Beach-Thomas family papers

1888-1973 [bulk 1924-1945]

The Beach-Thomas family originated in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Beatrice Beach, born in 1889 to James and Caroline Nurse, immigrated to New York City in 1924. She had one sister, Catherine, and a brother Randolph Thomas through her mother. Beatrice's husband, Edward, was a former Corporal in the Trinidad Police Force who became a seafarer in the years immediately before his family emigrated to New York. Eric Thomas, Beatrice's nephew, also immigrated to New York in 1924 and was raised by his aunt and uncle. Later, he served in the United States military during World War II. Except for a trip to Trinidad in the 1950s, Beatrice Beach remained in New York where she died in October 1982. The Beach-Thomas Family Papers span the years 1888-1973. The papers contain letters and property records that reveal various aspects of the Beach and Thomas's lives as homeowners in Trinidad and immigrants in the United States. The letters cover a wide-range of subjects such as immigration, employment, financial hardships, family relationships and support, social customs in Trinidad and the lives of black servicemen in the United States military. The property records consist largely of property assessments and tax receipts for the house on 11 Irving Lane in Port-of-Spain but also include some related correspondence.