U.S. Department of Commerce; 75 years stimulating America's progress: 1913-1988 - includes related articles

Business America, March 14, 1988 by M. Katherine Glover

U.S. Department of Commerce 75 Years Stimulating America's Progress 1913-1988

On March 4, the Commerce Department celebrated 75 years of stimulating America's progress. C. William Verity, the Department's 27th Secretary, led the worldwide celebration for some 2,000 headquarters employees at the Herbert C. Hoover Building in downtown Washington, D.C., while department employees in more than 67 U.S. cities and 127 foreign locations also stopped work to toast the anniversary.

Headquarters employees saluted the occasion in a kickoff celebration that began with the presentation of colors by the Joint Services Color Guard and the national anthem played by the U.S. Naval Academy Band. Three former Secretaries of Commerce, Alexander B. Trowbridge (June 14, 1967-March 1, 1968), Peter G. Peterson (Feb. 29, 1972-Feb. 1, 1973), and Philip M. Klutznick (Jan. 9, 1980-Jan. 19, 1981), joined employees and Secretary Verity in the kickoff celebration and were later honored in a reception and dinner hosted by the Secretary.

In his keynote address, delivered at the employee assembly, Secretary Verity hailed the Department of Commerce as a Department of Peace, recalling a statement made by President Reagan last fall on a visit to the Department: "I can't think of a department with a more noble purpose, one more central to the long-term welfare of our nation, than this one. If it is true, as I believe it is, that trade and economic relations are the bricks and mortar in the temple of world peace, then (this) department is a Department of Peace." The Secretary also announced the establishment of a Commerce Hall of Fame which will recognize employees who have demonstrated outstanding performance in their work at the Department.

Commerce employees wrapped up the celebration with "Happy Birthday, Commerce" followed by the official cutting of a 10-by 4-foot cake carved in the shape of Commerce's headquarters building.

Many of the Department's agencies hailed the anniversary with their own events. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for example, coordinated the renaming of its ship, the "Researcher," with the 75th anniversary and sponsored an open house of the ship for all Commerce employees. The ship was renamed the "Malcolm Baldrige," honoring the Department's 26th Secretary who was killed last summer in a rodeo accident. The Department hosted an open house in Secretary Verity's office for all Commerce employees. Secretary Verity was on hand at the entrance to greet each employee.

In conjunction with the birthday, the Department published its first history, entitled From Lighthouses to Laserbeams. Secretary Verity presented inscribed leather-bound volumes to several former Commerce secretaries. Copies of the history will be available for sale at the Government Printing Office. The history traces the Department's beginnings back to its roots, which date back to the Constitution.

Though the Department's origins, and many of its component programs, can be traced back 200 years, the creation of a specific department came about more recently, in the early 1900s. In February 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed legislation creating a Department of Commerce and Labor. Expanding U.S. trade took up much of the Department's early years. In 1912, the statistical functions inherited from Treasury and State were combined with new export promotion work to form the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce.

The new Department's first decade demonstrated the need to separate its commerce and labor functions. On March 4, 1913, his last day in office, President William Howard Taft signed legislation establishing a separate Department of Commerce and a Department of Labor. The next day, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Commerce's first Secretary, manufacturing executive and politician William C. Redfield. The new Department consisted of the Lighthouse Service, Coast and Geodetic Survey. Steamboat Inspection Service, Census, Standards, Navigation, Fisheries, Foreign and Domestic Commerce, and the Bureau of Corporations.

From almost the moment it came into being, the Department of Commerce has been in a constant state of evolution in keeping up with current and future needs of government. Some agencies came in and eventually left; the Bureau of Public Roads and the Maritime Administration are examples. Some agencies were created and in time spun off, either under their Commerce name or a new one. The Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Communications Commission, and the U.S. Department of Transportation are examples. Other agencies were returned by Commerce, and still others started in Commerce and moved on, including the Community Relations Service and the United States Fire Administration.

During the years of Commerce's development, numerous new agencies have been set up to meet the needs of a changing society: the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Office of Productivity, Technology, and Innovation, the Minority Business Development Agency, the U.S. Travel and Tourism Administration, the Economic Development Administration, the National Technical Information Service, the International Trade Administration, and the Bureau of Export Administration are examples.