Collection

Beam, Joseph Papers

Span Dates: 1967-1990
Bulk Dates:
Volume: 7.4 feet

Description

The Joseph Beam Papers consist of correspondence, conference materials, prison letters, writings by Beam and other authors, files of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (NCBLG) and its organizational journal Black/Out, and printed matter. The Correspondence series is divided into five subgroups: Family, General, Individuals, Organizations and Prison Letters. Significant correspondents include Barbara Smith, Essex Hemphill, Daniel Garrett, Renee McCoy, Assoto Saint, Colin Robinson, Craig Harris, Isaac Julien. Beam's writings and correspondence dealt with issues of gay life and civil rights for blacks and other minorities, and with contemporary developments in Philadelphia, including the police bombing of the MOVE headquarters in 1985. Other writings in the collection were destined for publication in the two anthologies conceived by Beam and the journals Black/Out and Other Countries. Contributors included Audre Lorde, Pat Parker, Samuel Delany, Melvin Dixon, Gilberto Gerald, Michelle Parkerson, Michael J. Smith, and Alice Walker. Also included are minutes of board meetings, financial reports, correspondence, memoranda, conference papers, and printed matter of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, and subject files on AIDS awareness and prevention, prisoners' support groups, gay and lesbian entertainers and South Africa. The collection also documents activities of Black and White Men Together, Blackheart Collective and other black gay organizations. The NCBLG subseries includes Executive Board materials and files contain minutes of board meetings, financial reports, correspondence, memoranda, conference papers, printed matter, and chapter files for Chicago and Philadelphia.

Hist/Bio Note

Born in Philadelphia in 1954, Joseph F. Beam was an African-American gay rights activist and author who worked to foster greater acceptance of gay life in the black community by relating the gay experience with the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Baptised a Catholic, the young Beam studied mainly in parochial schools, including the Malvern Preparatory School, St. Thomas More High School and Franklin College, a small Baptist college in rural Indiana. An only child, his boyhood was difficult and solitary; he was often the only non-white pupil in his classes. Later, at Franklin College, he was influenced by the civil rights and the Black Power movements, and played an active role in the local Black Student Union. Also, as a member of the Franklin Independent Men, he helped organize several conferences on campus and was active in college journalism and radio programming. After graduation in 1976, Beam remained in the Midwest, enrolling first in a Master's Degree program in communications and then working as a waiter in Ames, Iowa. He returned to Philadelphia in 1979. Giovanni's Room in the Center City District in Philadelphia was one of the main bookstores and contact points for lesbians and gays in the 1970s and 1980s. Beam became well acquainted with local and national gay figures and institutions while employed there in the early 1980s. His articles and short stories began appearing around the same time in numerous gay newspapers and magazines, including Au Courant, Blackheart, Changing Men, Gay Community News, Philadelphia Gay News, The Advocate, New York Native, Body Politicand the Windy City Times.The Lesbian and Gay Press Association awarded him a certificate for outstanding achievement by a minority journalist in 1984. The following year, he was hired as a consultant by the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Friends Service Committee. He joined the Executive Committee of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays in 1985, and became the editor of their new journal Black/Out. He joined the Executive Committee of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays in 1985, and became the editor of their new journal Black/Out.

Finding Aid

An online finding aid is available.

Location

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library
https://archives.nypl.org

Tags

National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays | Author/editor | Black | McCoy, Renee