Inventory of the Percy Wright Foote Papers, 1905-1961

Collection Number 259


Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Online Catalog Headings
Biographical/Historical Note
Collection Overview
Items Separated
Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Creator
Foote, Percy Wright, 1879-1961.
Title
Percy Wright Foote Papers, 1905-1961
Call Number
259
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
Items: About 600
Linear Feet: 0.5
Abstract
Career naval officer; aide to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, 1918-1921; commander of the U.S.S. Arkansas, 1931-1933; senior inspector of shipyards in four states during World War II. Foote is best known for his heroic command of the U.S.S. President Lincoln, which was torpedoed in 1918.
The collection includes letters of commendation, writings, clippings, photographs, and other items, chiefly relating to Percy Wright Foote's activities in European waters during World War I. This collection is particularly rich in photographs relating to Foote's career in the Navy.

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Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Percy Wright Foote of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1936, and from his daughter, Diana Foote Lawrence of Alexandria, Virginia, in 1988 (Accession # 88114).
Processing Information
Processed by: Roslyn Holdzkom, December 1988
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Percy Wright Foote Papers #259, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Copyright Notice
Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Foote, Percy Wright, 1879-1961.
United States. Navy--History--20th century.
United States. Navy--Officers--Biography.
United States. Navy--Pictorial works.
World War, 1914-1918--Pictorial works.
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Biographical/Historical Note

Percy Wright Foote was born 13 August 1879 in Roaring River, Wilkes County, North Carolina, the son of James Henry Foote, a founder of Wake Forest College, and Susan Hunt Foote.

Foote, a 1901 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, saw his first action in the United States Navy as an ensign aboard the U.S.S. Baltimore, which had been sent to protect American interests in Shanghai in 1905. Foote was able to use his considerable organizational and technical skills to advance his naval career. He is particularly remembered for his heroic command of the U.S.S. President Lincoln, a troop transport that was torpedoed on 31 May 1918 and sank within eighteen minutes. Largely due to the emergency drills that Foote had initiated, only 28 of the 700 persons aboard the President Lincoln were lost. In recognition of his role in the President Lincoln incident, Foote received a special commendation from Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels, the Silver Star for gallantry in action, and the Distinguished Service Medal.

From 1918 to 1921, Foote served as aide to Secretary Daniels, and, from 1931 to 1933, was commander of the battleship Arkansas, which was sent, during this period, to California to assist in the cleanup of earthquake torn Long Beach. He was chief of staff of the Fourth Naval District, headquartered at the Philadelphia Naval Yard, from 1934 to 1936. Due to certain technicalities, Foote's promotion to rear admiral was rejected by the Navy and won only through legislative action. It was, however, as rear admiral that he retired in 1936. At the request of Governor George H. Earle, Foote remained in Pennsylvania and spent the next two years lobbying for highway safety in that state. In 1938, he and his family returned to North Carolina to take up residence in Chapel Hill.

In May 1942, however, Foote was recalled to duty as senior inspector of the Eighth Naval District, covering Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas. He retired for a second time after World War II, and settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he died on 23 June 1961.

Foote was married to Genevieve Clary of Great Falls, Montana, on 1 October 1910. His son Thomas also pursued a military career (in the Army), and his daughter Diana married a Marine Corps brigadier general.

(SOURCE: Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, volume 2, p. 217)

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Collection Overview

The collection includes letters of commendation, writings, clippings, photographs, and other items, chiefly relating to Percy Wright Foote's activities in European waters during World War I. This collection is particularly rich in photographs relating to Foote's career in the Navy.

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Arrangement of Collection

Series 1. Correspondence
Series 2. Writings
Series 3. Other Items
Series 4. Pictures
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Items Separated

P-259/Folders 1-6
OP-P-259
PA-259/1-2

Detailed Description of the Collection

1. Correspondence, 1905-1944.

About 15 items.
Correspondence, including a 1920 commendation from Josephus Daniels, then Secretary of the Navy.
Folder 1
Correspondence

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2. Writings, 1943-1944.

About 15 items.
Speeches and other writings, chiefly on patriotic themes and wartime ship building.
Folder 2
Writings

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3. Other Items, 1918-1961.

About 420 items.
General clippings about Foote, materials relating to his fight for promotion to the rank of rear admiral, and other items connected with his duties in the United States Navy.
Folder 3
General clippings, 1918-1954
Folder 4
Legislation for promotion to rear admiral, 1935-1936
Folder 5
Miscellaneous (largely relating to Foote's death in 1961)
Folder 6
Naval service Military orders, 1928-1936
Folder 7
Naval service Military orders, 1942-1945
Folder 8
U.S.S. Arkansas 1931-1932
(see also Series 4)
Folder 9
U.S.S. Arkansas 1933 (pages from a scrapbook entitled "San Diego, 1933")
(see also Series 4)
Folder 10-11
U.S.S. President Lincoln, 1936

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4. Pictures, 1918-1944.

About 150 items.
Chiefly photographs that were removed from albums. Two albums have been preserved.
Image P-259/Folder 1
Photographs from album entitled "Early Years, Oriental Cruise, Gunnery Practice," circa 1905.
Image P-259/Folders 2-3
Photographs from album presented to Foote by Doctor and Mrs. James Alexander Lyon at Annapolis, Maryland, 3 June 1931, showing various unidentified ships, naval officers, and parades.
Image P-259/Folder 4
Photographs from album entitled "U.S.S. Arkansas, 1931-1932, San Diego,", including photographs of earthquake damage in Long Beach, California.
Image P-259/Folder 5
Photographs from album entitled "Navy's 10,000th Higgins Boat, 1944." (A Higgins boat is a landing craft used in large scale troop transport.) Also includes official photographs of Foote.
Image P-259/Folder 6
Miscellaneous photographs, including several of the U.S.S. President Lincoln and crew (1918) and an autographed photograph of Foote (1935).
Oversize Image OP-P-259
Photograph of annual dinner of the survivors of the U.S.S. President Lincoln, 31 May 1934.
Photograph Album PA-259/1
Album documenting European tour made by Foote as aide to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, March-May 1919.
Photograph Album PA-259/2
Album covering Foote's activities as senior inspector for ship yards in Texas, 1942-1944.

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