The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001 Page: 265
673 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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200oo The Food Administration Papers for Texas 265
during the war and all Europe after the Armistice" and to manage with-
in its authority "the distribution of foodstuffs at home and to limit spec-
ulation in them." Hoover aimed to accomplish these ambitious goals by
elaborate persuasion-not by rationing, but by conserving. The agency's
approach gave to American historical vocabulary phrases like Victory
Gardens and Liberty Breads. Across the country and in the name of con-
servation, people voluntarily reduced the amounts of meat, wheat, and
sugar in their diets.5
Legions of workers in Washington and throughout the states partici-
pated in the Food Administration's efforts: an estimated eight thousand
full-time volunteers, 750,000 part-time volunteers, and about three
thousand paid workers, many in clerical roles. In both numbers and re-
sourcefulness, the staff often excelled. The agency became known as
"the main board of appeal for anyone in trouble, because of war condi-
tions, anywhere in the United States." For example, in October 1917 the
agency moved fifteen hundred railroad cars of livestock from drought-
stricken parts of Texas to locations where water and pasture were avail-
able. Some of the agency workers were "'on the job day and night"'; one
of Hoover's Washington staff members reportedly did not see his family,
who lived in California, for two and a half years during his war work.6
The Food Administration distributed thirty-three million tons of food
to the Allies. The agency was remarkable for this accomplishment, the
involvement of its volunteers, the reach of its message, the scope of its
ambitions, the critical nature of its work, and ultimately for the brevity
of its life. On July 1, 1919, the day after the appropriations for the Food
Administration expired, Herbert Hoover submitted his resignation.
There was acceptance of the notion that its war role was over; volunteers
were easy to disband. Only Edgar Rickard continued until the work of
closing agency functions ended in 1920o. Accounts of the Food Adminis-
tration's struggles to accomplish its goals deserve preservation.'
Publications using the Food Administration Papers
The Food Administration published its bulletins, reports, and
Hoover's articles and addresses. Some individuals who participated in or
watched closely the activities of the Food Administration wrote about
the agency's efforts after its dissolution. William Clinton Mullendore,
who served in the Legal Division of the Food Administration from June
1917 to June 1919, wrote the official history of the agency, History of the
Herbert Hoover, introduction to Mullendore, Hastory of the Unsted States Food Admznstratzon, 3.
b Ibid., 8-9, Edith Guerrier, We Pledged Allegiance: A Lbranan's Intimate Story of the Unzted States
Food Adminzstration (Palo Alto, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1941), 12 (2nd quotation), 16
(1st quotation).
7 Inventory, xiii.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 104, July 2000 - April, 2001, periodical, 2001; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101221/m1/317/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.