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John Beecher Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MSS-3226

Scope and Contents

This collection contains a variety of newspaper and periodical clippings about John Beecher, his appearances and poetry readings, and reviews of his published works. Press releases are included as well. Most of the clippings were collected by Barbara Beecher. There are Web pages about John Beecher printed out by Martha Huie included in the collection. There is a small amount of correspondence and three sound recordings of the author reading his poetry.

Dates

  • unknown

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections. For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

John Henry Newman Beecher was born on January 22, 1904 in New York City to Leonard Thurlow and Isabel Garghill Beecher. Beecher was the great, great, great nephew of abolitionists Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Beecher moved to Birmingham when his father was transfered to work as an executive at the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company. Beecher graduated high school at 14 and worked in the mills until he could enter college. This experience opened his eyes to the harsh working environments and dangerous labor of the mills, inspiring his poems. Beecher completed his bachelor's degree in 1924 at the University of Alabama and published his first poem "Big Boy" in 1925. He earned his master's degree from the University of Wisconsin, where he also taught. Beecher published "Report to the Stockholders," a nine part peom in 1933. Beecher had a desire to help the poor and studied sociology at the University of North Carolina as well as administered New Deal programs in the southeast and southwest. The 1940s were a prosperous time for Beecher's poetry and he published multiple books and collections. In 1948 Beecher began teaching at San Francisco State University but was blacklisted and fired two years later for refusing to sign a loyalty oath during a time of Communist fear. He married Barbara Beecher in 1955. At the end of the McCarthy era, he resumed teaching. He reported on the civil rights movement throughout the 1960s and published To Live and Die in Dixie and Other Poems in 1966. In 1974, he published an almost complete collection of his poetry titled Collected Poems, 1924-1974 and toured the country speaking and reading poetry at schools and festivals. Most of this collections newspaper clippings are on his 1974 publication. Beecher died on May 11, 1980.

Source: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2068

Extent

1.0 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Barbara Beecher, Cynthia Denhamm, and Martha Hunt Huie.

Separated Materials

Books by John Beecher

  1. Beecher, John. Homage to a Subversive. Phoenix, AZ: Rampart, 1961.
  2. Beecher, John. An Air That Kills. Phoenix, AZ: Rampart, 1962.
  3. Beecher, John. "And I Will Be Heard": [two Talks to the American People]. New York: Twice a Year, 1940. Print.
  4. Beecher, John. "And I Will Be Heard": two Talks to the American People. New York: Twice a Year, 1940. Print.
  5. Beecher, John. Report to the Stockholders and Other Poems: 1932-1962. Cocoa Beach, FL: Red Mountain Editions, 1971. Print.
  6. Beecher, John. Report to the Stockholders and Other Poems: 1932-1962. Phoenix, AZ: Rampart Press, 1962. Print.
  7. Beecher, John. Here I Stand. New York: Twice a Year, 1941. Print.
  8. Beecher, John. In Egypt Land. Scottsdale, AZ: Rampart, 1960. Print.
  9. Beecher, John. To Live and Die in Dixie. Birmingham, AL: Red Mountain Editions, 1966. Print.
  10. Beecher, John. To Live and Die in Dixie. Birmingham, AL: Red Mountain Editions, 1966. Print.
  11. Beecher, John. Selected Poems, 1924-1974. New York: Macmillan, 1974. Print.
  12. Beecher, John. Selected Poems, 1924-1974. New York: Macmillan, 1974. Print.
  13. Beecher, John. Observe the Time: an Everyday Tragedy in Verse. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1956. Print.
  14. Beecher, John. Observe the Time: an Everyday Tragedy in Verse. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1956. Print.
  15. Beecher, John. One More River to Cross: the Selected Poetry of John Beecher. Ed. Steven Ford Brown. Montgomery, AL: NewSouth, 2003. Print.
  16. Beecher, John. One More River to Cross: the Selected Poetry of John Beecher. Ed. Steven Ford Brown. Montgomery, AL: NewSouth, 2003. Print.
  17. Beecher, John. Morning Star 2: a Quarto of Poetry. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1957. Print.
  18. Beecher, John. Morning Star 4: a Quarto of Poetry. Scottsdale, AZ: Morning Star.
  19. Beecher, John. Morning Star 4: a Quarto of Poetry. Sebastopol, CA: Morning Star, 1956. Print.
  20. Beecher, John. Hear the Wind Blow!: Poems of Protest & Prophecy. New York: International, 1968. Print.
  21. Beecher, John. Hear the Wind Blow!: Poems of Protest & Prophecy. New York: International, 1968. Print.
  22. Beecher, John. Hear the Wind Blow!: Poems of Protest & Prophecy. New York: International, 1968. Print.
  23. Beecher, John. Undesirables. Lanham, MD: Goosetree, 1964.
  24. Beecher, John. Undesirables. Lanham, MD: Goosetree, 1964.
  25. Beecher, John. Selected Poems, 1924-1974. New York: Macmillan, 1974. Print.
  26. Creed, Isabel H. The Idol and Other Verse. Sebastopol, CA: Printed for the Poet at the Morning Star, 1957. Print.
  27. Creed, Isabel H. The Idol and Other Verse. Sebastopol, CA: Printed for the Poet at the Morning Star, 1957. Print.
  28. Glaze, Andrew. Someone Will Go on Owing: Selected Poems, 1966-1992. Montgomery, AL: Black Belt, 1998. Print.
  29. Harvey, Porter, and Alice Harvey. Love, Alice, Love, Porter: Letters from Alice and Porter Harvey. Ed. Sam Harvey. Guntersville, AL: Sam Harvey, 2000. Print.
  30. Harvey, Sam. High Adventure: Porter Harvey and the Advertiser-Gleam. Montgomery, AL: Black Belt, 1997. Print.
  31. Haskins, James. Always Movin' On: the Life of Langston Hughes. Trenton, NJ: Africa World, 1993. Print.
  32. Maze, Steve A. Memories from the past. Arab, AL: Yesterday's Memories, 2003. Print.
  33. Maze, Steve A. Memorable Encounters. Arab, AL: Yesterday's Memories, 2003. Print.
  34. Maze, Steve A. Memories from the Past Volume II. Arab, AL: Yesterday's Memories, 2003. Print.
  35. Beecher, John. In Egypt Land. Scottsdale, AZ: Rampart Press.
  36. Beecher, John. Moloch. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1957.
  37. Beecher, John. Moloch. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1957.
  38. Beecher, John. Inquest. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1957.
  39. Beecher, John. Inquest. San Francisco: Morning Star, 1957.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to the John Beecher Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid created by Jamie Burke
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository

https://www.lib.ua.edu/libraries/hoole/
Contact:
Box 870266
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0266
205.348.0513