Roth, Raymond F.

Biography

After graduating, in 1939, from the Nebraska State College at Kearney (now part of the University of Nebraska system), Raymond F. Roth (1915-1991) moved to Oakland, California where he worked from 1939 to 1941 as an Assistant Department Head at Montgomery Ward and Co. In the spring of 1941, Roth began working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the Resettlement Division of the Farm Security Administration. He oversaw maintenance and operations of various Mobile Labor Projects for farm workers until December 1942, when he resigned to join the U.S. Navy.

Roth served as Assistant Supply Officer at Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii for the U.S. Naval Supply Corp until May 1945. From May 1945 to March 1946, he worked as Assistant Supply Officer at Naval Air Station, Quonset Point, Rhode Island. By the end of his active military duty in March 1946, Roth attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander. He served until 1955 as an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves at the Naval Reserve Training Center, Stockton, California.

Roth returned to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1946 as a Farm Labor Project Manager, managing farm labor supply centers throughout California and Arizona for the Production and Marketing Administration. After the Department of Agriculture ended the program in 1947, Roth took the position of General Manager for Westside Producers Cooperative, Inc.

Roth began his career with the California State Department of Employment, Farm Placement Service in July 1948 as a Farm Placement Representative for San Joaquin County. Roth's work involved the migrant labor force, with an emphasis on the Bracero Program for Mexican Nationals. In February 1952, he was assigned to a newly created Operations Review team, which assisted area managers in determining if local offices were conforming to the Department's prescribed standards for operation. In October 1953, he became the Farm Placement Supervisor for the northern half of the San Joaquin Valley. In August 1959, Roth began work as Field Assistant for Farm Placement in the Department's Technical Section at the Central Office in Sacramento. Roth was named Acting Chief, Farm Placement Technical Section, in March 1960. By 1961, he became Chief of the Farm Placement Technical Section and responsible for administering the program throughout California.

In 1964, Farm Placement Service was renamed Farm Labor Service, and Roth's title changed to Chief, Farm Labor Service. In 1969, when the Department of Employment was renamed the Department of Human Resources Development, and Farm Labor Service became Farm Labor Services Division, Roth was named Administrator, Farm Labor Services Branch. The objective of Farm Labor Services was to expedite employment contacts between agricultural workers and employers to their mutual advantage and satisfaction. Farm Labor Services had a joint obligation to serve the employer in need of workers and workers in need of jobs.

The Farm Labor Services Division was renamed the Rural Manpower Services Division in July 1971, and Roth became Administrator, Rural Manpower Services Division. Needs had changed and advances in technology and mechanization in agriculture had caused a decline in job opportunities. There were difficulties in serving rural areas due to remoteness of many residents from offices providing complete services. Rural Manpower Services aimed to provide the agricultural community with equitable access to manpower services, comparable to that available to residents of urban areas. Rural Manpower Services delivered manpower services to both agricultural and nonagricultural workers and employers in rural communities.

In November 1972, the Department of Human Resources Development was renamed the Employment Development Department and responsibilities for rural manpower services and urban employment services were combined in the Operations Branch, which took on responsibility for both placement and insurance payment functions. The Operations Branch of the Employment Development Department was divided into five regions, each headed by a Regional Administrator. Roth retired, circa 1977, as Regional Administrator, Region I, the rural Northern California region.

From the guide to the Raymond F. Roth Papers, 1936-1977, (bulk 1940-1966), (University of California, Davis. General Library. Department of Special Collections.)