- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186289", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MIRS Beam 1992-10", "type"=>"local_call"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1987- circa 1991", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1987/1991", "certainty"=>"approximate"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Joseph Beam audio and moving image collection"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2 audio_recordings", "unit"=>"audio_recordings"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1 video_recording", "unit"=>"video_recordings"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Joseph Fairchild Beam (December 30, 1954 - December 27, 1988) was a gay rights activist, writer, and poet. The collection consists of two audio recordings and one video, which include interviews with Dorothy Beam, Angela Bowen, Essex Hemphill, and Barbara Smith."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Beam, Joseph", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Joseph Fairchild Beam (December 30, 1954 - December 27, 1988) was a gay rights activist, writer, and poet. Beam received a BA from Franklin College in 1976. In the early 1980s, he began working at Giovanni's Room, an independent gay and lesbian bookstore in Philadelphia. His writings appeared in numerous gay and literary publications including <span class=\"title\">The Advocate</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Body Politic</span>, <span class=\"title\">Gay Community News</span>, <span class=\"title\">New York Native</span>, <span class=\"title\">Painted Bride Quarterly</span>, <span class=\"title\">Philadelphia Gay News</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Windy City Times</span>. In 1984, the Lesbian and Gay Press Association awarded Beam a certificate for outstanding achievement by a minority journalist. In 1985, he became a consultant to the Gay and Lesbian Task Force of the American Friends Service Committee, a Religious Society of Friends (Quaker)-founded organization working for peace and social justice in the US and around the world. That same year, Beam joined the executive committee of the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays, and became the editor of its journal, <span class=\"title\">Black/Out</span>. He was also awarded the Philadelphia Gay News Lambda Literary Award for outstanding achievement in 1985.</p> <p>Beam was the editor of <span class=\"title\">In the Life</span> (1986), the first anthology of poetry and prose by Black gay men. For this work, he received a citation from the Rhode Island State House in 1987, and a commendation from the City of Philadelphia. Beam began a second anthology, \"Brother to Brother,\" named after an earlier short story of his, but died of an AIDS-related illness in 1988, before it was completed. Poet and activist Essex Hemphill, a friend of Beam, worked together with Beam's mother Dorothy to complete the collection, which was published as <span class=\"title\">Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men</span> in 1991.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection consists of two audio recordings and one video dating from 1987 to circa 1991. They are arranged alphabetically. The audio recordings' original formats are cassettes, and contain two or more parts, one for each side of the cassette. One item includes multiple recordings and is described separately. The audio recordings include interviews with Beam and Essex Hemphill, and an unidentified gay man, likely both recorded at the 1987 Convention of Black and White Men Together, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Another interview is with Hemphill and Dorothy Beam about <span class=\"title\">Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men</span> (1991). The video is an episode of the television show <span class=\"title\">Our Voices</span> with guests Angela Bowen, Hemphill, and Barbara Smith.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Dorothy Beam, 1992.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Joseph Beam papers, Sc MG 455.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>See the Photographs and Prints Division for the Joseph Beam photograph collection, Sc Photo Joseph Beam Collection.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Collection inventoried by <span class=\"name\">Stacey Doyle Ference</span>. Collection processed and described by <span class=\"name\">Ornella U. Baganizi</span>, archivist. Finding aid published in <span class=\"date\">2025</span>.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>In the Life Archive (ITLA) miscellaneous collections, Sc MG 736.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>See the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division for In the Life Archive (ITLA) miscellaneous audio and moving image collections.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p><span class=\"title\">Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men</span> edited by Essex Hemphill; conceived by Joseph Beam; project managed by Dorothy Beam, Sc D 91-1310.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p><span class=\"title\">In the Life: A Black Gay Anthology</span> edited by Joseph Beam, Sc D 88-26.</p>"}
- sponsor
-
{"value"=>"An anonymous donor funded preliminary processing for this collection. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported a research library-wide grant for the digitization, and funded the Schomburg for the description and production of the finding aid as part of The Next Century of Black Studies Project."}
- date_start
-
1987
- keydate
-
1987
- date_end
-
1991
- date_inclusive_start
-
1987
- date_inclusive_end
-
1991
- extent_statement
-
2 audio_recordings. 1 video_recording
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Joseph Beam audio and moving image collection, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, The New York Public Library"}