Research Catalog

Title

Joseph Beam papers, 1967-1990.

Author

Beam, Joseph.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Beam, Dorothy.
• Blackheart Collective (Organization)
• Delany, Samuel R.
• Dixon, Melvin, 1950-1992.
• Garrett, Daniel.
• Gerald, Gil.
• Harris, Craig.
• Hemphill, Essex.
• Jenkins, Lawrence.
• Julien, Isaac.
• Lorde, Audre.
• McCoy, Renee.
• Parker, Pat, 1944-1989.
• Parkerson, Michelle.
• Robinson, Colin.
• Saint, Assotto, 1957-1994.
• Smith, Barbara, 1946-
• Smith, Michael J., 1944-
• Tate, Percy L.
• Walker, Alice, 1944-
• Weddo, Dan.

Description

7.4 lin. ft. (20 boxes)

Subjects

• Beam, Joseph
• Gay men > South Africa
• African American gays > Poetry
• National Association of Black and White Men Together
• African American gays > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia
• Franklin College (Franklin, Ind.)
• American literature > African American authors
• Gays' writings, American
• MOVE (Organization)
• AIDS (Disease) > Prevention
• Women authors, Black
• Prisoners' writings, American
• National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (U.S.)
• African American lesbians
• Gay liberation movement
• African American prisoners
• African American gays > Literary collections

Note

• Photographs separated to Photographs and Prints Division and are described separately.

Access (note)

• Series 8 is restricted.

Source (note)

• Mrs. Dorothy Beam

Biography (note)

• Born in Philadelphia in 1954, Joseph 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.

Publications (note)

• Portions published in: Beam, Joseph, ed. In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology. Boston: Alyson Press, 1986.
• Portion published in: Hemphill, Essex and Joseph Beam, eds and comps. Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. Boston: Alyson Press, 1991.
• Portions published in: Black/Out: the Magazine of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (1986-1987)

Processing Action (note)

• Processed
• Catalogued
• Restriction removal

Call Number

Sc MG 455

Author

Beam, Joseph.

Title

Joseph Beam papers, 1967-1990.

Summary

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 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.

Access

Series 8 is restricted.

Biography

Born in Philadelphia in 1954, Joseph 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. After his graduation from Franklin College in rural Indiana in 1976, Beam began working at Giovanni's Room, a gay and lesbian bookstore in Philadelphia, where he became acquainted with local and national gay figures and institutions. His articles and short stories appeared in numerous gay newspapers and publications, including "Au Courant", "Blackheart", "Changing Men", "Gay Community News", "Philadelphia Gay News", "The Advocate", "New York Native", "Body Politic", and the "Windy City Times". He joined the Executive Committee of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays in 1985, and became the editor of their journal "Black/Out". In 1986, he published "In the Life", an anthology of writings by and about Black gay men, to counteract the absence of positive images of gay men of color in the media and the subculture of white gay activists. He was working on a sequel to "In the Life" at the time of his death of HIV related disease in 1989. This work was completed by his mother, Dorothy Beam, and the gay poet Essex Hemphill, and published under the title "Brother to Brother" in 1991.

Publications

Portions published in: Beam, Joseph, ed. In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology. Boston: Alyson Press, 1986.

Portion published in: Hemphill, Essex and Joseph Beam, eds and comps. Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men. Boston: Alyson Press, 1991.

Portions published in: Black/Out: the Magazine of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (1986-1987)

Connect to:

Finding aid

Added Author

Beam, Dorothy.

Hemphill, Essex.

Smith, Barbara, 1946-

Smith, Michael J., 1944-

Saint, Assotto, 1957-1994.

McCoy, Renee.

Parker, Pat, 1944-1989.

Delany, Samuel R.

Parkerson, Michelle.

Robinson, Colin.

Garrett, Daniel.

Julien, Isaac.

Harris, Craig.

Walker, Alice, 1944-

Lorde, Audre.

Dixon, Melvin, 1950-1992.

Gerald, Gil.

Weddo, Dan.

Tate, Percy L.

Jenkins, Lawrence.

Blackheart Collective (Organization)

Research Call Number

Sc MG 455