The papers of John Archer Lejeune (1867-1942) span the years 1815-1950, with the bulk of the material concentrated between the years 1900-1942. The collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, miscellaneous notes, speeches and writings, military papers, and printed matter organized in five series: Family Correspondence, General Correspondence, Speeches and Writings File, Military Papers, and Miscellany. Although the correspondence is sparse for the years prior to 1920, the collection contains letters and papers that highlight major events in Lejeune’s early military career such as his conduct aboard the Vandalia (screw sloop) in the 1889 hurricane at Apia, Samoa, his service on the Cincinnati (cruiser) during the Spanish-American War, and the landing and occupation of Vera Cruz by the marines. Several letters from Littleton W. T. Waller, Smedley D. Butler, and John Henry Russell relating to the situation in Haiti in 1915-1916, as well as a detailed report assessing conditions in that country in 1920, are in the General Correspondence. However, the largest group of military papers pertains to the operations of the Second Division, American Expeditionary Force, during World War I. In addition to letters in the General Correspondence series, the papers contain field orders, general orders, intelligence reports, and other documents in the Military Papers series and a history of the Second Division in the Miscellany series. Lejeune’s military career reached its zenith with his appointment as commandant of the marine corps. From 1920 to his retirement in 1929, Lejeune’s correspondence reveals his concern for establishing the corps on a permanent peacetime basis and for enhancing its public image. Lejeune told the story of his life in the marines in the autobiographical Reminiscences of a Marine, published in 1930.
