West Point Cullum Numbers
GEN Cullum assigned Number 1 to the first West Point graduate, Joseph G. Swift, and then numbered all successive graduates in sequence. Before he died in 1892, General Cullum completed the first three volumes of a work that comprised 10 volumes, entitled General Cullum’s Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy, and covered USMA classes from 1802 through 1950. The current Register of Graduates is a direct descendant of General Cullum’s seminal work.
General Cullum’s will contained a $250,000 bequest to be used for the construction and maintenance of a memorial hall at West Point to be dedicated to the officers and graduates of USMA. That impressive building, Cullum Hall, was dedicated in 1900, and was the first building to be donated by a graduate to the Academy. Cullum Hall was the original home of the offices of the Association of Graduates until 1995, when the staff moved to Herbert Alumni Center.
From 1802 through the Class of 1977, graduates were listed by general order of merit. Thus, the Register provided a quick reference for class rank. Beginning with the Class of 1978, graduates were listed alphabetically and then by date of graduation. Currently, fourteen graduates have an “A” suffix after their Cullum Number. For various reasons, these graduates were omitted from the original class roster, and a suffix letter was added to avoid renumbering the entire class and subsequent classes.
A Cullum File is maintained for each graduate. This file contains information relating to the graduate. The initial information in the file includes the documents relating to appointment to USMA. Subsequent information is obtained from any available source (e.g., newspaper or magazine articles, the internet, items provided by family members). Each graduate is encouraged to provide information relating to his/her military career and all other aspects of life for inclusion in the file. Personal documents also may be submitted to help make the file a complete repository of information relating to the life of the graduate. This file may be accessed only by the graduate during his/her lifetime. After death, information can and will be provided, upon request, to family members, historians, etc. Information for inclusion in the Cullum File can be sent to:
CULLUM FILE
West Point Association of Graduates
ATTN: Archivist
698 Mills Road, West Point, NY 10996-1607
For further information, call 800.232.4723, ext. 1545 or e-mail desrae.gibby@wpaog.org