Milton Kyser Cummings (August 12, 1911 – March 7, 1973) had a noteworthy career in two highly diverse fields: cotton broker and space-defense industry executive.
Sometimes called the "Number One Citizen of Huntsville" and a "Symbol of the New South," he was recognized as a humanitarian, leader in opportunities for minorities and the handicapped, and advisor to government officials and congressmen.
Impressed with Milton's determination, intelligence, and handicap adjustment, the broker offered him a full scholarship to attend college as he finished high school at age 16.
[1] In his early 20s, Cummings worked in the Shelby Fletcher Brokerage firm and learned the cotton brokering business during the Great Depression.
For the next several years, with his own stock ticker and constant attention to the market, he exhibited a genius for buying and selling at just the right time.
[5] In 1957, Cummings was invited to invest in a new stock issue for Brown Engineering Company (BECO), a small industrial firm in Huntsville.
He had become a friend of Wernher von Braun, who at that time was leading the space program development for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) at Redstone Arsenal.
Convinced that the space field was where Huntsville business was headed, Cummings immediately made a major investment in BECO stock.
In Cummings' words, "Once I had the opportunity to more closely examine Brown Engineering, I became convinced of its great potential and accepted a permanent position."
[7] Wernher von Braun had suggested to Cummings that Huntsville needed a central research park for the emerging space and defense industries.
BECO became the first occupant in the new park, opening a large complex in early 1962, and was soon followed by Lockheed, Northrop, Boeing, TRW, IBM, and other national firms.
[8] Cummings' vision for BECO was that it would be involved in the full spectrum of space and defense activities, from initial research, through engineering development, to final manufacturing and testing.
The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) was formed on 1 July 1960, with a staff of about 4,000 former employees of ABMA and Wernher von Braun as Director.
In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy proposed the national goal of "landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth by the end of the 1960s,” and the Apollo program was underway.
[9] The citation reads as follows: "For his outstanding contributions as a key leader of the government-industry team that made possible the exceptional success of the Apollo Program."
Although Cummings was mainly involved with increasing BECO's work for MSFC, he recognized the potential of business with AMC and established close relationships with many of the leaders.
Duckett and Cummings immediately had a mutual respect; both were from relatively modest backgrounds, neither had a college education, both were “people” oriented, and both had highly successful early careers.
BECO's Research Laboratories performed highly classified intelligence studies, and Cummings received the first Top Secret security clearance granted to a Huntsville business executive.
The quiet influence and leadership of Cummings and the operational and technical expertise of his top staff positioned the Company to obtain vital roles with NASA MSFC; be in on the ground floor of emerging intelligence and missile defense efforts of the U.S. Army; and become recognized for its research activities.
In 1949, Milton founded a nonprofit, Christmas Charities Year Round to help local families after a boll weevil infestation devastated the area cotton crop.
Today, that building on The University of Alabama in Huntsville campus is named Von Braun Research Hall in honor of the rocket pioneer.
In 1963, he was a principal founder and first President of the Association of Area Companies (AHAC), a Huntsville organization devoted to ensuring equal opportunity of minorities in employment, education, housing, and community affairs.