Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Townsend National Recovery Plan Records,
Date (inclusive): 1931-1961
Collection number: 219
Creator:
Townsend National Recovery Plan, Inc.
Extent: 230 boxes (115.0 linear ft.)
2 cartons (2.0 linear ft.)
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: The Townsend Plan was proposed in 1933 by Francis Townsend. The plan called for a $200-a-month pension to any retired person
over sixty. Bills to establish the Plan were brought up and defeated in Congress many times and the movement lost headway
after passage of the Social Security Act in 1935. Boxes 1-145 include correspondence, minutes, bulletins, accounts, reports,
directories, permit files, and miscellaneous records related to the Plan in the 12th Regional District (comprising the states
of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and California).
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
PARTIALLY PROCESSED COLLECTION UNAVAILABLE FOR USE: except for boxes 1-145. Inquiries regarding these materials should be
directed in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian, UCLA Department of Special Collections.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific
Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Townsend National Recovery Plan Records (Collection 219). Department of Special Collections, Charles
E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
The Townsend Plan was proposed in 1933 by Francis Townsend; it called for a $200-a-month pension to any retired person over
sixty; it was to be paid in scrip and spent within a month; funds were to be raised by sales tax; bills to establish the Plan
were brought up and defeated in Congress many times; the movement lost headway after passage of the Social Security Act, 1935.
Biographical Narrative
The Townsend Plan Incorporated was established in 1934 and incorported under the laws of the state of California by Dr. Francis
Townsend and Robert E. Clements; the organization, with National Headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio, was divided into 12 regional
districts; local organizations consisted of a district council for each Congressional District within the region.
Scope and Content
Boxes 1-145 include records related to the Townsend National Recovery Plan, Incorporated. 12th Regional District, comprising
the states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and California. Also includes correspondence, minutes, bulletins, accounts, reports,
directories, and permit files.
Expanded Scope and Content
The Townsend Plan Incorporated was established in 1934 and incorporated under the laws of the State of California by Dr. Francis
E. Townsend and Robert E. Clements. The Organization, with National Headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio, is divided into twelve
regional districts corresponding to the Federal Reserve Districts of the United States Government.
The records described in this inventory are those of the 12th Regional District, comprising the states of Arizona, Colorado,
Nevada, and California, with Regional Headquarters located at Modesto, California, under the direction of John C. Cuneo, National
Representative and Secretary-Treasurer of the Townsend Plan Incorporated of California. The Regional District Headquarters
supervises the activities of the local organization within the regional district. Local organizations consist of a district
council for each Congressional District within the region, composed of representatives elected by officers of the local clubs.
The local club, composed of members of the movement in good standing, is the smallest unit.
The records created by the 12th Regional District Headquarters contain two general files and five more or less specialized
files, including financial records, and cover the period 1938 to 1952. The records of the Regional Headquarters prior to 1938
have been destroyed. The first general file contains correspondence, copies of minutes of local club meetings, bulletins of
local clubs, reports, and copies of receipts for contributions received by the Regional Headquarters. The file is arranged
chronologically and alphabetically thereunder in two separate catagories: (1) Individuals file (2) Clubs file. The second
file contains the same type of material as the first, but relates only to the business of the Townsend Party in California
from 1940 to 1944, and is arranged in the same manner as the first file. The specialized files consist of the minutes and
correspondence of the California State Advisory Committee and Council, organizations created within the Regional District
to promote social welfare legislation; a Speakers' Permit file containing applications for speakers' permits from members
of the movement in the 12th Regional District; a file of Townsend Club Officers in the Regional District; bulletins issued
by the Regional Headquarters, and financial records.
The records described in this inventory constitute all the extant records of the Townsend Plan Incorporated, 12th Regional
District Headquarters, except for the current files which are located at the Headquarters Office in Modesto, California. They
amount to 54 linear feet. Records pertaining to other aspects of the Townsend Plan Incorporated in the 12th Regional District
are in the possession of the local clubs, the National Headquarters at Cleveland, Ohio, and in the Personal File of John C.
Cuneo located in the Department of Special Collections at the Library of the University of California, Los Angeles.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Townsend National Recovery Plan, Inc.--Archives.
Old age pensions--United States--Archival resources.
Business records.
Related Material
The Townsend Plan in retrospect [oral history transcript] / John C. Cuneo, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1970. Available at Department
of Special Collections, UCLA.