Carolyn Becraft Papers, 1978-

Carolyn Becraft Papers

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Collection Overview

Title: Carolyn Becraft Papers, 1978-

ID: OGLMC1685

Primary Creator: Becraft, Carolyn

Extent: 2.5 Linear Feet

Date Acquired: 01/02/2019

Subjects: Military History, University of North Dakota - Alumni, Women's History

Languages: English

Scope and Contents of the Materials

The Carolyn Becraft Papers have been divided into five series as follows:

Series 1: Biographical

Series 2: Writings

Series 3: Media Coverage

Series 4: Organizational Records

Series 5: Miscellaneous

Series 6: Audio and Video

Collection Historical Note

A native of North Dakota, Carolyn Becraft has spent her entire career working with the military community, primarily on family and personnel issues. One of her main concerns has been the role of women serving in the U.S. military.

After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 1966 with a BS in Home Economics/Nutrition she served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. She left the Army with the rank of Captain after she became pregnant with her first child. At the time, women could not remain in the service once they started a family. Accompanying her Army husband to Germany, she received a master's degree from the University of Southern California. Her thesis topic was "The Effects of the Women's Movement on Wives of Military Officers."

After returning to the U.S. in 1980, Ms. Becraft focused on issues pertaining to Army families. As the Chair of the Army Family Action Committee, she designed the Family Action Planning Process used today by the Army to identify and prioritize family policy issues. In 1982 she was hired by the Women’s Equity Action League (WEAL) to direct the Woman and the Military Project that focused on advocacy for military spouses and women serving in the military. The grant was funded by the Ford Foundation. She later took the project to the Women's Research and Education Institute (WREI). During this period she worked extensively with the media, Department of Defense, Capitol Hill, Congressional committees, and testified before Congress on women's issues. As a result of her advocacy numerous laws and policies were adopted by the Department of Defense that dramatically improved conditions for military women and military families. She has also served as Director of Communications for the International Center for Research on Women.

In 1993, Ms. Becraft was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy), where she was directly responsible for all community support policies that govern military services. She also had direct responsibility for the worldwide Commissary and Exchange systems and the Department of Defense Dependent Schools in the U.S. and throughout the world. In 1998 she was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), a position she held until 2001. Upon leaving the Defense Department Ms. Becraft assisted numerous organizations with Strategic Planning and Executive Coaching Services.

Throughout her career, Ms. Becraft has been a passionate advocate for women serving in the military as well as for improved quality of life for military families. Some of the accomplishments she achieved include leading the effort to repeal combat exclusion laws that restricted women serving in the military from being assigned on ships and from flying fighter aircraft; establishing spouse employment assistance programs; instigating changing the use of word "Dependents" to "Family Members" when referring to military family members; establishing policy to standardized tuition assistance service wide including military spouses; establishing a preventive new parent support program; and sponsoring conferences addressing military families' concerns.

Subject/Index Terms

Military History
University of North Dakota - Alumni
Women's History

Administrative Information

Repository: Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections

Access Restrictions: Open for inspection under the rules and regulations of the Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections.

Acquisition Source: Carolyn Becraft, Burke, Virginia

Acquisition Method: Donation; 2019-3402

Separated Materials:

The following books featuring Carolyn Becraft were separated and added to Special Collections Stacks:

Addis, Elisabetta, Valeria E. Russo, and Lorenza Sebesta, eds. Women Soldiers: Images and Realities. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994.

Becraft, Carolyn. "Women in the Military," in The American Woman, 1987-88: A Report in Depth. New York: W.W. Norton, 1987.

Becraft, Carolyn. "Evolution of Women in the US Military," in Women in Uniform: Perceptions and Pathways. School of History, University College, UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy.

Francke, Linda Bird. Ground Zero: The Gender Wars in the Military. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

Holm, Maj. Gen. Jeanne Holm. Women in the Military: An Unfinished Revolution. Novato, CA: Presidio Press, 1992.

Katzenstein, Mary Fainsod. Faithful and Fearless: Moving Feminist Protest inside the Church and Military. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Schneider, Dorothy and Carl J. Sound Off! American Military Women Speak Out. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988.

Stiehm, Judith Hicks. Arms and the Enlisted Woman. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1989.

Willenz, June A. Women Veterans: America's Forgotten Heroines. New York: Continuum, 1983.

Preferred Citation: (Description of Item). Carolyn Becraft Papers. OGLMC 1685, Box #, Folder #. Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections, Chester Fritz Library, University of North Dakota.

Processing Information: Processed by Susanne Watts and Curt Hanson in Summer 2019.

Box and Folder Listing

Browse by Series:

[Series 1: Biographical ],
[Series 2: Writings],
[Series 3: Media Coverage],
[Series 4: Organizational Records],
[Series 5: Miscellaneous],
[Series 6: Audio and Video],
[All]

Series 3: Media Coverage

Box 1

Folder 11: 1983-1991

Item 1: "Women Compete Despite Barriers." Navy Times, 21 November 1983
Item 2: "Women in the Military: Opening Fire on Old Issue," Washington Times, 11 July 1989
Item 3: "Women in the Military: a Look at Why They Join and How They're Changing the Services," Military Lifestyle, October 1989
Item 4: "Should Women Make War?" Raleigh News and Observer, 14 January 1990
Item 5: "Women Head to Iraq," Valdosta Daily News, 16 August 1990
Item 6: "Women in Combat," 22 August 1990
Item 7: "Rank and Female File," The Guardian, 29 August 1990
Item 8: "Raising the Profile of the Female Force," National Journal, 8 September 1990
Item 9: "Watching Women Go to Gulf War," Houston Chronicle, 6 March 1991
Item 10: "A Debate on Women and War," Philadelphia Inquirer, 24 March 1991
Item 11: "Ongoing Debate: Combat Exclusion Laws," Army Times, 15 April 1991
Item 12: "Women at War," Austin American-Statesman., 7 April 1991
Item 13: "Report: More than 33,000 Women served in Combat Support Positions," Stars and Stripes, 15 April 1991
Item 14: "Women in the Military: Aftermath of Desert Storm," Defense Media Review, 30 April 1991
Item 15: "Pentagon Backs Legislation Allowing Women to Fly Combat Missions," Inside the Pentagon, 30 May 1991
Item 16: "Women in Combat: Why Rush to Judgment?" Backgrounder , 14 June 1991
Item 17: "Combat Role for Women Stalled by Senate Panel," Washington Post, 10 July 1991
Item 18: "Vote Near on Women in War," Washington Times, 30 July 1991
Item 19: "The Right to Fight," Newsweek, 5 August 1991
Item 20: "The New Top Guns," Time, 12 August 1991
Item 21: "Equality, Yes - Militarism, No," The Nation, 28 October 1991
Item 22: Equal Opportunity, special edition of Current News, a publication by the American Forces Information Service., October 1991

Folder 12: 1992-1994

Item 1: "Women in Combat," Proceedings, February 1992
Item 2: "Women in Combat: a New Front to an Old War," Minerva's Bulletin Board, Spring 1992
Item 3: "Women in the Ranks," Anniston Star, 14 May 1992
Item 4: "Female POWs Abused," Washington Times, 12 June 1992
Item 5: "Strength May Settle Combat Issue," Army Times, 13 July 1992
Item 6: "Bomber Pilots: Flight Deck is a Man's World," Chicago Tribune, 16 July 1992
Item 7: "Military Women Say 'Lesbian Baiting' Rising," Austin American-Statesman, 24 August 1992
Item 8: "Women in the Military," CQ Researcher, 25 September 1992
Item 9: "Official Reminds Communities of Youth Funding," Stars and Stripes, 23 October 1993
Item 10: "Former NMFA Board of Governors Member Appointed to Pentagon Family Post," Newsletter of the National Military Family Association, December 1993
Item 11: "'I've Lived the Life': For Family Policy Chief, Change is the Watchword," Navy Times, 6 December 1993
Item 12: "Carolyn H. Becraft: Warrior for Military Families," Press Pack, 27 December 1993
Item 13: "New Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Appointed," Military Family, January-February 1994
Item 14: "Family Job Prepared Fargo Native for Job at Pentagon," Fargo Forum, 20 March 1994
Item 15: "DOD Waging Campaign to Stop Neglecting Teens," Stars and Stripes, 19 May 1994
Item 16: "Swap More Ideas, DOD Official Says," European Starts and Stripes, 23 May 1994
Item 17: "A Perfect Match: Carolyn Becraft Brings Firsthand Experience of Military Life to Her Department of Defense Position," Military Lifestyle, September 1994
Item 18: Talking with Carolyn Becraft: Personal Experience as a Commissary Customer Makes This DOD Official a Perfect Fit for DeCA Oversight Role," Military Grocer, October 1994
Item 19: "Becraft Gathers Information on Naples Visit," Panorama, 28 October 1994
Item 20: "Where Will the New Money Go?" Army Times, 28 November 1994

Folder 13: 1995-1999

Item 1: "School Lunch Bill Leaves Out Military Children," New York Times, 9 March 1995
Item 2: "Forging Partnerships into the Twenty-First Century: The Military and the Higher Education Community," Adult Learning, March/April 1995
Item 3: "Data Delays Stall Ritalin Study," Army Times, 12 June 1995
Item 4: "Commentary," Military Clubs and Recreation, July 1995
Item 5: "ALA Military Spouse of the Year," National Military Family Association Newsletter, January 1996
Item 6: Bosnia Watch, April 1996: Features a photograph of Sheryl Crow (musician), Sinbad (comedian), Becraft, First Lady Hillary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton at a USO show in Bosnia
Item 7: "DOD Aims to Reduce Stress of Deployment," Stars and Stripes, 3 May 1996
Item 8: "Becraft's Resale View," Military Market, June 1996
Item 9: "'We Did it for the Kids!' Guam Gets DoD Schools," National Military Family Association Newsletter, August 1997
Item 10: "DoD Schools Open for Military Families on Guam," Military Family, Fall 1997
Item 11: "When push came to shove, a school was built," Army Times, 5 January 1998
Item 12: "People on the Move: Around the Agencies," CQ Daily Monitor, 8 July 1998
Item 13: "Key Advocates for Better Pay," Navy Times, 3 August 1998
Item 14: "Fargo Woman Rises in Ranks of Navy," Detroit Lakes Tribune, 23 August 1998
Item 15: "Asst. Secretary of Navy to Address Childcare," The Daily Orange, 9 April 1999
Item 16: "Becraft Advocates Improved Childcare," The Daily Orange, 12 April 1999
Item 17: Community Service News - A Navy Tradition, Summer 1999
Item 18: "Former Fargo Woman OK'd for Navy Post," Fargo Forum, 15 August 1999
Item 19: "Naval Official, UND Alum Has Seen Dramatic Changes for Women in Military," Grand Forks Herald, 15 October 1999
Item 20: "Seabees Celebrate Birthday Abroad Intrepid," Naval Reserve Association News, September 1999
Item 21: "Interview with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Carolyn Becraft," undated and unidentified publication
Item 22: "Fargo native appointed to defense post," unidentified and undated newspaper
Item 23: "A New Lease on Life?" newspaper column by Al Kamen, undated

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