SSA Operations

Early Work Required to Get Social Security Up-and-Running in 1936-1937
This 1938 article by the Director of the Bureau of Old-Age Insurance describes the challenges faced by the Social Security program in registering workers and posting wages to get the program started.

Early Accounting Operations of the Bureau of Old-Age Insurance
This 1938 article by two officials of the Division of Accounting Operations describes in detail how Social Security numbers were assigned and how wages were posted in the first years of the program.

Fifty Years of Operations in the Social Security Administration
This 1985 article summarizes in a simple and easy to follow way the development of SSA's processes for issuing SSNs and recording wages--from 1935 to 1985.

Booklet Comparing Accounting Operations in 1936 vs. 1960
In 1960, SSA relocated its main accounting operations from the Candler Building in downtown Baltimore to the Baltimore suburb of Woodlawn, Maryland. In late 1961 a booklet was produced with graphic depictions of how accounting operations were handled in 1936 in the Candler Building with how they were handled in the "modern" days of 1960.