The office has evolved over the years along with changes in administration and in United States territories. Prior to the 1930s, responsibility for administration of United States possessions was divided among several government departments.
Alaska and
Hawaii were under the Interior Department;
Puerto Rico and the
Philippine Islands were administered by the
Bureau of Insular Affairs in the
War Department; and the
United States Virgin Islands,
Guam, and
American Samoa were administered by the
United States Department of the Navy.
Division of Territories and Island Possessions The
Division of Territories and Island Possessions, from 1934 to 1950 was responsible for administering the
Interior Department's responsibilities over the territories and island possessions of the United States that were consolidated into the
Interior Department. Under the supervision of the Secretary of the Interior, the Division served as a mediator between the territories and Federal government by performing administrative activities for the territorial governments and taking on colonization projects that furthered the interests of the United States in those areas. The Division was established within the
Interior Department on May 29, 1934, under
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 6726 pursuant of the
Economy Act of March 20, 1933 which required the President to reorganize the Executive branch. The Executive Order transferred the administrative functions over
Puerto Rico from the
Bureau of Insular Affairs War Department to the newly formed division. On February 13, 1936, by Secretary Order 1040, the Division was assigned responsibilities from the
Interior Department over territorial affairs in
Alaska, the Alaska Railroad project, the
Alaska Road Commission, and the jurisdiction over the
Hawaiian Islands and the
U.S. Virgin Islands. In May 1936 and March 1938 by Executive Order 7368 and Executive Order 7828,
Baker Island,
Howland Island,
Jarvis Island,
Canton Island, and
Enderbury Island were placed under the
Interior Department and assigned to the Division. On July 1, 1939, the
Bureau of Insular Affairs War Department and its functions, including its administrative responsibilities over the
Philippine Islands was transferred to the
Interior Department and consolidated with the Division by the Reorganization Plan No. II of 1939. In 1943, the Division was reorganized into three geographic and two functional branches: Hawaii and the Philippine Islands, Alaska, and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, Legal, and Administrative. In 1949, the Division's administrative responsibilities were expanded to include
Guam by Executive Order 10077 and made effective July 1, 1950 by Executive Order 10137. In 1950, the Office of Territories was established and the functions of the Division were transferred to the Office by the Secretarial Order No. 2577. The first Director of Territories was
Ernest Gruening, who served from 1934 to 1939, and later served as the territorial governor of Alaska and then as one of the first
senators elected from Alaska upon statehood. The major publication from the Division was the Annual Reports of the
Department of the Interior that had a section on the Division of Territories and Island Possessions written by the Director outlining the Division's activities over the past fiscal year. Additionally, the Division published general information serial pamphlets on Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, and later general information on the
Trust Territory. The Division also published specific reports pertaining to Alaska's postwar period and road and agricultural development efforts, as well as a report on surplus property of its administrative areas.
Office of Territories In 1950, the Division's name was changed to the
Office of Territories and the office's work was significantly reduced in 1952 after Puerto Rico attained
commonwealth status and in 1959 Alaska and Hawaii were
granted statehood.
Office of Territorial Affairs In 1971, the Office of Territories was temporarily abolished and administration was coordinated by a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Territorial Affairs in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Land Management. In 1973, the agency was reconstituted as the
Office of Territorial Affairs, which remained the designation until 1980, when an
Office of Assistant Secretary for Territorial and International Affairs was created. (The designation "international" refers to what became the
freely associated states of the
Marshall Islands, the
Federated States of Micronesia, and
Palau.) Today, the Interior Department, through the Office of Insular Affairs, continues to be responsible for the outlying
insular areas including American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the
Northern Mariana Islands. == See also ==