On Apr. 11, 1953, the Federal Security Agency (FSA) becomes the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). The FSA, founded in 1939, was responsible for the nations’s health, education and social security, all of which had grown significantly.

In March 1953, President Eisenhower submitted a reorganization plan to Congress that dissolved the FSA and elevated the agency to Cabinet status as the Department of HEW.

Note: Reorganization Plan 1 of 1953 is published in the U.S. Statutes at Large (67 Stat. 631) and in the 1949-1953 Compilation of title 3 of the Code of Federal Regulations (p. 1022). Public Law 13, 83d Congress (67 Stat. 18), advanced the effective date to April 11, 1953.