Cage 559

Paul Beckett

Papers, 1939-1989

Acquisition And Processing Information

The Washington State University Libraries received papers of Paul Beckett in two installments (accession numbers UA 1978-08 and MS 1985-44). One group of papers (UA 1987-08) was incorrectly identified as university records at the time of receipt. The two accessions were combined, and Harvey Young arranged and described the collection in October 1988. Torsten Homberger processed the added material in the Addendum and revised this collection guide in 2009.

Extent/Quantity Information

Number of Containers: 7

Linear Feet of Shelf Space: 5

Biography

Paul Louis Beckett, Professor of Political Science at Washington State University from 1947 to 1977, was born October 18, 1913, in Warren County, Illinois. He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1935 at Monmouth College, a Master of Arts at the University of Illinois in 1938, and a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1949.

During the early 1940s Beckett was employed in municipal government in Los Angeles and also worked in a war-time administrative agency in Washington, D.C. From 1945 to 1947 he was a member of the faculty of the University of New Mexico, and in 1947 he joined the Political Science faculty of Washington State College. His field of special expertise was municipal government; his interests and research also included the politics of organization and reorganization, individual and group behavior in organizations, decision making, leadership and authority, communication, and how to ensure administrative responsiveness and responsibility.

During the 1950s, a time when many colonized countries in the Middle East gained independence, Beckett actively participated in the establishment of municipal governments while teaching at the American University in Beirut. In 1952, Beckett, his wife, and their two young children traveled to Beirut, where he established the Department of Political Science at the American University and taught the history and fundamentals of municipal government.

After returning from Beirut, Beckett extended his administrative duties at Washington State College, serving as chair of the Department of Political Science for eight years. In 1957 he was a public administration consultant to the planning board of the Pakistani government.

In addition to his teaching and administrative activities, Beckett was also an active member of the American Political Science Association, the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, The American Association of University Professors, and the American Society for Public Administration.

Collection Description

The papers of Paul Beckett are made up of correspondence with fellow scholars, consisting mostly of letters of recommendation for former students and colleagues, administrative reports on the Department of Political science, and draft writings on research and teaching of municipal government.

Collection Arrangement

The papers have been only slightly rearranged from Beckett's original filing system. The collection is arranged in three series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1979

Series 2: Subject Files, 1940-1976

Series 3: Addendum (added materials), 1939-1989. This sequence consists of materials added to the collection after initial processing. It contains correspondence, subject files, and miscellaneous information concerning Washington State College and the city of Pullman.

Subjects

Beckett, Paul Louis, 1913- -- Archives
Washington State University -- Faculty -- Archives
Political science -- Study and teaching

Access

This collection is open and available for research use. Copyright restrictions apply.

Preferred Citation

The suggested citation for the collection is:

[Item Description]
Paul Beckett Papers, 1939-1989
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Washington State University Libraries
Pullman, WA

Languages

Materials are in English.

Container List:

Box	Folder	Description
Series 1: Correspondence, 1939-1979
		Business correspondence
1	1	1938-1939
	2	1940
	3	1941
	4	1942 (includes curriculum vitae)
	5	1943
	6	1944
	7	1945
	8	1946
	9	1947
	10	1948
	11	1949
	12-13	1950
	14-15	1951 (January-June)
	16	1951 (July-December)
	17	1952
	18-19	1953 (January-June)
	20	1953 (July-August)
	21-22	1954
	23-24	1955 (January-June)
	25	1955 (July-December)
	26	1956 (January-June)
	27-28	1954 (July-December)
	29	1957 (January-September)
	30	1957 (September-December)
	31	1958 (January-June)
	32-33	1958 (July-December)
	34-35	1959 (January-May)
	36-37	1959 (June-December)
	38-39	1960 (January-June)
	40	1960 (July-December)
	41-42	1961 (January-June)
	43	1961 (July-December)
	44	1962 (January-August)
	45	1962 (September-December)
	46-47	1963 (January-June)
	48	1963 (July-December)
	49	1964 (January-June)
		Personal Correspondence
	50	Richard Butler, 1963-1964
	51	Wallace E. Caldwell, 1956-1960
	52	John D. Blacken, 1955-1959
	53	Judith Carr, 1964
	54	Jawad Dajani, 1952-1959
	55	Earl Darrah, 1959-1961
2	56	Jerry Davis, 1959-1963
	57	Jeanne Howe, 1962-1965
	58	William L. Jackson, 1968-1970
	59	John Junker, 1958-1963
	60	William H. Lee, 1956-1963
	61	Timothy Manring, 1961-1965
	62	Stanley G. McClure, 1957-1962
	63	Donna McIntrie, 1964-1965
	64	Lawrence K. Muns, 1960-1963
	65	Charles S. Oldham, 1968
	66	Howard Payne, 1951-1953
	67	Catherine Peat, 1959-1960
	68	Roger D. Reed, 1961-1964
	69	Fred Segrest, 1961-1965
	70	Ann Stuart Sheldon, 1962-1968
	71	Thomas Franklin Stinson, 1963-1965
	72	Celeste Sunderland, 1950-1959
	73	Karl Van Asselt, 1964-1966
		Washington State College students' correspondence
	74	1948-1953
	75	1954-1958
	76	1958-1960
	77	1960-1961
	78	1962
	79	1963
	80-80.1	1964
	81	1965
	82	1966
	83	1967
	84	1968
	85	1969
	86	1970
	87	1971
	88	1972
	89	1973
	90	1974
	91	1975
	92	1976
	93	1975-1979
Series 2: Subject Files, 1940-1976
	94	Ad hoc Committee on Dedication of Johnson Tower, 1966-1967
	95-98	American Assembly on State Government, 1956
	99-100	American Assembly paper on Washington, 1956
	101	American Association of University Professors, WSC (WSU) chapter, 1954-1973
		American Society for Public Administration
	102	Conference reporting committee, 1958
	103-105	Reporting committee correspondence, 1959
	106-109	Inland Empire chapter, 1956-1969
	110	National conference, 1959
	111	Annals book review, 1956
	112	Annals book review, 1965
	113	Associated Students of Washington State University and Communist speakers, 1963-1964
	114	Beckett as Coordinator of Graduate Studies and Graduate Students, 1964-1977
	115-117	Beckett as Dad's Day King, 1959
	118	Beckett Goes to Beirut, 1951
	119	Beckett Goes to Pakistan, 1957 (plus: The Confessions of a "Biased Professor," by H. Paul Castleberry)
	120	Beckett's Training and Experience, 1947
	121	Budget Requests, History and Political Science, 1951-1953
	122	"Bureaucracy and Democracy," 1952
	123	"Civil Service in Beverly Hills, California," 1940
	124	College Committee On Review, 1955-1956
	125	Committee for Redistricting Washington State, 1962
	126	Crowell Commonwealth Series, 1950-1951
	127	Department of History and Political Science Enrollment, 1947-1948
	128	Department of History and Political Science newsletter, 1956
	129	Department of History and Political Science newsletter, 1960
	130	Division of Governmental Studies and Services, 1966-1968
	131	Evaluation of Hugh Bone's Executive Article for a model State Constitution, 1968 April
	132	Faculty Status Committee, 1973-1974
	133	Faculty Status Committee, annual and treasurer's reports, 1969-1974
	134	Faculty Status Committee, Senate Review
	135-136	Faculty Service Reports, 1947-1969
		From Wilderness to Enabling Act, The Evolution of A State of Washington, by Paul Beckett, 1968
	137	Chapters 1-3
3	138	Chapter 4
	139	Appendix
	140	Galley proof
	141	Fulbright to Egypt, 1961
		Graduate Student Committees and Examinations (Work Completed)
	142	1948-1970
	143	1970-1977
	144	Illinois Law Review, 1942-1946.
	145	Institute of World Affairs, University of Southern California, 1954
	146	J. Kimbrough Owen Memorial Fund, 1957
	147	Judicial Review of Labor Legislation in California, 1880-1910; 1961
	148-149	Legislation and Representation: Papers and Articles, 1938-1939
	150	"Letter from Beirut," 1952
	151	Los Angeles Town Hall Constitution, 1943
	152	Los Angeles Town Hall Municipal and County Government, 1945
	153-159	Miscellaneous, 1949-1958
	160	Mock Political Convention, WSU, 1956
	161	Mock Political Convention, WSU, 1964
	162	Pacific Northwest Assembly on Federal Government and Higher Education, 1960
	163	Pacific Northwest Library Association project, 1956
	164	Pacific Northwest Panel on State Government, Moscow, 1955
	165	Pacific Northwest Political Science Association panel on honors programs, 1963
	166	Pacific Northwest Political Science Association presidency, 1957-1958
	167	Pacific Northwest Quarterly book review, 1962-1963
	168	Personnel Administration in Santa Monica, CA, 1940
	169	Phi Kappa Phi, WSU Chapter, President's file, 1967-1968
	170	Phi Kappa Phi Scholarship Committee, 1963-1966
	171	Phi Sigma Alpha National Council, 1974-1978
	172	Political Science 440 final course schedule, 1976
	173	Political Science 445 evaluation and incentives, undated
	174	Political Science 592: Dr. Beckett's Last Seminar, 1976
	175	"Politics, Personalities, and Pensions, Final Report on Santa Monica Personnel Administration," 1940
	176	Pre-law, Political Science Department, 1961
	177	Presidential Address, Eleventh annual meeting Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, 1958
	178	Project on State Government, 1955-1961
	179	"Public Administration Training as Technical Assistance: Some Further Observations Based on Experience in Beirut"
	180	Public Opinion Laboratory, WSC, 1949-1950
	181	Public Opinion poll on Washington State Government, 1950
	182	"Quest for Quality Conference," University of Washington, 1962
	183	Research Council Presidency, 1949-1950
	184	Review of Khadduri and Liebesney, Law in the Middle East, 1956
	185	Labor Legislation in California, 1961
	186	Reviews of Henry Goodnow on The Civil Service of Pakistan, 1965
	187	Society for International Development, Korean research project, 1968
	188	Speeches, 1940-1952
	189	Speeches, 1952-1971
	190	Student-Faculty questionnaires, University of New Mexico, 1946
	191	Technical Assistance article for Washington State Review, 1958
	192	"The California Supreme Court and Early Efforts at Labor Legislation," Chapter 12, 1949
	193	The Concept of Evolution in Peter Kropotkin's Anarchism: A Study of Revolutionary Theory, by Paul Beckett, 1938
	194	"The Conflict between North and South," talk for USC Institute of World Affairs, 1958
	195	"The Executive as Ropedancer," talk at the University of British Columbia, 1962
	196	"The International Law of Aerial Navigation," 1940
4	197	"The Professional School and World Affairs," regional conference, University of Oregon, 1967
	198	Third annual Institute on World Affairs, 1958
	199	University of New Mexico, undated
	200	Washington Political Science Association Executive Council, 1959-1961
	201	"Washington State's Lawmakers," Washington Political Quarterly, 1957
	202	"Washington State's New Merit System Law" (manuscript), 1962
	203	Washington State University Institute of World Affairs, 1960
	204	Water Research Center project, Harvey Doerkson, 1972
	205-207	Western Governmental Research Association second annual conference, 1962
	208	Western Political Quarterly, 1964-1965
	209	Western Political Science Association, 1957
	210	Whitman County, WA, government, 1947-1948
	211	Whitman County manuscripts and working papers, 1950
	212	Woodrow Wilson Award Committee, 1955
	213	Workshop for middle managers talk, Fairchild Air Force Base, 1964
Series 3: Addendum (added materials), 1939-1989
		Correspondence, Washington State College Department of History and Political Science
5	214	1951-1953
	215	1965
	216	1966
	217	1967
	218	1968
	219	1969
	220	1970
	221	1971
	222	1972
	223	1973
	224	1974
	225	1975
	226	1976
	227	1977
		Correspondence, personal
6	228	I. Cecil Asfour, 1958-1963
	229	Clarence A. Berdahl, 1939-1949
	230	Ronald Beyensee, 1956, 1958, 1969
	231	Paul and Ben Booz, 1957-1959
	232	Carol F. Clark, 1960-1961, 1982
	233	Dr. and Mrs. Wilson Martindale Compton, 1957-1967
	234	Mike and Ethel Crowe, 1962-1967
	235	Earl Davis, 1939-1955
	236	Melvin Davis, 1960-1974
	237	Tom Donnelly, 1945-1946
	238	Pierre Ecoiffier, 1959
	239	Ernst W. Gohlert, 1966-1975
	240	J.A.C. Grant, 1939, 1941, 1946
	241	Charles B. Hagan, 1938-1978
	242	Robert J. Harris, 1939-1949
	243	Bruce and Lolly Haston, 1968-1971
	244	Jack Holmes, 1947-1955
	245	Robert and JoAnn Lampman, 1953
	246	William and Eliza Landeen, 1959
	247	Mr. and Mrs. C.B. Martin, 1942-1943
	248	Art and Bertha O'Neil, 1943, 1952
	249	Walter C. Schnackenberg, 1954-1973
	250	Maxine Guse Semmel, 1955-1959
	251	Harold Scheffelman, 1955-1959
	252	Foster Sherwood, 1948-1956
	253	Clyde F. Snider, 1939-1971
	254	Thor Swanson, 1951-1964
	255	Dave and Olga Mary Wilder, 1953-1954
	256	American University of Beirut students, 1952-1966
		Subject files
	257	Ad hoc committee on General Graduation Requirements, 1962-1964
7	258	The American Political Science Association Conference, 1972
	259	Beckett-Lamp Water Research Center grant, 1975
	260	County Government Across the Nation, Chapter 5 (annotated typescript)
	261	Haynes Foundation, Los Angeles, 1943-1944
	262-272	Miscellaneous newspaper clippings and printed ephemera, 1960-1973
	273	Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, 1958-1981
	274	Potential article, research on Washington legislative committees, 1951-1959
	275	Potential article, research on birth places of Washington legislators, 1889-1989
	276	Research Studies, 1951-1959
	277	"The Role of the Representative Assembly in a Democracy," 1939
	278	United States Bureau of Budget, 1949-1953
	279	Western Government Research Association, Conference Proceedings, 1959
	280	Western Political Science Association conference programs, 1951-1974