Major General Frank Parker, a native of South Carolina, graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1894; served in the United States Army, 1894-1936; and was director of the Illinois War Council, 1942-1945. The collection includes correspondence and other papers, volumes, and pictures, semi-official, and personal, of Frank Parker, documenting his career as a student at the United States Military Academy at West Point, 1890-1894; as a United States Army officer at Tampa during the Spanish-American War; as a military attache in Venezuela, Argentina, and Cuba, 1904-1908; as an instructor and organizer of cavalry in Cuba, 1909-1912; as an observer in France before the United States entered World War I, as commander of the 1st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, and chief American officer at French headquarters during the war; as assistant chief of staff of the army, 1927-1929; as commander of the 6th Corps, 1929-1932, of the 2nd Army, 1932-1933, and of the Philippines Department, 1933-1935; and, after his retirement in 1936, as director of the Illinois War Council during World War II. Much of the correspondence is in French or Spanish. Topics of correspondence include military affairs (including cavalry in the early days and aviation later), sport and social life, army and national politics, the American Legion, personal experiences, and official activities. Correspondents include Douglas MacArthur, Robert T. McCormick, George C. Marshall, Charles P. Summerall, and Henry C. Wilbur. Volumes include a small 1897 diary kept by Parker's wife while a college student; diaries and notebooks relating to Parker's World War I service; and post-war and undated manuals, scrapbooks, and other volumes relating to Parker's army activities, including some about the Philippines and others about his studies in French military schools. Pictures include photographs of army activities before and after World War I, including several relating to airplanes and pilots. There are also about 500 lantern slides from Parker's service in the Philippines, 1933-1935; service in World War I; and travels in China, Indonesia, and the Malay Peninsula, 1934-1935.
