Records of Temporary Committees, Commissions and Boards: Records of the President's Commission on Migratory Labor (Record Group 220)

The records of the President’s Commission on Migratory Labor consist of correspondence, transcripts, memoranda, meeting minutes, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, statements, reports, and other materials related to the problem of migratory agricultural labor in the United States.

Size: 3 linear feet, 11 linear inches.
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government the copyrights in this material and in any other material received by the U.S. government and maintained in a depository administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Jerry N. Hess (1961); David Clark (2012); Tammy K. Williams (2026).

The President’s Commission on Migratory Labor was established by Executive Order 10129 on June 3, 1950. The tasks assigned to the Commission included inquiry into the “social, economic, health, and educational conditions among migratory workers, both alien and domestic, in the United States; problems created by the migration of workers, for temporary employment, into the United States, pursuant to the immigration laws or otherwise; responsibilities now being assumed by Federal, State, county, and municipal authorities with respect to alleviating the conditions among migratory workers…; whether sufficient numbers of local and migratory workers can be obtained from domestic sources to meet agricultural needs, and, if not, the extent to which the temporary employment of foreign workers may be required to supplement the domestic labor supply; and the extent of illegal migration of foreign workers into the United States and the problems created thereby...”. The Commission was given until December 15, 1950 to conduct relevant studies and hearings to investigate the issues and make their report to the President. Executive Order 10192 extended the deadline for submission of their report to March 1, 1951. The final report of the Commission was entitled Migratory Labor in American Agriculture.

Maurice Van Hecke served as Chairman of the Commission. Other members included Robert Lucey, William Leiserson, and Peter Odegard.

The records of the President’s Commission on Migratory Labor consist of correspondence, transcripts, memoranda, meeting minutes, press releases, newspaper clippings, publications, statements, reports, and other materials related to the problem of migratory agricultural labor in the United States. The collection consists of one series, a Subject File. It contains administrative information about the budget and meetings of the Commission and correspondence with people and groups that had a vested interest in the work of the Commission, as well as correspondence between members of the Commission and Commission staff. The Commission held public hearings in California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. The series contains transcripts of hearings from these locations and statements from groups that testified or made an appearance at the hearings. These groups include national labor unions; religious organizations; state agencies pertaining to labor, health, education, housing, commerce, and other issues; large agricultural growers and processors; agricultural producers associations; federal agencies including the Department of Labor, Department of State, and Department of Agriculture; labor camp operators; and others. It also contains two draft versions of the final report of the Commission, Migratory Labor in American Agriculture.