OSS RECORDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP76-00883R000100120002-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 4, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: February 6, 1970
• Content Type: MF

Approved For,Rase 4002iO1IO7: CIA DP76.;00$$3R 100120002I3 {
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6 February 1970
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
SUBJECT : O55 Records
1. This memorandum is for your information and is in
response to your request regarding the status .and availability
of the "OSS Archives".
2. The "OSS Archives" include the records of OSS, its
predecessor, the Office of the Coordinator of Information, and
its successor, the Strategic Services Unit (SSU). These records
contain between 10 million and 14 million pages ofmaterial and
are located in CIA, the National Archives, and the Franklin D.
Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, New York. In addition, the
CIA Central Reference Service holds 143 .OSS films on countries,
training, operations, and the like. Access to these records is
controlled by CIA alone or jointly with the National Archives.
Tab A presents a more detailed summary of.the location, volume,
type of record, and control of access.
3. The OSS materials are still being used in the Agency.
In 1957 we started a systematic review of the OSS records and
have selected and duplicated a small percentage of these documents
for inclusion in the Clandestine Service Record System. The OSS
records are used for processing about queries a 25X1A
week, for some of the current CIA historical program on bases and
stations overseas, and for operational and counterintelligence
purposes. For example, we are still using 201 files on China
which were begun in OSS days and continued through SSU and CIG
to the present.:- These'records are also used to certify, creditable
 Approved For Rise 2002/01 ~~. ^ ! R ROW 00 1200 02-3
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OSS service for both US citizens and foreign nationals, to respond
to requests for information from individuals formerly associated
with the predecessor organizations, to answer unclassified inquiries
from the general public, and to settle claims from heirs or relatives
of former OSS agents.
4. Although well controlled and indexed for our current uses,
the OSS material is very poorly organized for historical research.
The TOP SECRET papers have been separated from those of lower
classification and have been.filed by TS number. Other than that,
the papers are in no discernible order. The primary breakdown
of materials of lower classification is organizational. For example,
the files of the London Station are stored in one group of boxes.
Within these boxes the files are essentially in the same order and
contain the same papers as when the last operating unit had them.
Since there was no standard filing system, the order and titles of
files of any one component bears little resemblance to that of any
other.
5. Before these records could be released they would have
to be screened by officers who are aware of the currently useful
and classified information in them. Although I have not been able
to get an estimate of the number of manhours involved in screening
a box of these records, it is clear that meaningful access even by
cleared outside scholars would require so much 'preliminary
screening by CIA personnel as to be out of the question for the
foreseeable future.
6. The vast majority of the papers would be of no historical
and if the researcher was directly familiar with the material under
consideration or had the help of someone who was.
interest to a scholar, and even if he were given completely free
access, the sheer volume of the materials that would have to be
searched before finding anything of historical significance would
.be overwhelming. The problem would be more manageable if the
topic were limited to a single organizational unit or operation,
as een granted authors and former OSS personnel to publish
unclassified articles.andbooks. Tab;B.summarizes'some of.the'
7. From time to time access to OSS records and information
h b
 Approved For Fase 2002/01/07 : CIA-RDP76-00883F100120002-3
more important of these instances. Occasionally, students and
scholars request information on OSS from the National Archives
and the Department of the Army. When possible, these requests
are honored with the approval of CIA.
8. There are some legal aspects of the problem of control
and access to these records worth noting. One deals with the
Freedom of Information Act which raises certain questions about
the accessibility by private individuals to some of the OSS records.
Another is our responsibility to preserve all of these documents
under the statutes on archival material. In addition, there has
been some question about the legal title to the OSS ? materials now
in our custody. ? These topics are covered more fully in Tab C.
25X1 A
EDWARD W. PR
Assistant Deputy Director for Intelligence
Tab B - Summary of Release of OSS Records
Attachments
Tab A - OSS Archives (location; volume, type,', access control)
Tab C - Legal and Policy Aspects:-.:',,'-'
Approved For Release ' 2002/01/07.: CIA-RDP76-008831,000.100120002-3