According to the June 1, 1908 issue of the Knoxville Sentinel, he acquired a brief teaching position in Kentucky before returning to Knoxville to be the principal of a newly built Lonsdale school for Black children in 1907. When all educators in the city were required to take mandatory examinations to measure their level of qualification, Beck earned the highest grades of both Black and white Knox County educators in the primary grades in 1907 and 1908 respectively. He would also hold his job in Lonsdale for a short period of time as records from 1909 indicate that he was employed at Austin High School teaching English to young boys and girls, a subject in which he was most proficient.

During his time at Austin High School, Beck also coached the boys football team, occasionally leading them to victory against older and more experienced college teams. Even when the team was expected to play Beck’s alma mater, he remained confident in the ability of his players, once telling the press that his team would “easily defeat their heavier opponent.” He continued working at Austin High School until the spring of 1912 when he sent in his resignation papers after being appointed a new position with the Knoxville Postal Service. 

Beck began his career in the postal service circa 1911 when he was appointed an assistant clerk for the Knoxville Post Office. By 1913, he was a regular for the Post Office and made history as the first Black person to serve as a postal clerk in the city. As he did with the teacher examinations, Beck scored high on the civil service exams and was the only postal clerk proficient in the Greek language. 

This achievement brought great pride to Black citizens in Knoxville and Beck was honored knowing that his achievement brought even more positive representation to his community. 

For several decades, Beck was a member of the National Alliance of Postal Employees which had been established by William L. Gamble, Knoxville's first Black railway postal clerk. The alliance was organized during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, after Black employees were told that President Wilson and Postmaster-General Burleson had planned to eliminate Black workers from the service. When Beck joined the alliance, he served as the president during the 1930s and later as treasurer in 1942. Before Gamble passed away March 15, 1953, Beck wrote a tribute to him which was published in the newspapers.

James G. Beck was a gifted athlete whose love of sports remained an important part of his life. At Knoxville College, he excelled in baseball, tennis, and football, and helped lead the baseball team to Southern championships in 1904, 1905, and 1906. After graduation, he carried that experience into coaching. While teaching at Austin High School, he coached the boys football team, and in 1913 he returned to Knoxville College to manage its baseball team, becoming the first Black coach in the school’s history. He later served as athletic director and became a respected mentor to younger athletes.

Beck also played an important role in the growth of Black baseball in East Tennessee. During the late 1910s and 1920s, he umpired local games and served as an administrator for the semi-professional Knoxville Giants. In 1928, he advocated for the creation of the East Tennessee Colored League, which brought together Black baseball teams from Knoxville and surrounding communities and helped strengthen the region’s organized Black baseball scene.

Tennis remained another lifelong interest. Beck was an accomplished player, and his reputation on the court was later honored with a medal bearing his name that was awarded to the winner of Knoxville’s Negro Singles Championship.

James G. Beck was deeply involved in Knoxville’s civic life and worked throughout his career to advance the interests of the city’s Black community. One of his most significant contributions came in 1919, when he helped organize the Knoxville branch of the NAACP. Beck led a meeting at the Carnegie Library on East Vine Avenue that brought together Black residents from across the community, with W.E.B. Du Bois making a special appearance. The branch was officially chartered on August 6, 1919, only weeks before the Knoxville Race Riot.

Beck soon became involved in efforts surrounding the case of Maurice Mays, whose conviction helped ignite the violence of 1919. After Mays’ first conviction, Beck appealed to the national NAACP for legal assistance, helping bring wider attention to the case. Beyond the NAACP, he participated in the Four Minute Men, organized the Jubilee Music and Literary Society, and supported Black cultural events, performances, and 8th of August celebrations.

Faith and politics were also important parts of his public life. A devoted Presbyterian, Beck taught adult Bible classes at Knoxville College, served as treasurer of the United Presbyterian, and later became the first layman elected moderator of the Presbytery. Politically active as well, he served as sergeant-at-arms at the 1940 Republican National Convention and ran for Knoxville City Council in 1951 on a platform centered on public service, equitable wages for city employees, and improvements to the First Creek flooding problem.