Click for aTable of Contents · events of recent times has an advantage over the his-torian interested in, say, ancient Egypt. The former Continued on nextpage From these documents

Click for aTable of Contents

EDITORIAL

Vol. 11 August 1965

CONTENTS

No. 8

Page

Tackling the Amendments-------------- 3

Recording History ------------------------------- 8

Equality as a Right --------------------------- 12

A d m i n i s t r a t i o n R e o r g a n i z e d -------- 19

30 Years of Building------------------------- 24

The Field: 1935-65----------------------------- 30

Teaching the Doers ------------------------- 36

One Step Closer------------------------------- 42

Published once each month for the employees of the Social

Security Administration, Department of Health, Education,

and Welfare, for administrative information only. It does

not alter or supersede Regulations, operating procedures,

or manual instructions.

Robert M. Ball, Commissioner

Jack S. Futtermam, Assistant Commissioner

Office o f Administration

Robert N. Teeters, Editor

Contributions and inquiries should be addressed to the

Editor, Room 135, Social Security Building, Baltimore, Md.

21235. Phone Windsor 4-5000. Ext. 2385.

-I--D-o-c

COVER-Artist’s sketch of the historical exhibitwhich went on display this month in the lobby of theSocial Security Building, depicts the social securityprogram and its administration over the past 30 years.The exhibit was designed by the Graphics Units, DM,with technical assistance from the SSA Historian andthe Office of Information.

Most of the copy for this issue of OASIS was sentto the printer before reorganization of the Social Se-curity Administration was announced. Therefore, ex-cept for the reorganization story on page 19, articlesand picture captions do not reflect the recent changes.

2 OASIS

HISTORY, LEGISLATION, REORGANIZATION :

These are the basic ingredients that makeup this issue of your OASIS.

When 30 years ago this month, the originalSocial Security Act became law, the founda-tion for the 1965 amendments, hailed by manyas “the most significant social legislation inhistory,” was laid. Enlarged and improvedover the past three decades, the program hasbrought a substantial measure of security tothe old, the disabled, and to widows andorphans.

Tried and proven as a system of contribut-ing in one’s working years in order to providea family income in old age or in case of deathor disability, social security now becomes themeans of providing health insurance protec-tion for the elderly.

Virtually unchanged since 1942, the struc-ture to administer the program has also beenremodeled t o accommodate technological ad-vances and additional program responsibilities.It comes at an opportune time.

Strengthened by 30 years of successful pro-gram administration, supported by a new or-ganizational structure, the men and women ofthe Social Security Administration are face-to-face with their toughest assignment. What-ever their job, wherever they work, all arehelping to build a stronger America.

Click on a Topic Below

SSA Historian Abe Bortz interviews Maurine Mulliner, first Secretary of the Social Security Board. People who participated in events to bechronicled are an important source of information for the historian of contemporary times.

RECORDING HISTORYIKE JANUS, THE ROMAN GOD of gates andL doors, the Social Security Administration this

month is looking in two directions: Toward thefuture and the implementation of recent legislationwhich greatly expands SSA’s responsibilities for ser-vice to the American people; and back into the past,to the beginnings of the program 30 years ago.

Knowing about the past helps us understand the pres-ent and plan for the future. For example, a patient’smedical history helps the doctor in making a diagnosisand prescribing treatment. Or consider scientific re-search and development: it is based on the recordedexperiences, successful or unsuccessful, of the past.

Experience gained and lessons learned during thefirst 30 years of operation of the social security programwill make the task ahead easier. Progress and prob-lems during this period are now being recorded for thebenefit and assistance of those who will carry the pro-gram forward into the future.

The SSA historical program was established in May1963, with the appointment of Abe Bortz as SSA His-

8

torian, in the Division of Research and Statistics. Abeearned his Ph. D. degree in American social history atHarvard University and served for several years as anhistorian with the Department of the Army.

An SSA Advisory Group on the Historical Programwas formed to provide advice on early shaping of plansand goals and to be available periodically to evaluatethe program as activities progress. The Group iscomposed o f Ida Merriam, Director, DRS; HeymanCooper, Executive Assistant, DRS; Leona Mac Kin-non, Assistant to the Commission, SSA; Hugh Mc-Kenna, Director, DFO; Arthur Hess, Director, DDO;and Henry Schumer, Technical Advisor, DPEP.

And, to help provide broad guidelines on the natureand scope of the program, three historians-authoritiesin 20th-century American social history-have beenchosen from the academic field as consultants. Theyare : Profs. William Leuchtenburg, Columbia Univer-sity; Sam Hays, University of Pittsburgh; and ClarkeChambers, University of Minnesota.

They are called upon periodically to provide advice

O A S I S

of a professional character, especially with a view to-ward the development of useful historical-archival toolsthat could stimulate interest in social security as a sub-ject for scholarly study and research in academiccircles. If the location, availability, and content ofSSA historical materials are known, many graduatestudents and historical scholars may be attracted to doresearch in depth in various phases of the program.

The historian has two principle tasks: finding outwhat happened in the past and why (research andanalysis) ; and recording the flow of events in a narra-tive (writing) . This reconstruction of the past re-quires the use of certain “tools.” These tools help thehistorian gather the facts with which, piece by piece, hewill fashion his story. Without the facts, his tale canbe only imaginary, and thus fiction instead of history.

Tool One: Documents

The basic tool with which the historian works is thedocument: information which has been preserved bythe written word. Documents take many forms; theymay be letters, diaries, wills, certificates, reports, news-papers, magazines, books, ledgers, minutes-any paperwith information which sheds light on the topic of in-terest. Some documents are official, prepared by agovernment or organization for the very purpose ofputting the data on record. Others may be writtenonly for the use or the interest of the moment, but,surviving by chance, may later provide a clue or fact,otherwise lost.

Abe, as SSA Historian, has a wealth of written mate-rial at his disposal. The library of the Department ofHealth, Education, and Welfare maintains a fairlycomplete collection of materials printed or publishedby the Social Security Board, SSA, and individual bu-reaus. Records of the Committee on Economic Secur-ity (whose members drafted the original Social SecurityAct), and of the Board from 1935 to 1942, are pre-served in the National Archives in Washington, as arethose accumulated by the Executive Director of theBoard from 1941-1946, and other similar collections.

The minutes of meetings held by the Board andthe Commissioner, along with a set of informal notesof the meetings, and a collection of numbered docu-ments-many relating to the establishment of policiesand procedures-also contain much valuable informa-

tion. These are now kept at Social Security head-quarters.

SSA records management specialists survey, underAbe’s guidance, current documents to make certainthat materials of historical value are preserved.

In addition to these extensive files of official docu-ments thoughtfully preserved, there are also many im-portant individual collections of materials that havebeen turned over by key persons to university or otherrepositories or are still in private custody.

The amount of written source material available onthe establishment and operation of the social securityprogram during its first 30 years is indeed voluminous.The records of the Committee on Economic Securityalone fill 77 boxes each one-third of a cubic foot.

Abe is working on pamphlets which will provide-in considerable detail-what is available and where.These should prove invaluable tools for SSA personneland historians alike.

Tool Two: Interviews

But the story of any event is seldom committed topaper in its entirety. Many discussions and decisionsare made over the telephone or the coffee cups, or inother personal encounters. While last year’s secretaryof your club may have taken minutes of the meetingsin almost verbatim form, this year’s secretary may giveonly the gist of the discussions or even only a summaryof the final decisions. Also, written records may belost or destroyed by fire or other accident or, perhaps,even by intent.

For this reason, the historian seeking to reconstructevents of recent times has an advantage over the his-torian interested in, say, ancient Egypt. The former

Continued on next page

From these documents in folders, notebooks, andstorage envelopes, Abe will collect the facts necessaryto establish some point in SSA’s history. Papersfrom the past are a basic tool of the historian.

A U G U S T 1 9 6 5

781-068 O-65-2

Recording History

Continued from page 9

can meet and talk with, or correspond with, the keyfigures who witnessed and shaped the events. Thehistorian of contemporary times thus has a second tool,a very important and illuminating one, with which towork: people, the actors in the drama to be told. Theycan provide answers to perplexing questions and sug-gest additional pertinent information which might beobtained.

The SSA historical program includes an extensiveinterview project, to make the most of the fortunateavailability of those who have firsthand knowledge ofthe early years of social security. These interviews,taped for future reference, supply information to fillgaps in written records, and record the voice and pro-vide clues to the character and personality of those whohelp shape the program and its operations.

Secretary Helen Miller (l.) assists Abe in the identification of somephotographs from the early days of the SSA program. Such prod-ucts represent a third tool, which-when, added to the tools ofdocuments and interviews-help reconstruct history.

Because of the inroads of the years upon the peopleof the early days of social security, timeliness of theinterview program is significant. A contract was madewith the Oral History Research Office of ColumbiaUniversity to take advantage of its experience, re-

10

sources, and trained interviewers in expediting theproject.

Among those being interviewed, some by Abe andsome by the Columbia interviewer, are people whoplayed an important role in the Committee on Eco-nomic Security, members of the Social Security Board,early Directors of the Bureau of Federal Old-Age Bene-fits and other bureaus of the Board. Valuable originalrecords have been turned over to Abe as an importantbyproduct of these interviews.

A questionnaire was devised to secure historicalmaterial from others whom it was not possible to inter-view personally. Several bureau and division directorstested this device with a number of persons who hadrecently retired or were about to retire. This His-torical Inquiry Form is providing good returns; a num-ber of fine responses have been received from SSApersonnel with long service.

Tool Three: Objects

A third tool is frequently available to the historian:products of man’s workmanship (other than docu-ments) which supplement the written record. Theseproducts may be photographs, drawings, clothing, fur-niture, pottery, machinery-anything of man’s manu-facture which is representative of an area, a period, apeople. Museums and attics are filled with these relicsof the past.

Such products help the SSA Historian re-create thehistory of social security development and operations.They include : photographs of individuals, committes,and events; one of the pens with which the originalSocial Security Act was signed; and like items. Manyof these products, along with historical documents andrecords, have been collected for permanent display ina “Social Security History Room” at headquarters.

With these tools-papers, people, and products-thehistorian gathers information he needs. But this is onlypart of his task. From these pieces he must fashion aconnected and meaningful whole-much as one solvesa jigsaw puzzle. The historian must evaluate the in-formation he has gathered, as to its truth and meaning,and select the facts which are important for his pur-pose. These facts, when put together in the properway, without reshaping to force a fit,’ will tell a storyfrom the past. The historian shares this story by put-ting it in writing for the entertainment or instructionof others, and by providing tools for research andwriting by others.

Much has been accomplished since the Social Secur-ity Act became law 30 years ago. From the historicalstudy of operations of an expanding program duringthis period comes knowledge and wisdom to help meetthe challenge that lies ahead.

OASIS

The Men at the Helm

N 1936, THE S O C I A L S E C U R I T Y B O A R D e s t a b -lished the Bureau of Federal Old-Age Bene-

fits to administer the old-age insurance program.A year later, the name was changed to Bureauof Old-Age Insurance and, in 1939, it becamethe Bureau of Old-Age and Survivors Insurance.In 1963 administration of the OASDI programbecame the primary mission of the Social Se-curity Administration. Presented here are theseven men who have led the organization duringthe last three decades.

Henry P. Seidemann

September 1936-February 1937

John J, Corson

March-June I938 (Acting Director)

July 1938-November 1941

M a y 1943-May 1 9 4 4

Victor Christgau

February 1954-January 1963

M u r r a y W . L a t h e r

January-September 1936

LeRoy Hodges

March 1937-February 1938

Oscar C. Pogge

December 1941-July 1942 (Acting Director)

Augus t I942-May I943

M a y I944-May 1 9 5 3

Robert M. Ball

May 1953-February 1954 (Acting Director)

January 1963-Present (Commissioner)

OASIS

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1935

Social Security Act:

FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT that has keptA the American social security system dynamicand effective in preventing much of the pov-

erty and dependency that arise from old-age, disability,and death has been its responsiveness to changingneeds. This same element remains firm in this 30thanniversary year of the signing of the Social SecurityAct-even more so-as we prepare to administer themost far-reaching social security amendments everenacted.

That this most extensive legislation-includinghealth insurance for the aged-should occur after30 years would come as no surprise to these who playedkey roles in the passage of the Social Security Act.For even as he signed the historic measure on August14, 1935, President Roosevelt noted it was a “corner-stone in a structure which is being built but is by nomeans complete.”

This concept of program reexamination and updat-ing continues to rate the highest priority, as evidencedby a statement from the Advisory Council on SocialSecurity, in its 1965 report: “The fulfillment of thepromise of social security for the American workerand his family which was implicit in the originalSocial Security Act will depend on continuing wisdomand alertness to make sure that our use of the socialinsurance mechanism to combat insecurity among ourpeople is adapted to changing needs and conditionsinherent in our dynamic society.”

While President Johnson declared in his 1965 stateof the Union message that “we are in the midst ofthe greatest upward surge of economic well-being in

the history of any nation,” conditions were far dif-ferent in June 1934 when President Roosevelt ap-pointed a Committee on Economic Security. Thiscommittee, under the chairmanship of Frances Perkins,and with Prof. Edwin E. Witte as Executive Director,and Arthur J. Altmeyer as chairman of the TechnicalBoard, drafted the bill which was to become the SocialSecurity Act of 1935.

Several Programs Established

The act provided for a general program which couldbe grouped into three categories : old-age benefits, un-employment compensation, and public assistance. Inurging enactment of such a wide-ranging plan, Presi-dent Roosevelt remarked : “The various types of socialinsurance are interrelated and I think it is difficult toattempt to solve them piecemeal. . . .”

Although by 1935 some 22 European nations hadgeneral social security systems, the United States wasthe last major industrial country to adopt a system.Prior to that time a few States had inadequate old-age assistance laws, a handful of company pensionplans were in existence, Wisconsin had an unemploy-ment benefit plan, and workmen’s compensation lawswere in effect in all but four States. But it was pri-marily the severe depression of the 1930’s that drama-tized the fact the American worker was now largelydependent on factors beyond his own control foreconomic security.

A number of Americans regarded the bill withhorror, but its moderation was credited with beinga major factor in reducing opposition. For example,

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30 Years of Building

in offering protection against old age and unemploy-ment, it did not encompass such hazards as illness or

!!disability. Also, the level of benefits under each pro-gram was considered moderate and, with the exceptionof old-age insurance, the States retained considerableadministrative and decisionmaking powers. In addi-tion, old-age insurance was to be self-financing througha payroll tax.

Because of the extremely heavy unemploymentamong millions of able-bodied persons, the chief in-terest in the bill focused on unemployment compensa-tion. Professor Witte has observed : “Unemploymentcompensation was regarded by the Committee on Eco-nomic Security and its staff as the most importantpart of the legislation.” In Congress, however, therewas far less interest in this subject than in old-ageassistance because, under the pending legislation, OAAbenefits would be payable immediately.

Nevertheless both unemployment compensation andOAA, as well as old-age insurance, received the highestpriority and the Social Security Act passed the Houseby a vote of 371 to 33 and the Senate by a 77-to-6margin. On August 14, 1935, President Rooseveltsigned the historic measure. Congress had changedthe name of the legislation from economic security tosocial security as being more appropriate to its variedand far-reaching character.

Now came the immense task of administering pro-visions of the act. Immediately, three pressing ques-tions were posed: Would the program work, wouldthe Nation accept it, and was the act constitutional?

Two years later, the question of constitutionality wasto be settled.

Describing this early period, Historian Arthur M.Schlesinger, Jr., Presidential adviser in the Kennedyadministration, wrote : “No Government bureau everdirectly touched the lives of so many millions of Ameri-cans-the old, the jobless, the sick, the needy, the blind,the mothers, the children-with so little confusion orcomplaint. And the overhead costs for this far-flungand extraordinary operation were considerably lessthan those of private insurance. . . .”

Recruiting a Problem

One of the major problems that faced the SocialSecurity Board from the beginning was to recruit anadequate supply of qualified personnel for its organi-zation. Initial appointments were largely made bytransfer from other Government departments, and par-ticularly with a view to obtaining persons with experi-ence in office management in the field.

On June 30, 1937,6 months after the initial registra-tion of workers under the old-age benefits plan, em-ployees of the Board numbered 5,748. Of these,1,662 were in Washington, 1,702 in the field, and2,384 in Baltimore.

The importance of good public relations was recog-nized early. Just as in our present-day public informa-tion program, not only were the basic objectives of thelaw explained, but the practical aspects of its opera-




tion were clarified to the general public. In their 1937book The Social Security Act in Operation, Dr. Birch:ard E. Wyatt and Dr. William H. Wandel, technicaladvisers to the Board, wrote: “It was recognized fromthe beginning that to acquaint the public with its pre-cise rights and obligations under the act would requireintensive and systematic effort. . . . The very com-plexity of the law and its correspondingly elaboratetechnique of administration clearly demanded a large-scale plan of popular education as a preliminary to itsoperation.”

Account Numbers Assigned

About the nat ionwide regis trat ion program,launched in late 1936, they had these comments:“Many persons of experience in work of related char-acter predicted that the task of assigning social secur-ity account numbers to 26,000,000 employees and iden-tification numbers to 3,000,000 employers was of suchmagnitude that it could not possibly be carried to asuccessful conclusion. Yet, on December 22, 1936,28 days after the initial distribution of employee appli-cations, the Post Office Department reported the receiptof 22,129,617 completed applications of an expectedtotal of 26,000,000 applicants.”

Many were the alarms sounded at the thought ofadministering a program nationwide in scope. MarionB. Folsom, former Secretary of HEW and a memberof the first Social Security Advisory Council in 1937,has offered the following observation: “. . . I remem-

ber back in 1936 I was a delegate at the InternationalLabor Conference in Geneva. I talked to quite a fewexperts on social security from different countries inEurope. Our system was just getting into operationthen, They warned me that it would not work-thatwe couldn’t possibly keep records of all the individualwage earners and we were very foolish not to have aflat benefit system like some of them had.” Mr. Fol-som went on to point out how these “old fears havenot been borne out.”

In the May 1938 Social Security Bulletin, John J.Corson, then Acting Director and later Director of theBureau of Old-Age Insurance, also dismissed thesefears: “The recordkeeping system, now well establishedand smoothly operating, is almost wholly mechanical.. . . Recent estimates indicate that the expense ofmaintaining each individual account is less than 25cents a year. . . . The administration of the old-ageinsurance program need no longer be discussed in termsof theory and conjecture. It can now be gaugedagainst concrete results, actual accomplishments.While it is realized that not all the problems involvedhave been solved-indeed all have not yet been faced-definite evidence already is at hand that the programis workable.”

Family Protection Added

Under the original legislation, the old-age insuranceprogram provided retirement benefits for the insuredindividual only. In 1939, Congress made the system afamily program by authorizing monthly benefits for de-pendents and survivors of an insured worker. Andproviding that monthly benefits be first payable in1940, rather than 1942 as originally scheduled, wasindicative of the esteem in which Congress held the

The Social Security Board inSeptember 1937 consisted of(seated, l . to r.): MemberM a r y Dewson, C h a i r m a nArthur Altmeyer, and Mem-ber George Bigge. Stand-ing: Jack Tate, GeneralCounsel, and Fmnk Bane,Executive Director. At right:Frances Perkins, who diedrecently and who was Chair-man of the Committee onEconomic Security, remi-nisced about the early days,at the Silver Anniversarycelebration in 1960.

Louis Stein, District Manager at Chattanooga, Term., since 1937,sent in this picture of early SSA pioneers attending the 1939Southern Regional Conference. In front row, conferees are (l. to r.):Messrs. Haines. Overstreet. Enloe. Green. Foster. Allen. Roulhac,W h i t e , Mack, Aiken, Watson, Folmar, and Mackey. Second row;Beneke, Moore, Eanes, Mathis, Davis, Cole, Reeves, Dashiell, Con-

Social Security Board’s administrative capabilities.After the 1939 amendments, there were no funda-

mental changes in the system until 1950 as the Nationbecame preoccupied with war. Just after Pearl Har-bor Day, President Roosevelt announced that “Old Dr.New Deal” had to be replaced by “Dr. Win-the-War.”

In evaluating the decade of the 1940’s, Mr. Altmeyerhas written : “Failure to extend the coverage of theold-age and survivors insurance system and to increasemonthly benefits to take account of the rising wage leveland increasing cost of living meant that benefits be-came more and more inadequate. This created theanomaly that, as late as 1950, more aged persons werereceiving on the average higher monthly paymentsunder old-age assistance than under the insurance sys-tem.”

The crucial issue at stake by 1950 was whether thesocial security system was to become the Nation’s basicincome-maintenance program or whether major re-liance was to be placed on a combination of otherapproaches such as a broad public pension program,public assistance, and private pensions. The 1950 legis-lation enacted by Congress, prompted to a great extentby the report of the Advisory Council appointed in1947, reflected the decision to expand and improvethe social security system so that it would offer basicsecurity to most of the Nation’s working people andtheir families.

Foundation Greatly Strengthened

The 1950 amendments represented an importantbuilding block in President Roosevelt’s “structure be-ing built.” Coverage was extended to several millionmore people including urban self-employed, farm anddomestic workers, State and local employees, andothers; eligibility requirements were liberalized, bene-fits were increased, and the wage base was raised.

ger, Johnson, Banks, Jacobs, Toombs, and Tipton. Standing:Coffee, Hamilton, Morrison, Dossett, Patton, Bray, Constangy, Byrd,Pogge, Randall, Lacey, Corson, Rawls, Weaver, Pearce, Byrley,Simpson, Parker, Murphy, Manget, Broadaway, Frost, Pressly, Ellis,Baker, Smartt, Dusenbury, Crosby, Herzberg, Nixon, Weaver, Bond,Stein, Donaldson, and Megill.

A year after passage of these amendments, Prof. PaulA. Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech-nology, one of the Nation’s foremost economists, wrote:“Not only is the social security system here to stay, butit is growing and being extended. . . . Society believestoday increasingly in the philosophy that the worst per-sonal and social misfortunes result from the contingen-cies over which the single individual has little control.”

In 1952 there was some further liberalization ofOASI benefits, but the year is probably best knownfor passage of the disability freeze provision which ex-pired before it became effective. The intent of the pro-vision was to preserve the OASI benefit rights of thosewho became totally and permanently disabled beforereaching retirement age.

Disability Program Launched

Two years later, however, an effective freeze was en-acted, thus launching a disability program which hasbeen substantially improved over the past decade.More categories of self-employed persons as well ascertain other groups were also brought in under the1954 amendments.

During the last 10 years, additional amendmentshave been passed so that, today, 9 out of 10 Americansare protected by social security. In addition to majorlegislative provisions, there have been many minorrefinements which have helped improve the program.And, of course, there have also been substantial im-provements in other social welfare programs, providedin the original Social Security Act, over the years.

Under Secretary of HEW Wilbur J. Cohen, a leadingauthority in the field of social welfare, has attributedthe many program developments to “the extent of pub-lic interest . . . and the growing national concern


AUGUST 1965 27



with problems of social legislation.” He has said, “So-cial legislation is the product of the consciousness ofsocial needs, conflicting points of view, cooperationamong various groups, compromise, and timing.

“The original Social Security Act and its amend-ments illustrate these forces at work in the crucible ofhard reality. Many persons will find fault with partic-ular provisions of the legislation. But, as a whole, theyare a blending of many points of view represented inour complex, diverse, and changing economy.”

During 1960, when the silver anniversary of thesigning of the Social Security Act was observed, anumber of important officials took the occasion toreflect on the past, assess the present, and project intothe future. Arthur S. Flemming, then Secretary ofHEW, said: “. . . Social security is today an acceptedpart of our culture and an essential bulwark for oureconomy. . . . Much remains to be done. Now thatthe base is firmly established, we need to rethink andreformulate our social security goals for the future.Even to keep up with the social and economic changesthat are clearly foreseeable will require a major effort.I am sure that we have both the material resourcesand the moral strength to achieve a full measure ofsecurity for the American people.”

For those persons who wondered, 30 years ago,whether social security would work and be acceptedby the Nation, the answer has been strikingly clear.In the words of Robert Ball, Commissioner of SocialSecurity: “It is remarkable that, in just 30 years sincethe passage of the original legislation, America hasbeen able to develop such a successful social security

Early problems and decisions involving the recordkeeping systemrequired many meetings, such as this one in the late 1930’s.Among early planners in the old Records Division (now DAO) were(l. to r.): John Anderson, Chief, Night Operations, and CharlieBeach, Chief, Nonmechanical Section: Joseph Fay, Chief of theRecords Division and now Director, DAO; and Tom McDonald,who was Mr. Fay’s deputy. John, Charlie, and Tom are nowdeceased.

system and one which has such wide support amongpeople of almost every political persuasion.

“I believe the wide acceptance of the program isdue primarily to its basic principles. Here is a pro-gram that had accomplished truly revolutionary re-sults. . . . it has accomplished these great changesthrough the application of old and accepted principles,emphasizing in its very design the virtues of work, self-help, and individual saving. . . .”

Big Job Ahead

The 1965 amendments have added perhaps thelargest building block of all on that original 1935foundation. As we enter a new era of growth andmaturity, an air of excitement is evident. In thewords of Mr. Ball: “What a great time this really isto be alive. We are on the edge of greatness inAmerica. We are taking steps to improve the posi-tion of the poor; the security of the old, the disabled,widows and orphans; the education of the young;and freedom and equality for all.

“And what a great time to work for Social Securityand be a part of this program which is doing SO muchfor so many! We all have a great opportunity, anda great trust to perform; let’s get on with the job.”

Typical of the increased workloads that result from new legislation, these scenes were taken at the Candler Building after passage of the1954 amendments. At left, a training class for claims examiners is in progress while, at right, personnel in the Division of AccountingOperations process incoming work.

2 8 OASIS

THE FIELD: 1935-65Dedicated to serving the American people . . . Endowedwith a pioneering spirit . . . Willing to suggest and acceptimprovement . , . These are the characteristics of the peoplewho shaped social security’s field organization.

T O D A Y S O M E 15,800 F I E L D E M P L O Y E E Sof the Social Security Administration, workingin 11 SSA regional offices and 616 district offices,

administer a program which affects nearly everyAmerican. In fiscal year 1965 alone, DO personneltook nearly 3 million old-age and survivor claims andover 700,000 disability claims. In addition, they is-sued about 8yz million original and duplicate accountnumbers, made thousands of contacts informing peopleof their rights and obligations under social security,and engaged in many other activities.

The steps taken in building our field service havenot all been easy. Until 1935, few Federal agencieshad been given the opportunity to meet the peopleface to face. However, when President Franklin D.Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, he set inmotion three programs-old-age insurance, public as-sistance, and unemployment compensation-whichdemanded public contact.

Of the three, the old-age insurance program obvi-ously needed an extensive field service to meet success.For example, if accurate records were to be main-tained, close contact with employers for both educa-tional purposes and for correction of errors and omis-sions would be necessary.

Congress gave the Social Security Board a free handin designing an organization it felt would be able toefficiently administer the act. On December 2, 1935,

the Board appointed a Field Organization Committeeto study problems and then make recommendations.

Early memos from Committee members indicatethey were well aware of their responsibility. “Admit-tedly, the successful inauguration and efficient admin-istration of the Social Security Act is the greatestsocial undertaking launched by any organized societyin recent years,” wrote Committee Chairman E. J.McCormack in an early memo. “Regardless of theconstruction of the act itself or to what degree this actmeasures up to the desired standards, there remainsthe obvious fact that its administration, particularly inthe field, will either make or defeat the entireprogram.”

Soon after establishment, the Committee met a crisis.The Board decided to set up its recordkeeping systemnumerically. January 1, 1937-the date the act be-came effective-was set up as the deadline for assign-ing numbers to an estimated 26 million workers and3I/a million employers.

How could enumeration take place without field of-fices? Hasty office openings, only for the purpose ofhandling this initial peakload, would undoubtedly leadto retrenchment of plans in future years with possibleoffice closings.

The problem was solved by asking the Post OfficeDepartment for help. Distributing and receiving mil-

Recalling early days as they look over the Field Organization Com-mittee’s recommendations on field office locations are DFO’s DeputyDirector Elmer Lupton (I.) and Director Hugh McKenna. This largebinder of plans belonged to Arthur Altmeyer, first Commissioner ofSocial Security; it will be placed in SSA’s new History Room atheadquarters.

lions of initial employer registration forms and accountnumber applications postal employees left Board mem-bers free to establish field offices gradually, as regularworkloads warranted.

Weathering the first crisis, Committee members con-tinued toward the goal of recommending a field serv-ice that would take care of all the Social SecurityBoard’s programs. Since there was very little resourcematerial available, new studies had to be conducted andstatistics gathered. Committee members also made useof a few existing studies. For example, the Daniel B.Creamer study, “Is Industry Decentralizing?” washelpful in deciding field office locations.

Final Committee recommendations were made onlyafter several revisions to make plans fit the Board’slimited budget and still give the best possible coverageto the country. Accepting most of the recommenda-tions, the Board set up a coordinated field organization.

Regions Established

Twelve regions were established and, by the end of1936, regional offices were open in Boston, New York,Philadelphia, Washington, Cleveland, Chicago, Bir-mingham, Minneapolis, Kansas City, San Antonio,Denver, and San Francisco. There were also two ter ri-torial offices: one in Honolulu, Hawaii; the other inJuneau, Alaska.

“In adopting the regional device common amongFederal departments,” wrote Birchard Wyatt and Wil-liam Wandel, “it [the Board] freed itself from a heavyburden of administrative detail, which was henceforthto be taken care of locally. Proximity to these localcenters of authority has expedited the handling of allmatters within the province of the regional offices.More flexibility is also possible in dealing with the in-tangibles of local sentiment and other variations fromthe national pattern. Finally, there is a definite psycho-logical advantage in bringing the operation of the pro-gram closer to the public affected.”

Thirty years and several organizational realinementslater, today’s regional picture has a different look. TheDepartment of Health, Education, and Welfare nowhas nine regions with offices in Boston (I), New York(II), Charlottesville (III), Atlanta (IV), Chicago(V), Kansas City (VI), Dallas (VII), Denver (VIII),and San Francisco (IX).

Since the 1940’s, SSA has had 11 regional offices,including II-A and II-B in New York, V-A in Chi-cago, and V-B in Cleveland.

In determining the boundaries of administrative dis-tricts and selecting the sites for the field offices, a num-ber of factors were considered. Maximum facility inadministration, convenience to the public, uniform

AUGUST 1965

This lady is typical of the many thousands of persons who visit ourdistrict offices to obtain information or file applications.

distribution of workloads, and a mysterious “compen-sable factor,” were fundamental considerations. Pop-ulation patterns, local geography, and trading zoneboundaries were carefully studied.

Original plans called for opening 397 field offices,gradually. First to open was the one at Austin, Tex.,on October 14, 1936. By early November 1936, sevenmore had opened. The Social Security Board pro-ceeded conservatively and opened offices only whereworkloads were large enough to warrant full-timestaffs. However, all 397 offices were in operation by1939 in time to handle the 1939 amendments.

OriginalIy the Board pIanned to have field units ofvarying status. While serving as regular operating of-fices, district offices were also to supervise primary andsecondary branch offices. Although several of the pro-posed branch offices were opened, the Board decided inApril 1937 not to have an extra supervisory layer; allfield offices would be equal as far as relations with otherparts of the organization were concerned.

Responsibilities Varied

However, Board members realized that all officesweren’t equal in terms of workload or responsibility.Field offices were thus divided into eight classes basedon the estimated number of covered workers in theirareas. The size of each office’s staff and the salaries ofthe managers varied accordingly, as did the salariesof the assistant managers, field assistants, and adminis-trative clerks. In July 1940, the number of classes wasreduced to seven and has since been reduced to four.

The beginning days were difficult for field people,although the Post Office handled account number issu-ance for the first several months and no claims came in


31

The Field: 1935-65


until the summer of 1937. Organizing new offices andgetting ready for the big job ahead were just minorproblems. Procedures and methods had to be workedout with the Post Office Department and InternalRevenue, and public contact work took much of thetime. Not only did the field people have to be experton the subject of old-age benefits, but they had tobe informed about the other aspects of the act, as thepublic had difficulty differentiating between the variousparts of the program.

Basic Training Given

A basic training course was instituted by the Boardto get information of this type to all field administra-tive and technical personnel. Before a person whowould be working with the public reported to his as-signed office, he first came to Washington for thecourse. Instructors included officers of several bureaus,Social Security Board members, and other individualsexpert in the field of social insurance. The trainees’days were spent learning the historical background ofthe act, the social conditions it sought to correct, andthe procedures involved in its operations. Eveningswere filled with homework and study in hotel rooms.

Gradually a full-time training staff was developedand an organized 2-week Basic Training Course fornew employees came into being.

During this time, also, many field clericals werestationed in post offices typing OA-702’s (AccountNumber Cards) from incoming SS-5’s (Applicationsfor Account Numbers). By July 1937, however, thefield had taken over the P.O.‘s account number busi-ness. DFO Deputy Director Elmer Lupton recalls:“It was a common sight to see managers, assistantmanagers, anyone who was available, pounding awayat typewriters.”

DFO Director Hugh McKenna painted a vivid pic-ture of the impact of the first account number loadwhen he said: “Original estimates were that the actwould cover about 26 million people; we thought thatby the time we took over the job from the post officesthe bulk of the account numbers would have beenissued. The best guess was that we would then begetting about 12,000 account numbers a week. . . .So-we doubled the figure. And we still didn’t comeclose. The load at the 45 Broadway field office (inNew York City) alone exceeded our estimates everyweek. . . .”

The next emphasis was on correct wage reporting.When an employer reported wages with an employee’s

name or account number missing, and failed to respondto a letter from the collector of internal revenue, afield employee made a personal call. Particularly inNew York, incomplete reporting resulted in a sub-stantial number of wage discrepancies. Many of ourmanagers got their basic training on the streets ofNew York making employer educational contacts andclearing up wage discrepancies. The effort paid offin improved reporting and in public confidence inour reporting system.

Claims began coming in about mid-1937. Sincemonthly benefits were not scheduled to begin until1942, these were lump-sum claims filed by workersreaching age 65 or survivors of workers who died.The lump-sum payment was 3vs percent of the totalwages credited to the individual’s account. Field of-fices took these claims; regional offices checked them;and the Claims Division in Washington processed theawards.

The picture in the field was altered considerablywith the passage of the 1939 amendments. By mov-ing the date for initial payment of monthly benefitsfrom 1942 to 1940, and extending coverage to thefamilies of insured workers, Congress brought theAmerican public closer to the program. Public reac-tion became overwhelmingly favorable. Social se-curity now had greater meaning.

In addition, the amendments acted as a much-needed morale booster for field people. A differentkind of person began visiting field offices. Until thistime, our people dealt mainly with those citizens ap-plying for account numbers. Now, large numbers ofold people and dependents began arriving.

Gradually the whole interviewing process changed.A closer insight into the problems of individuals andmuch more tact was now required of our people. Asevidence of the altered nature of their jobs, claims“clerks” became claims “assistants.” Before, they hadmainly handled papers; now they were really dealingwith people.

Claims Manual Born

The year 1939 also brought with it the birth of ourClaims Manual. Although a slim one-volume book,it outlined completely the law and procedures forhandling claims.

Along with the Manual came the need for moretraining. The Bureau’s first claims schools wereopened-five or six in each region. Everyone whoknew anything about the new law became a teacher.Trainees ranged from clerks to regional directors. “I twas a big job, and a crucial one . . . one which westill look back on with a sense of genuine accomplish-ment,” said one SSA pioneer.

32 OASIS

This is one of the first formal photos taken (circa 1940)at a Regional Representatives Conference. Clockwise around thetable (from left) are: BOASI Director John Carson; Regional RepsJohn Campbell, Hugh McKenna, Joseph Tighe, W. L. Kilcoin, ThomasHughes, Albert Kuhle, and Thomas Broadaway; Chief of the Claims

By April 1940, 63 more field offices had opened,bringing the total to 460. Field staffing had almostreached the 3,000 mark. Itinerant service was beingprovided to bring the program to people who livedconsiderable distances from field offices. In April1940, there were 1,296 itinerant stations (the fore-runners of today’s contact stations), visited by fieldassistants on regular schedules, and 200 visited at ir-regular intervals.

In places where itinerant stations couldn’t providethe proper amount of service, and yet there wasn’tenough work to warrant a full-fledged field office,branch offices were opened. Manned by one person,these offices were open several days a week dependingon volume of activity; they are known today as residentstations.

As experience was gained, more responsibility wasaccorded field offices. Originally claims were taken inthe field and transmitted to central office for adjudica-tion and payment. Following the 1939 amendments,field offices began to assume more of the claims work.

Although decentralization of most of the claimshandling had long been studied, World War II, ac-companied by critical space and personnel shortages,accelerated plans. By May 1942, field people were do-ing the entire job of computing benefits, designatingpayees, and determining entitlement. One monthlater, the claims authorization function was decentral-ized to area offices. (They were renamed paymentcenters in 1958.)

Little else was changed in the field during the waryears. The emphasis was primarily on keeping fieldwork forces somewhat near par as employees left forthe service and warwork. However, between 45 and50 offices were closed, and the field staff shrunk from3,500 to about 2,800.

AUGUST 1965

Division Oscar Pogge; Chief of the Field Coordination and ProceduresSec. Charles Beach; Regional Reps H. E. Bray, Robert Fitzgerald,Howard Dunn, Sherwood Avery, Richard Toomey, and Ernest Tall-man; and Field Division Assistant Director Michael Shortley.

The next big change in field office operations oc-curred in 1947 when, as Elmer Lupton explains it,“We took the typewriters away from the claims assist-ants (now claims reps) and made the jobs more pro-fessional.” Claims assistants were appointed from theJunior Professional Assistant (JPA) register (nowF S E E ) .

The “Unified Claims Position Plan” as it was called,added typists and stenos to claims units to handle claimsclerical work. Claims assistants could devote their timeto interviewing, and developing, and adjudicatingclaims.

Workloads Expanded

The last 15 years have been periods of continuousgrowth and expanding workloads for field people.Starting in 1950, amendment followed amendment.Workload records were made one day and broken thenext.

A much-needed benefit increase in 1950 was hailedwith delight. Recalling the late forties and the needfor this increase, a field employee remarked: “Fieldpeople felt deeply the reaction of the public to the lowlevel of benefits that were being paid in a period of in-flation, and it got so we flinched whenever we had toface a claimant’s inquiry about how much money hewould receive.”

The 1950 amendments brought nearly 9 millionmore people under the program, which subsequent leg-islation extended protection to still more. The initia-tion of a disability program in 1954 was also an import-ant milestone and one which made workloads increase.

SSA was ready for these changes and met legisla-tion head-on. The problem of preparing for legisla-


33

YESTERDAY AND TODAY-Gaining entrance to the old Columbus,Ohio, District Office previously meant coping with these steps.The problem has been eliminated in the DO’s new space (inset).This is but one example in which SSA’s field facilities have im-proved over the years.

The Field: 1935-65


tion had been handled early, carefully, thoroughly.Training went on everywhere in the field and newrecruits were brought to Baltimore for the Basic Train-ing Course. Overtime was used and personnel wereshifted between offices to handle the big surge. Fieldoffices became “district offices,” indicating the growthof their responsibilities in the program.

As always, public information work played a majorrole in the field. A Bureau of Information had beenestablished as part of the Board in early 1936. Respon-sible for publicizing all of the Board’s programs, theBureau had a headquarters staff plus regional informa-tional representatives. In May 1947 the rep jobs wereabolished; and by 1948 the entire Bureau went out ofexistence with the idea that the operating bureauscould handle their own public information work.

Between 1948 and 1950 the OASI information pro-gram was coordinated by one member of the Divisionof Field Operations and by informational committees.A system of regional exchanges of public informationmaterials was developed.

Early in the 1950’s a central public information staffwas established to help field people with the big job,and to coordinate the national phases of the informa-tional program. Pamphlets, movies, and other deviceswere developed to help inform the public.

However, the bulk of the work was done by fieldpeople. Long hours were spent explaining the amend-ments at community meetings and on radio and tele-vision. Press releases were written and posters andpamphlets distributed.

34

, . . . .

The most recent chapter in SSA field history, 1960-65, reflected even more growth to meet tremendousworkloads. Currently SSA has 616 district offices, 42resident stations, and 3,537 contact stations serving thepublic.

District offices today are a far cry from their ances-tors of the 1940’s. At first, faced with tight budgetlimitations and the need to quickly get into operation,we often had to take undesirable space. Many of theoffices were in old buildings. Light fixtures dangledfrom ceilings; noisy fans buzzed near poorly paintedwalls; steep stairways were hazards to our visitors; andstaff members were crowed into small spaces with littleprivacy for interviews.

This picture is changing rapidly. True, there arestill a few offices suffering with these conditions, butthey are gradually disappearing. Many managers havebeen able to obtain DO space in attractive privatelyowned office buildings or in new Federal buildings,And, in some instances, private contractors have con-structed buildings for DO occupancy.

Congress recently approved a proposal whereby 25DO’s would be constructed with Trust Fund moneys.

Layout-wise they’ll be ground-level, square, or. rec-tangular structures, thus eliminating flights of stairs andodd-shaped space that can’t be utilized. There’ll be aminimum number of columns and very few partitionsblocking the view of operations. There will be ampleroom for interviewing.

Room for 10 years’ expansion will be allowed at thetime of construction. If the need for even more spacearises later, the lots surrounding the DO’s will be largeenough for future additions.

What lies ahead? No one can be sure. Who wouldhave guessed on August 14, 1935, that in 1965, 20 mil-lion people would be receiving monthly retirement, sur-vivors, or disability benefits. Today, we are faced withthe largest workload ever, as a result of the historic1965 amendments. And undoubtedly there will benew ways found to improve our field operations. But,one thing is certain: Backed with 30 years of dedica-tion to serving the American- public, field people willtake new developments in stride and continue to giveexcellent service.

In addition to old memorandums and other internal publi-cations, two major s o u r c e s for the years 1935-40 were used inpreparing this article. One was Birchard E. Wyatt’s andWilliam H. Wandel's book The Social Security Act in Opera-tion (Washington: Graphic Arts Press, Inc., 1937). Theother source used was Paula Zwintscher’s thesis, A Study ofthe Establishment of the Field Service of the Bureau of theOld-Age and Survivors Insurance. Paula is currently Dis-trict Manager in Elmwood Park, Ill. She wrote this thesisin 1952 while attending the American University.

OASIS

The Presidents Speak . . .

Since passage of the Social Security Act in 1935, every President of the United States hasfirmly endorsed the system as well as the social security concept. This has been a key element inestablishing social security as an accepted institution in our society. Presented here are state-ments made by the last five Chief Executives on the subject.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

“This law represents a cornerstone in a structure which isbeing built but is by no means complete-a structure intendedto lessen the force of possible future depressions, to act as aprotection to future administrations of the Government againstthe necessity of going deeply into debt to furnish relief to theneedy-a law to flatten out the peaks and valleys of deflationand of inflation-in other words, a law that will take care ofhuman needs and at the same time provide for the UnitedStates an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.”

-August 14, I935

Harry S. Truman

“It has long been recognized as an inescapable obligationof -a democratic society to provide for every individual somemeasure of basic protection from hardship and want causedby factors beyond his control. In our own country, the obli-gation of the Federal Government in this respect has beenrecognized by the establishment of our social security system.. . . The passage of the Social Security Act in 1935 markeda great advance in our concept of the means by which ourcitizens, through their Government, can provide against com-mon economic risks. . . .”

- M a y 24, 1948

44 OASIS

Dwight D. Eisenhower

“. . . The system is not intended as a substitute for private

savings, pension plans, and insurance protection. It is, rather,intended as the foundation upon which these other forms ofprotection can be soundly built. Thus, the individual’s ownwork, his planning and his thrift will bring him a higherstandard of living upon his retirement, or his family a higherstandard of living in the event of his death, than would other-wise be the case. Hence the system both encourages thriftand self-reliance, and helps to prevent destitution in ournational life.”

-January 14, 1954

John F. Kennedy

“It is with great satisfaction that I have signed into lawthe Social Security Amendments of 1961. They represent anadditional step toward eliminating many of the hardships re-sulting from old-age, disability, or the death of the family wageearner. . . . A Nation’s strength lies in the well being of itspeople. The social security program plays an important partin providing for families, children, and older persons in timeof stress but it cannot remain static. Changes in our popula-tion, in our working habits, and in our standard of livingrequire constant revision.”

- J u n e 30, 1961

Lyndon B. Johnson

“Thirty years ago, the American people made a basic deci-sion that the later years of life should not be years of despond-ency and drift. The result was enactment of our social securityprogram. . . . Since World War II, there has been increasingawareness of the fact that the full value of social securitywould not be realized unless provision were made to deal withthe problem of costs of illnesses among our older citizens. . . .Compassion and reason dictate that this logical extension ofour proven social security system will supply the prudent, fea-sible, and dignified way to free the aged from the fear offinancial hardship in the event of illness.”

-January 7, 1965

A U G U S T 1 9 6 5 45