The United States Fuel Administration was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

-era agency of the

Federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

established by of August 23, 1917, pursuant to the

Food and Fuel Control Act The Food and Fuel Control Act, , also called the Lever Act or the Lever Food Act was a World War I era US law that among other things created the United States Food Administration and the United States Fuel Administration. Legislative history Th ...

. The administration managed the use of coal and oil. To conserve energy, it introduced

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typical ...

, shortened work weeks for civilian goods factories, and encouraged Heatless Mondays.

Background

Even prior to a declaration of war by the United States, shortages of coal were experienced in the winter of 1916-17. To address concerns about a steady supply of fuel to support military and industrial operations and for use by consumers, in 1917 the Federal Fuel Administration was established and US President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of P ...

appointed

Harry A. Garfield Harry Augustus "Hal" Garfield (October 11, 1863 – December 12, 1942) was an American lawyer, academic, and public official. He was president of Williams College and supervised the United States Fuel Administration during World War I. He was ...

to lead the agency. Garfield in turn selected local administrators for each state. Fuel committees were organized down to the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

level. The activities of the administration included setting and enforcing the prices of coal. The administration had broad powers to set the price of coal at various points (mine, dock) and the cost of transportation (by rail), and in regard to end use (home, factory, or business, etc.). Daylight Saving Time was formally adopted in the United States in 1918 by the Fuel Administration. The

Standard Time Act of 1918 The Standard Time Act of 1918, also known as the Calder Act, was the first United States federal law implementing Standard time and Daylight saving time in the United States. It defined five time zones for the United States and authorized the ...

established both standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918. The idea was unpopular, however, and Congress abolished DST after the war, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's veto. DST became a local option and was observed in some states until World War II, when President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round DST, called "War Time," on February 9, 1942. It lasted until the last Sunday in September 1945. The next year, many states and localities adopted summer DST. By mid-1922, the administration's activities were declining and some states were taking a more active role in managing coal production.

References

External links

{{Commons category, United States Fuel Administration
Livingston County Federal Fuel Administration
Agencies of the United States government United States home front during World War I Energy in the United States Daylight saving time in the United States World War I