digests 1-1300, n.d.	1301
2	14-26	Completed Digests 1301-2600, n.d.	1299
3	27-40	Completed Digests 2601-4000, n.d.	1400
4	41-54	Completed Digests 4001-5400, n.d.	1400
5	55-62	Completed Digests 5401-6200, n.d.	778
Series II: Subject Access
	63	Subject Headings and Index, n.d.	2
Series III: Correspondence
	64	Digest Receipts Confirmed, 1951	55
6	65	Digest Receipts Confirmed, 1951	51
	66	Digest Receipts Confirmed (1952), 1951-1952	32
	67	Digest Receipts Going Out, 1952	4
	68	Duplicates Showing Destroyed and Retained Digests, n.d.	35
	69	Correspondence With Suppliers (L), 1951-1952	34
	70	Correspondence With Suppliers (M-Mi), 1951-1952	66
	71	Correspondence With Suppliers (Mo-My), 1951-1952	24
	72	Correspondence With Suppliers (N), 1951-1952	86
	73	Overseas Reports, 1951-1952	10
Series IV: Office of Technical Services Film Guides
	74	Technical Film Guides, 1951	2
	75	Technical Film Guides, 1951	6
Series V: Other Records and Reports
7	76	Employees, 1951-1952	15
	77	Budget Statements, 1951-1953	36
	78	Criteria and Film Selection, 1951-1952	4
	79	Reports and Correspondence, 1951-1952	12
	80	Correspondence: ECA and Department of Commerce, 1951	43
	81	Procedures and Contract, 1951-1952	10
	82	Progress Reports, 1951-1952	21
	83	Quarterly Financial Reports, 1951-1952	6
	84	Question File, 1951	1
	85	Personnel, Facilities, Procedures, n.d.	8
	86	Film Lists and Correspondence, 1953	16
	87	ECA Film Project, 1952	2
	88	Articles and Other Publicity, 1951-1952	13
	89	Photo File, 1952-1966	48
	90	Correspondence, 1974	3