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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAC010_CITY_OF_BEAUMONT_MAYOR_AND_CITY_MANAGER_SCRAPBOOKSDescriptive Sheet MF 1 ,671, n The City of Beaumont Mayor and AC -010 City Manager Scrapbooks Listed General Type: Papers Physical Description: Scrapbooks, 12 volumes Inclusive Dates: 1956-1989 Donor: City of Beaumont DESCRIPTION This collection describes a dramatic period of change in Beaumont's historic development. In 1961, the James Committee investigations of vice and corruption tore apart the city's political fabric. Moreover, the advent of desegregation added further stress, particularly in Beaumont's school system. After 1960, the economy declined dramatically as the oil industry automated or moved from Beaumont. Economic decline and political turmoil added to the growing perception that the "city was actually moving backward." The turn -around came in the early 1970s as business and city government came together to promote urban renewal projects. Between 1965 and 1975, Beaumont struggled to move away from the trauma of the 1960s and toward a program of renewal and renovation. Twelve scrapbooks comprised of newspaper clippings recount the voter defeat of an urban renewal proposal (1967) and the recall of City Councilman Dale Hager (1969). The collection sums up Mayor James McNicholas' efforts at securing industry payments to the city in lieu of taxes. Also, the researcher may find interesting the constant controversy surrounding Police Chief Willie Bauer and his direction of the Police Department. Finally, the successful completion of the Capital Improvement Project dominates the period after 1971. No restrictions apply.