Research

Administrative History

The Section for Citizen Unity was formed on January 1, 1942 by the State War Council. Some of the section's functions were: to help interpret the civilian war program to the general public; to foster projects for building unity at home behind the war effort; to develop an informed understanding of war issues on part of the general public including the Atlantic Charter, total manpower mobilization, wartime financing, censorship and news policy; to assist local communities in developing more effective organization for handling radio programs, speakers bureaus, discussion projects, exhibits, block groups, war forums and war problem round tables; and to gather and disseminate materials relating to the war effort such as pamphlets, film lists, bibliographies, radio script reference lists, and dramatization material. The Section for Citizen Unity, directed by John W. Merring, was divided into city and county Councils of Citizen Unity and Local Citizen Morale Committees. The Victory Publications Clearing House, in conjunction with the Section for Citizen Unity, issued pamphlets on war issues to the general public.