The Selective Service System, also known as the Draft, establishes the law that all male U.S and most non-U.S. citizens residing in the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 must register with the Selective Service. The earliest passage of this statute was made by the 65th Congress in 1917, entitled the Selective Service Act of 1917. The Act required military conscription of all males aged 21 to 30 during times of war. By 1918, the maximum age for conscription was raised to 45 years of age. This Act of 1917 was discontinued in 1920.
The first peacetime conscription act in the United States was the Selective Service and Training Act of 1940, passed by the 76th Congress. The current system stemming from the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 is based on this. The following is a list of resources available at the Reference & Government Services Division at the Indiana State Library. For assistance finding these resources, please contact or visit the Indiana State Library.
This section includes reports, legislation, and investigations regarding the Selective Service System. These entries should prove useful in research as it pertains to this act during important periods of United States history and military legislation.
Location | Item |
pd328a Ar5-3 Se4 | Selective Service Records Office-Senate Committee on Armed Services. 1947. |
pd328a Ar5-2a 949-50-169 | Selective Service-House Committee on Armed Services. Selective Service Act Extension. 1950. |
pd328a Ar5-3 P56 | Selective Service Bill of 1948 amended-Senate Committee on Armed Services. Registration and induction of physicians, dentists, and allies specialists. 1950. |
pd328a A45-3 Se4-2 | Selective Service Extension Act of 1950-Senate Committee of Armed Services. Selective Service extension act of 1950 and Manpower registration and classification act. 1950. |
pd355.115 Un58r | Selective Training and Service Act of 1940-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Reemployment time extended. 1944. |
pd355.115 Un58r | Selective Service Act of 1940-House Committee on Military Affairs. Reemployment rights of veterans. 1946. |
pd355.2 Un58d | Draft deferment-House Committee on Military Affairs. Deferment of certain |
pd355.2 Un58dr | Selective Service System-Provost Marshal General's Bureau. Report on the operations of the Selective Service System. 1917-1919. |
pd355.2 Un58sa | Selective Service Regulations-War Department. 1917. |
pd355.2 Un58sa2 | Selective Service Regulations-War Department. 1918. |
pd355.22 S464 | Selective Service-U.S. Selective Service System. Selective Service. 1941-47. |
pd355.22 S464s | Selective Service-U.S. Selective Service System. Selective Service. 1951. |
pd355.22 Un58am | Selective Training and Service Act-House Committee on Military Affairs. Amending the Selective Training and Service Act. 1941. |
pd355.22 Un58am no.3 | Amendments to Selective Service Act. 1943. |
pd355.22 Un58am no.6 | Postponement of induction of high school students. 1943. |
pd355.22 Un59mis no.7 | Amending the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. 1944. |
pd355.22 Un58am no.8 | Amending the Selective Training and Service Act. 1944. |
pd355.22 Un58cob | Selective Training and Service Act-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Conscientious objector's benefits. 1943. |
pd355.22 Un58d | Draft deferment-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Deferment of men by age group under Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. 1941. |
pd355.22 Un58de | Selective Service-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Deferment of registrants in essential occupations. 1944. |
pd355.22 Un58do | Selective Service-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Doctors and medical students under Selective Service. 1941. |
pd355.22 Un58eo | Extension of the Selective Training and Service Act. 1945. |
pd355.22 Un58eoa | Extension of the Selective Training and Service Act. 1946. |
pd355.22 Un58inv | Draft deferment-House Committee on Military Affairs. Investigations of the national war effort. 1944. |
pd355.22 Un58inv2 | Draft deferment-House Committee on Military Affairs. Investigations of the national war effort. 1944. |
pd355.22 Un58Lo | Draft age-Senate committee on Military Affairs. Lowering the draft age to 18 years. 1942. |
pd355.22 Un58Lod | Lowering draft age to 18 years. 1942. |
pd355.22 Un58mm | Selective Training and Service Act of 1940-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Married men exemption (Drafting of fathers). 1943. |
pd355.22 Un58sa | Selective Service-Laws, statutes, etc. House of Representatives. The Selective Service Act as amended, contains laws of 65th (1917) Congresses. 1943-1962. |
pd355.22 Un58sac | Selective Service Acts-Laws, statutes, etc. Compiled by John W. Lambert. 1943. |
pd355.22 Un58se | Selective Service Regulations for Registrars-Selective Service System. 1942. |
pd355.22 Un58seL | Selective Service Extension-Senate Committee on Military Affairs. Selective Service Extension. 1946. |
pd355.22 Un58ser | Selective Service-Department of Defense. Service Facts, questions and answers about Selective Service. 1948. |
pd355.22 Un58ss | Selective Service Regulations-War Department. 1940-1944 |
pd355.22 Un58ua no.75 | Draft aid center-Office of Civilian Defense. A service to the families of drafted fathers. 1944. |
GA 1.13:NSIAD-98-199 | Gender Issues : changes would be needed to expand selective service registration to women : report to the ranking minority member, Subcommittee on Readiness, Committee on Armed Services, U.S. Senate / United States General Accounting Office. 1998. [microfiche] |
Y 4.AR 5/2:M 59/6 | Compilation of the Military Selective Service Act: showing the act as amended through January 3rd 1979. 1979. |
Y 4.AR 5/2:M 59/6/980 | Compilation of the Military Selective Service Act: showing the act as amended through February 1st 1980. 1980. |
Y 4.AR 5/2:M 59/6/983 | Compilation of the Military Selective Service Act: showing the act as amended through February 1st 1983. 1983. |
Y 4.AR 5/2:M 56/6/990 | Military Selective Service Act: as amended through December 31st 1990 (Public Law 101-650). 1991. |
Y 4.J 89/1:97/69 | Selective Service Prosecutions: oversight hearing before the Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administrations of Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session, on selective service prosecutions, July 28, 1982. 1983. |
Y 1.4/6:96-2H.R.6329 | H.R. 6329: to amend the Military Selective Service Act to provide for reactivation of registration and classification under such act and to provide authority for induction of individuals for training and service in the ready reserve of the reserve components of the Armed Forces. 1980. |
Y 1.4/6:96-2:H.R.6568 | H.R. 6568: to provide that registrants under the Military Selective Service Act shall be automatically registered to vote in their local jurisdictions. 1980. |
Y 1.4/6:96-2:H.R.6569 | H.R. 6569: to amend the Military Selective Service Act to allow the registration of both men and women. 1980. |
Location | Item |
IP 16.35522 No. 2 | Bender, Betty W. (1951). Resolved, that all American citizens should be subject to conscription for essential service in time of war, selected list of books, magazine articles and pamphlets. Indianapolis. |
ISLM UB343.C3 | Carper, Jean. (1967). Bitter greetings: the scandal of the military draft. New York: Grossman. |
ISLM 355.22 C814CO | Cornell, Julien D. (1944). Conscience and the state; legal and administrative problems of conscientious objectors, 1943-1944. New York: distributed by John Day. |
ISLM 355.22 F559U | Fitzpatrick, Edward A. (1945). Universal military training. New York: Whittlesey House. |
ISLI 355.22 F648H | Flynn, George Q. (1985). Lewis B. Hershey, Mr. Selective Service. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. |
ISLM 355.22 H148M | Hahnel, Robert. (1941). Man-power, U.S.A.; a draftable man's balance-sheet of conscription. St Louis: The League of Draftable Men. |
ISLM 355.22 M627COA | Mid-West Debate Bureau. (1951). Conscription of all Americans in time of war. Resolved: That all American citizens should be subject to conscription for essential service in time of war. Normal IL: Mid-West Debate Bureau. |
ISLM UB340.D7 | Tax, Sol. (1967). The Draft; a handbook of facts and alternatives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. |
The following are non-legislative documents published by the Federal government on the Selective Service.
Item | Location |
pd355.22 Un58sm | Selective Service Manual-Selective Service System. 1942. |
GA 1.13:FPCD-79-89 | Weaknesses in the Selective Service System's emergency registration plan. 1978. |
P 1.2:R 26/2 | Registration. It's quick. It's easy. And it's the law: the United States Postal Service and Selective Service Registration Program. 1986. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 H62 | A Short history of the Selective Service System. 1984. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 R26/4 | Time to Register: Selective Service & You. 1990. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 SE 4/6/PACK | Selective Service Registration Information. 1997. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 SE 4/7 | Selective Service System: America's insurance policy: a primer. 1998. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 SI 2 | These signatures meant a lot to our country, yours will too: facts about registering with Selective Service. 1983. |
Y 3.SE 4:2 SP3 | Need a speaker?: The Selective Service System will be happy to supply one. 1983. |
Y 3.SE 4:10-2 T22 | A Teacher's guide to Selective Service Registration. 1992. |
Y 10.12:SE 4 | The Selective Service System: mobilization capabilities and options for improvement. 1978. |
Garamone, Jim. “This Time, They’re Asking; DoD, Selective Service Team Up." American Forces Press
Service, 31 Jan 2001.
Wilber, Del Quentin. "Selective Service is Sued by Quaker." The Washington Post, 30 July 2009.
Please refer to our online Indianapolis Newspaper Index or visit our card catalog index at the library. The following subject headings refer to the card catalog. Use these to find articles on or relating to the Selective Service.
Conscription--79 cards
Selective Service Legion--one (1) card
National Parents of Selectees, Inc--one (1) card
Conscientious Objectors--10 cards
World War II-Conscientious Objectors--10 cards
The State Library has many sources on the Selective Service beyond those listed above. Use these headings when searching our catalog for the Selective Service.
Draft
Conscription, military
Compulsory military service
Military conscription
Military draft
Military training, universal
Military service, compulsory
Selective service
Service, compulsory military
Universal military training
Conscientious objectors
The following links have been selected to guide you beyond the library.
Selective Service Act of 1917-1919: Records of the Selective Service System during the first World War. (National Archives)
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940: Records of the Selective Service System from 1940 onward. (National Archives)
REF MC 1-11-2016