Relatively few records have survived from the 16 years of Behrman's first tenure; those extant consist mainly of in-coming correspondence from city, parish, or state agencies, neighborhood civic groups, public officials, and private citizens. Among the agencies represented most fully are the City Engineer and the Public Belt Railroad Commission. Included in the file for the New Orleans Board of Health is material concerning the 1905 yellow fever epidemic (the last major epidemic to occur in New Orleans) and its aftermath; additional letters from individuals offering assistance or donations during the epidemic are filed by name of correspondent or in the file "Citizens' Yellow Fever Committee." Correspondence from the New Orleans Progressive Union (a forerunner of the Chamber of Commerce) forms another substantial file. Individual correspondents include President Theodore Roosevelt, Governor Newton C. Blanchard, Senators Samuel McEnery and Murphy J. Foster, Eleanor McMain, Rudolph Matas (in "M" Miscellaneous folder), Isidore Newman (in "N" Miscellaneous), Kate Gordon (in "National American Woman Suffrage Association"), and Sophie B. Wright.