All Topics  
War Industries Board

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

War Industries Board
 
 
  Topics War Industries Board Topic Home

The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies. The organization encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency and urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The board set production quotas and allocated raw materials. It also conducted psychological testing to help people find the right jobs.

The board was led initially by Frank A.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'War Industries Board'
Start a new discussion about 'War Industries Board'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


The War Industries Board (WIB) was a United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 government agency established on July 28, 1917, during World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
, to coordinate the purchase of war supplies. The organization encouraged companies to use mass-production techniques to increase efficiency and urged them to eliminate waste by standardizing products. The board set production quotas and allocated raw materials. It also conducted psychological testing to help people find the right jobs.

The board was led initially by Frank A. Scott, who had previously been head of the General Munitions Board. He was replaced in November by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad president Daniel Willard
Daniel Willard

Daniel Willard was a railroad executive best known as the president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from 1910 to 1941. He served on or headed several government railroad commissions in World War I and appeared on the cover of Time Magazine magazine in 1932 due to his part in negotiating wage cuts in the Great Depression....
. Finally in January 1918, the board was reorganized under the leadership of Bernard M. Baruch.

The WIB dealt with labor-management disputes resulting from increased demand for products during World War I. The government could not negotiate prices and could not handle worker strikes, so the War Industries Board regulated the two to decrease tensions by stopping strikes with wage increases to prevent a shortage of supplies going to the war in Europe.

Under the War Industries Board, industrial production in the U.S. increased 20 percent. The War Industries Board was decommissioned by an executive order on January 1, 1919.

With the war mobilization conducted under the supervision of the War Industries Board unprecedented fortunes fell upon war producers and certain holders of raw materials and patents. Hearings in 1934 by the Nye Committee
Nye Committee

The Nye Committee, officially known as the Special Committee on Investigation of the Munitions Industry, was a committee in the United States Senate which studied the causes of United States' involvement in World War I....
 led by U.S. Senator Gerald Nye
Gerald Nye

Gerald Prentice Nye was a United States politician, representing North Dakota in the United States Senate from 1925 to 1945. He was a progressive Republican Party and anti-war activist....
 were intended to hold war profiteers to account.

Members of the War Industries Board

The original seven members of the War Industries Board were:
  • Frank A. Scott
  • General Palmer E. Pierce
  • Admiral Frank F. Fletcher
    Frank Friday Fletcher

    Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher was an United States United States Navy officer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the uncle of World War II Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher....
  • Bernard M. Baruch
  • Robert S. Brookings
    Robert S. Brookings

    File:Robert S. Brookings.jpgRobert Somers Brookings was an American businessman and philanthropist, known for his involvement with Washington University in St....
    , head of the Cupples Co., a distribution firm
  • Robert S. Lovett, President of Union Pacific Railroad
    Union Pacific Railroad

    The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
  • Hugh Frayne, of the American Federation of Labour


Other later members included:
  • Clarence Dillon
    Clarence Dillon

    Clarence Dillon, , was an United States financier, and namesake of Dillon, Read & Co., an investment bank....
    , partner in Dillon, Read & Co.
    Dillon, Read & Co.

    Dillon, Read & Co. was a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s.Dillon Read originated in 1832 as the Wall Street brokerage firm Carpenter & Vermilye....
  • Eugene Meyer
    Eugene Meyer

    Eugene Isaac Meyer was an American financier, public official, publisher of the Washington Post newspaper. He served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1930 to 1933....
    , Special Advisor to the War Industries Board on Non-Ferrous Metals
  • Edward Stettinius, Sr., partner in J.P. Morgan & Co.
    J.P. Morgan & Co.

    J.P. Morgan & Co. was a commercial banking and investment banking institution based in the United States founded by J. Pierpont Morgan and commonly known as the House of Morgan or simply Morgan....
  • Walter D. Stewart


Notable employees included:
  • Samuel P. Bush
    Samuel P. Bush

    Samuel Prescott Bush was an United States business magnate and entrepreneur, and the patriarch of the Bush family. He was the father of United States Senate Prescott Bush, grandfather of former President of the United States George H....
    , chief of the Ordnance, Small Arms, and Ammunition Section


External links