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[Identification of item], Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program Records, University Archives, Duke University.
The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program Records were acquired by the University Archives circa 1964.
Processed by University Archives Staff
Completed 1990
Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, November 10, 2004
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
The Engineering, Science, Management War Training (ESMWT) program was designed to provide short courses of college level to individuals who would be immediately available upon completion to participate in defense activities, in order to meet the shortage of engineers, chemists, physicists, and production supervisors in fields essential to national defense. Organized under the Labor-Federal Security Appropriation Act, 1944 (PL 135), and administered by the U.S. Office of Education, the program was coordinated by regional advisors, working with individual institutions. Duke University's institutional representative was A. S. Brower, Treasurer of the University at that time.
Each institution assumed full responsibility for administering its ESMWT program in full accordance with the provisions of its approved plan. This included seeking approval for and the teaching of courses, recruiting and selecting trainees, expenditure of funds, and keeping records and accounts.
All courses provided by the institutions involved were approved by the Office of Education, based on regional and national need for this training. These courses were intended to provide skills in specific activities of immediate application, rather than being part of a course of study. "Chemistry of Explosives" and "Engineering Drawing" were just two of the courses offered. ESMWT courses were provided without tuition or fees to qualified trainees, and often took place in off-campus locations in the surrounding region.
ESMWT was operated under several names, and was at first called Engineering Defense Training. At the beginning of the 1941-1942 program, the name was changed to the Engineering, Science, and Management Defense Training. It was later changed to theEngineering, Science, and Management War Training.
The Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program Records include general information, forms, reports, bulletins, financial records, and course material. Also included are correspondence and memos circulated among Duke University, the Office of Education, instructors, and trainees. The records date from 1940 to 1945, and are arranged in two series: General Information and Program Files.
These and related materials may be accessed under the following subject headings in the Duke University Libraries online catalog.
The General Information series includes information relevant to the entire program, rather than to specific courses or program years.
The Program Files series is arranged chronologically by program year. Each year's files contain bulletins sent from the Office of Education, correspondence between that office and Duke University, forms and reports, a miscellaneous folder, purchase orders which detail financial accounts, and a folder on each of the classes offered during that time, including those cancelled or denied authorization.