This collection contains additional materials that are not processed and are currently not available to researchers. For information about access to these materials, contact Research and Instructional Services staff. Please be advised that preparing unprocessed materials for access can be a lengthy process.

This collection contains materials which are permanently closed. The Library permanently closed the original glass-based formats in the collection because they are too fragile to be safely handled in the reading room. Contact wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options.

Restrictions to Use

No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Frank Parker Papers #1516, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Received from Katherine Parker of Chicago, Ill., in July 1948, and from George F. Hofmann of Cincinnati, Ohio, in July 2002 (Acc. 99292).

Other Finding Aid

A more detailed list of selected correspondence is available at the repository.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Library Staff, 1948-2004

Encoded by: Linda Sellars, June 2004

Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.

Since August 2017, we have added ethnic identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine ethnic identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual’s preference for ethnicity to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@email.unc.edu.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• American Legion.
• China--Photographs.
• Cuba--History--1909-1933.
• Diaries.
• Illinois War Council.
• Indonesia--Photographs.
• Lantern slides.
• MacArthur, Douglas, 1880-1964.
• Malay Peninsula--Photographs.
• Marshall, George C. (George Catlett), 1880-1959.
• McCormick, Robert T.
• Military art and science--France.
• Military attaches--Argentina--History.
• Military attaches--Cuba--History.
• Military attaches--Venezuela--History.
• Philippines--Photographs.
• Spanish-American War, 1898.
• Summerall, Charles Pelot, b. 1867.
• United States Military Academy--Students--History--19th century.
• United States--Politics and government--1919-1933.
• United States. Army--Aviation--History.
• United States. Army--History--Spanish-American War, 1898.
• United States. Army--History--World War, 1914-1918.
• United States. Army--Officers--History--20th century.
• United States. Army--Photographs.
• United States. Army. American Expeditionary Forces.
• United States. Army. Army, 2nd--History.
• United States. Army. Cavalry--History.
• United States. Army. Corps, 6th--History.
• United States. Army. Infantry Division, 1st.
• United States. Army. Philippines Dept.
• Wilbur, Henry C.
• Women college students--Diaries.
• World War, 1914-1918--France.
• World War, 1914-1918--Photographs.

Correspondence and other papers, volumes, and pictures, official, semi-official, and personal, of Major General Frank Parker, native of South Carolina, 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, Fla., 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 United States Army 6th Corps, 1929-1932, 2nd Army, 1932-1933, and 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 politics, 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, as well as officers of every rank in the Army, officers in the United States Navy, former friends in foreign countries, members of Congress, and members of organizations in his various places of residence. 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.

Due to Frank Parker's extensive service in the United States Army, the collection includes graphic images depicting battlefield scenes in France during World War I that may include injuries, recovery progress, and deceased individuals.

• Oversize papers (XOPF-1516/1)
• Oversize volume (SV-1516/19)
• Pictures (PF-1516/1-2)
• Oversize pictures (OP-PF-1516/1)
• Photograph album (PA-1516/1)
• Lantern slides (IB-1516/1-10)