The Montana Disaster and Emergency Services Division was established through legislative act in 1951 as the Civil Defense Agency. The CDA's mandated mission was overseeing state preparation for emergencies resulting from nuclear attack or natural disaster and further to restore "public peace, safety and welfare" during such occurances. In 1967, the legislature passed a bill which replaced the Civil Defense Agency with the Office of Emergency Planning. Ten years later legisation resulted in the termination of the Office of Emergency Planning and creation of the Disaster and Emergency Services Division. Ultimately, for administrative purposes, was placed unter the Department of Military Affairs in 1977.
This collection has been divided into two series: general correspondence (1971-1981) and subject files (1972-1980). The correspondence, arranged chronologically and pertains to state and federal legislation governing the funding and operations of emergency and disaster services and formulation of agency policy. Also included are policy statement drafts, various emergency plans and planning exercises, and comments on various issues. The subject files (1974-1981) are arranged by disaster or emergency, including flooding, a grasshopper disaster, and winter storms. The files are organized alphabetically by county, city or town in which damage occured. Contents are a combination of correspondence, financial assistance applications, damage reports and evaluations, contractor claims, equipment rental receipts, payroll overtime records, and miscelleanous support documents. All folder titles are those used by the division.
The collection is arranged by series.
Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information is available upon request.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection