James Garfield Beck & Ethel Benson Beck

James Garfield Beck was born in 1881 and Ethel Benson Beck was born in 1896.James came to Knoxville in 1898 from Camden,Alabama to attend Knoxville College Normal School,which he finished in 1902.James graduated from Knoxville College in 1906.In College,he distinguished himself in several sports,and he was particularly good in baseball.After graduation,he taught at several schools,including Austin High School in 1910.He also served as the first athletic director at Knoxville College.Ethel was a native of Morrison town, Tennessee,and received early training at Morrison College.It is possible that the Becks first met when he played baseball against the Morrison team.They were married in 1913,the same year he became the first Black postal clerk in Tennessee when the Knoxville Post office hired him.They were two of most glamorous and influential members of Knoxville's black community during the 1920,'s '30s,and '40s.Ethel &James Beck were in the forefront of civic rights,church and social activities.They were extremely attractive,had money,and were athletic.James was was an intellectual,while his wife had a business mind.Over the years,they collected a fortune in in real estate.They were involved in the establishment of the Knoxville of the Knoxville Colored Orphanage in 1919.That summer a popular subscription raised about $7,500 and property near Knoxville College was purchased for the project.After several months,Ethel was elected to head the board.With in two years,she was announced that she intended to build a first-class brick building to cost approximately $10,000.She made good on that promise,and by 1941 the name of the orphanage to the Ethel Beck Home for Children.Being a sports enthusiast,Ethel played in a national tennis meet in Bordertown,New Jersey,in 1928.She was the superintendent of the playground at the popular Cal Johnson Park for four years.James was a life- time Republican,who served as a sergeant-at-arms at the 1940 National Republican Convention.He was also of the chief organizers of the Knoxville Branch NAACP in 1919.He was a candidate for city council in in 1951.Ethel was active with the order of Eastern Star and served as honored Grand Conductress for eight years.She was president of the Tennessee Congress of Colored Parents and Teachers.The Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville is also named for the Becks.James died in 1969 & Ethel one year later.