Scope and arrangement
The Jeanne Hays Beaman papers hold computer dance research material, arts organization files, materials from Beaman's education, photographs, programs, awards, correspondence, and scrapbooks.
Computer dance research materials consist of correspondence with colleagues, programs, notes, articles, photographs, and Beaman's unpublished book The Workbook for Computer-Generated Choreography, which was a collaboration with computer specialist Dale Isner. All materials reflect Beaman's interest in using computers for artistic expression, and include correspondence with individuals from IBM and other companies in the developing field of arts technology.
Arts organization files hold correspondence, press, an oral history interview agreement, and conference materials from the American College Dance Festival Association, the American Dance Guild, the Boston Dance Alliance, the Massachusetts Arts and Humanities Foundation, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the Pittsburgh Dance Council, and the Regional American College Dance Festival. The Massachusetts Arts and Humanities files include correspondence and photographs detailing a 1978 Merce Cunningham Dance Company residency in local schools. Also included in the arts organization files are awards given to Beaman by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
A file on Bennington School of the Dance holds reunion information as well as a copy of an interview given by Beaman in 1979 about her year at the school. Correspondence is primarily personal cards. Educational materials are mainly focused on Beaman's time at Mills College and include a dismantled notebook with class schedules, notes, and sketches; a program from a concert featuring Beaman; class work, including a copy of her thesis; and her diploma.
Scrapbooks hold clippings and programs documenting Beaman's early dance training and career (1920-1940) as well as photographs from a 1974 Anna Halprin workshop in Pittsburgh. Later items were occasionally pasted into the early career scrapbook. Some of these additions date from the 1970s. Photographs are limited and document workshops and performances primarily from 1960 to 1975. Of note is a mounted set of images from Beaman's computer-choreographed dance Cluster at the Center (1969).
The awards include honor certificates and ceremony programs, and the WQED file holds clippings for the broadcast Comment, featuring Beaman.
Arrangement
Alphabetical by file type.