Guide to the Rhode Island Milk Control Board records, 1934-1957

Rhode Island State Archives
Rhode Island State Archives
337 Westminster Street
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-222-2353
Fax: 401-222-3199
email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Rhode Island Milk Control Board records
Date range:	1934-1957
Creator:	Rhode Island Milk Control Board
Extent:	1 cubic feet
Abstract:	The Rhode Island Milk Control Board was established by public law in 1934 to address the unregulated trade practices of the milk industry and to regulate the production, sale and distribution of milk and cream in the state. The Rhode Island Milk Control Board records consist of seven bound volumes documenting the history and the activities of the Rhode Island Milk Control Board during the period of 1934-1957.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Rhode Island State Archives
Collection number:	C#1845

Scope & content

The Rhode Island Milk Control Board records consist of six bound volumes of typewritten orders, notices of meetings and transcripts of public hearings documenting the activities of the Rhode Island Milk Control Board during the period of 1934-1957. The collection also includes a handwritten bound volume documenting the History and Minutes of the Rhode Island Association of Milk Control Officials from July 5, 1934 to September 9, 1941.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Rhode Island. Dept. of Health
• Rhode Island. Division of Food Protection and Sanitation.

Subject Topics

• Government, Politics and Law
• Milk trade--Government policy--Northeastern States.
• Milk--Standards.
• Dairy laws
• Milk hygiene.
• Milk--Sterilization
• Milk supply--United States.
• Milk trade

Document Types

• state government records

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically within each series. The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Record Books
• Series 2. History and Minutes

Biographical note

The Rhode Island Milk Control Board was established per 1934 January Session Public Law Chapter 2089 entitled "An Act Creating A Board Of Milk Control And Defining Its Powers And Duties." The Board was established to address the unregulated (unfair, destructive and uneconomic) trade practices of the milk industry and to regulate the production, sale and distribution of milk and cream in the state. Additionally the board was charged with "public supervision and control in accord with proper standards of production, transportation, processing, storage, distribution and sale of milk and cream..." to alleviate any "immediate and impending danger to the public health and welfare..."

The Milk Control Board consisted of the director of state public health commission (ex-officio), the commissioner of agriculture (ex-officio), a milk producer, a milk distributor, and a milk consumer all appointed by the Governor. The January Session, 1939 Chapter 660 (also known as "the Administrative Act of 1939") transferred certain duties of the board, such as the inspection of milk, to the jurisdiction of the Department of Health (formerly the Commission of Public Health). The functions of inspection of cattle, milk herds, and the economic control of milk came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and Conservation (formerly the Commission of Agriculture). 1939 Chapter 674 further established the board as an independent unit of the Department of Agriculture and Conservation and not subject to the jurisdiction of the director of that department. Chapter 674 also abolishes the board as defined in 1936 Chapter 2310 ("An Act Continuing A Board Of Milk Control And Defining Its Powers And Duties") and essentially redefines the board's functions and outlines the membership of the board with the same membership as the previous board. The appointments of the governor now require the advice and consent of the senate.

An act in amendment of Chapter 660 further defines the functions of the board as the establishment of minimum wholesale and resale prices of milk within the state (1939 Chapter 731). These minimum prices were to be established after investigations and public hearings. Chapter 80 of the Public Acts of 1962 established a new milk sanitation code and further redefined the responsibilities of the Departments of Health and Agriculture and Conservation. By 1979-1980, the functions of the Milk Sanitation Board were combined with the functions of the Division of Food Protection in the Department of Health.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	No special restrictions unless otherwise specified.
Use of the materials:	Copyright is in the public domain unless otherwise specified. We reserve the right to restrict reproduction of materials due to preservation concerns.
Preferred citation:	Rhode Island Milk Control Board records, C#1845, Rhode Island State Archives.
Contact information:	Rhode Island State Archives Rhode Island State Archives 337 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903 Tel: 401-222-2353 Fax: 401-222-3199 email: statearchives@sos.ri.gov

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	There is no acquisition information available for the records for the period May 21, 1934 to August 19, 1942. The records for the period of August 26, 1942 to December 17, 1957 and the History and Minutes were transferred to the State Archives Department of Environmental Management, Division of Agriculture and Resource Marketing, Deputy Chief Stephen M. Volpe on May 22, 2003.
Custodial history:	The records, created and maintained by the board, were held by the Department of Environmental Management, the successor agency of the Department of Agriculture. Transfer information on Record Book 1- 3 is unknown. Record Book 4-6 and the History and Minutes volume were transferred to the State Records Center and at one time removed by the agency. The records center inventory continued to show the boxes as being signed out. The agency did not return the records to storage and continued to pay for storage instead of having the records officially removed from storage as per procedure. The records were discovered by Public Records Administration staff on a site visit to a records storage facility maintained by DEM/Division of Agriculture at Quonset/Davisville in North Kingstown on May 22, 2003. They were transferred to the State Archives with approval of the deputy chief. The accession of the volumes continued the series previously held by the State Archives.
Accruals:	There was one additional accrual with the accession number 2003-29. No further accruals are anticipated at this time.
Processing information:	The records were processed by staff of the Rhode Island State Archives.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Kate Telford.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Kate Telford 2009 January 27
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Related material:

Related Material Rhode Island Milk Control Board - Laws and Regulations Relating to Dairying, 1945.Rhode Island Milk Control Study Committee - Report, 1950.Special House Committee Investigations Newport County Milk Prices - Progress Report, 1953Providence City Council - Resolution No. 35 Abolishing Minimum Milk Price Control, 1961

Inventory

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