The Council of Social Agencies of Los Angeles records consist of meeting minutes, reports, and correspondence and memorandums, 1929-1947, created and collected by this welfare organization. The minutes are primarily those of the Executive Committee, and describe the higher level administrative activites of the Council. The reports consist of summaries of the activities of the various Council divisions, as well as research reports produced by these divisions on such topics as Los Angeles social agencies, social welfare organizations, and social conditions. The collection reflects the professional vigor of the Council as it faced, from its inception, the emergencies of the Depression--in a state with a three-year residency law governing eligibility for public assistance. In the 1940s, when Los Angeles became a center for defense production, the region experienced severe social and family dislocations. The records contain much historical data about Los Angeles during the Depression, about official and unofficial efforts to provide for destitute, unemployed people in a region full of "technical non-residents", for transients, and for the 20% of the population estimated then to be in need of some level of assistance. The collection reflects the rapid development of social work in this era, and also the effects of federal relief policies, both in averting catastrophe and in modifying the roles of public and private local agencies.