Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Beam, Dorothy
2. Hemphill, Essex
3. Smith, Barbara, 1946-
4. Smith, Michael J., 1944-
5. Saint, Assotto, 1957-1994
6. McCoy, Renee
7. Parker, Pat, 1944-1989
8. Delany, Samuel R
9. Parkerson, Michelle
10. Robinson, Colin
11. Garrett, Daniel
12. Julien, Isaac
13. Harris, Craig
14. Walker, Alice, 1944-
15. Lorde, Audre
16. Dixon, Melvin, 1950-1992
17. Gerald, Gil
18. Weddo, Dan
19. Tate, Percy L
20. Jenkins, Lawrence
21. Blackheart Collective (Organization)

Description

1. 7.4 lin. ft. (20 boxes)

Summary

1. 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.

Subject

1. Beam, Joseph.
2. National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (U.S.)
3. National Association of Black and White Men Together.
4. Franklin College (Franklin, Ind.)
5. MOVE (Organization)
6. African American gay people.
7. African American lesbians.
8. Gay people's writings, American.
9. Women authors, Black.
10. American literature -- African American authors.
11. AIDS (Disease) -- Prevention.
12. African American gay people -- Poetry.
13. African American gay people -- Literary collections.
14. African American gay people -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
15. Prisoners' writings, American.
16. African American prisoners.
17. Gay liberation movement.
18. Gay men -- South Africa.

Call number

1. Sc MG 455

Language

1. English

Note

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

Access (note)

1. Series 8 is restricted.

Source (note)

1. Mrs. Dorothy Beam

Biography (note)

1. 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)

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

Processing action (note)

1. Processed
2. Catalogued
3. Restriction removal

Biography

1. 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.

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1. Finding Aid