Scope and Content Note
The papers of Julius W. Becton (1926- ) span the years 1780-2008, with the bulk of the material dating from 1951 to 2008. The collection documents Becton's career as a United States Army officer who commanded infantry and armor in war and peace, the first African American general to command a corps, director of the Federal Emergency Management Administration during the Reagan administration, an educator and president of Prairie View A & M University in Texas, and superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools. The papers are primarily in English, with some German and Vietnamese. The papers are organized into twelve series: General Correspondence, Army Career, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Prairie View A & M University, District of Columbia Public Schools, Organizations, Speeches and Writings, Subject File, Miscellany, National Security Classified Information, and Oversize. Scattered documents are in German and Vietnamese.
The General Correspondence series is arranged chronologically and mainly documents Becton’s interests, activities, and friendships outside of day-to-day professional commitments. The series is mainly a product of his post-retirements from the army and from his civilian jobs, much of it retrospective, looking back at people, incidents, and issues from his working life. It also documents periods in his army career when he was between commands, on short staff stints, and matriculated at military and civilian academic institutions. Correspondents in the series include Harry W. Brooks, Edmund L. Goldsborough, Harvey Gough, Chester Higgins (1917-2000), Benjamin L. Hooks, John Q. Taylor King, Charles C. Moskos, Robert L. Nabors, Colin L. Powell, and Manfred Rommel.
The General Correspondence, though extensive, does not account for the bulk of the correspondence in the papers. Most correspondence is part of series and files related to his army commands and leadership of military agencies while on active duty; to the civilian disaster relief agencies he directed after retiring from the army, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency; to his presidency of Prairie View A&M University; and to his superintendency of the District of Columbia Public Schools.
The Army Career series documents Becton’s nearly forty-year career in the United States Army, from his enlistment in 1943 to his retirement as a lieutenant general (three stars) in 1983. The series is organized into files relating to his troop commands and leadership of Army agencies; an academic file relating to his stints in the armed forces graduate programs; and topical files on subjects such as race relations in the Army and the Officer Efficency Report System (OERS). Large groupings in the Army Career series include files on the 9th Infantry Division (platoon leader and company commander in combat during the Korean War, 1950-1953); 101st Airborne Division (squadron commander of the attached 17th Cavalry Regiment), and assistant brigade commander in combat in Vietnam, 1967-1968; 2nd Armored Division (brigade commander, 1970-1972); United States Army Training Center at Fort Dix, N.J. (deputy commanding general, 1972-1975); 1st Cavalry Division (commanding general, 1975-1976); Army Operational Test and Evaluation Agency (commanding general 1976-1978); 7th Corps (commanding general, 1978-1981); and the Training and Doctrine Command (deputy commanding general, 1981-1983).
Correspondents in the Army Career series include Sidney B. Berry, Harry W. Brooks, Leo A. Brooks, Bruce C. Clarke, Roscoe Robinson, Harvey G. Dickerson, H. Minton Francis, Harvey Gough, James F. Hamlet, West A. Hamilton, Chester Higgins (1917-2000), Robert C. Larson, Sharon B. Lord, Glenn K. Otis, George S. Patton (1923-2004), Charles C. Rogers, Bernard W. Rogers, Manfred Rommel, Robert M. Shoemaker, Hervey S. Stockman, La Vern E. Weber, John A. Wickham, and Oliver W. Willard,
Two series document Becton’s service in the Ronald Reagan and George Bush administrations as the director of two federal disaster relief organizations, the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (1984-1985), part of of the Agency for International Development, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (1985-1989). Part of his job at FEMA was coordinating international civil defense policy by meeting regularly with counterparts from countries participating in the North Atlanic Treaty Organization. Some documents relating to this function are classified and withdrawn to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Classified series.
From 1957 to 1960, Becton was a professor of military science and tactics in the ROTC program at Prairie View A&M University in Texas. He used this opportunity to matriculate, graduating with a BS in mathematics in 1960. In 1989 he was inaugurated as president of Prairie View A&M University, the first graduate of the school to become its president. The Prairie View A&M series documents his presidency (1989-1994) of the historically black university, and his post-presidency. A large file in the series, prepared by lawyers for the Texas A&M System, relates to Knight v. State of Alabama federal case that alleged that state property tax systems discriminated against black students by underfunding public schools and historically black institutions of higher education.
In 1996 Becton commenced what he called his “toughest challenge,” running the District of Columbia Public Schools as superintendent and CEO. The District of Columbia Public Schools series documents Becton’s tenure as school chief under the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority, commonly known as the Financial Control Board, or simply the Control Board. The Control Board, a five-member panel created by an act of Congress, oversaw the District's finances during 1995-2001. It had the power to override decisions of the mayor and city council. The Control Board overrode the elected school board and installed as the effective board the Emergency Transition Board of Trustees, which, in 1996, fired the superintendent and hired Becton in his place. Becton held the position until he resigned in 1998. There is frequent correspondence with Bruce E. Maclaury, chairman of of the Emergency Transition Board of Trustees. Other correspondents include Andrew Brimmer and Arlene Ackerman.
The Organizations series includes files on veterans' organizations of World War II era African American units, such as 555th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 761st Tank Battalion; and files on the veterans and historical interest organizations of African American units that served in the American West during the aftermath of the American Civil War through the World Wars, such as the Ninth and Tenth Cavalry Association and Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers. While the file on the Ninth Infantry Regiment (Manchu) in which Becton served during the Korean War is part of the Army Career series, information on on the 2nd Infantry Division, which included the Ninth, is documented in the Indianhead Association file of the Organizations series. A file on the Ninth Infantry Regiment's veterans organization, the Ninth Infantry (Manchu) Association, is also part of the the Organizations series. Also in the Organizations series is a large file relating to The Rocks, an orgainization that mentors African American officer candidates and junior officers. Other professional service organizations documented in the series include the Association of the United States Army, George C. Marshall Foundation, Non-Commisioned Officers Association, and United States Armor Association. Most of these organizations are also well-documented in the General and other correspondence files.
Two major components of the Speeches and Writings series are files relating to Becton’s book, Becton: Autobiography of a Soldier and Public Servant (2008), and to his speeches. The book gestated nearly three decades resulting in several drafts. Some drafts, though unpublished, are fairly complete versions with an organization, chapter headings, anecdotes, and content that differs substantially from the published book. The speeches as a whole work the way the correspondence does, with most speeches focused on his army commands and civilian leadership positions and found within the Army Career series, and in series relating to OFDA, FEMA, Prairie View, and District of Columbia Public Schools. Speeches in Speeches and Writings are more generic and focused on his post-retirement years.
The Subject File series includes biographical material on Becton; files on his family, including correspondence and diaries; and files relating to Becton’s hometown, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on the "Main Line" outside of Philadelphia, including files on Lower Merion High School from which he graduated. Also part of the series is material relating to African American history, particularly military history, with files on units of the pre-1950s segregated army and on the first African American general officers. The oldest in the papers, a 1780 document certifying three years of service in the Continental Army during the American Revolution of one Jonathan Cain, or Crain, is also part of the Subject File.