Here I Stand

Biography of a forgotten poet who used his name and influence to speak up for those on the margins of society Few surnames resonate in American history more than Beecher. The family’s abolitionist ministers, educators, and writers are central figures in the historical narrative of the United States. The Beechers’ influence was greatest in the nineteenth century, but the family story continued—albeit with less public attention—with a descendant who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, during the early twentieth century.
 
John Beecher (1904–1980) never had the public prominence of his famous ancestors, but as a poet, professor, sociologist, New Deal administrator, journalist, and civil rights activist, he spent his life fighting for the voiceless and oppressed with a distinct moral sensibility that reflected his self-identification as the twentieth-century torchbearer for his famous family. While John Beecher had many vocations in his lifetime, he always considered himself a poet and a teacher. Some critics have compared the populist elements of Beecher’s poetry to the work of Walt Whitman and Carl Sandburg, but his writing never gained a broad audience or critical acclaim during his lifetime.
 
In Here I Stand: The Life and Legacy of John Beecher, Angela J. Smith examines Beecher’s writing and activism and places them in the broader context of American culture at pivotal points in the twentieth century. Employing his extensive letters, articles, unpublished poetry and prose, and audio interviews in addition to his numerous published books, Smith uncovers a record of public concerns in American history ranging from the plight of workers in 1920s steel mills to sharecroppers’ struggles during the Depression to the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

Biography of a forgotten poet who used his name and influence to speak up for those on the margins of society

Angela J. Smith is an associate professor of history at North Dakota State University, where she heads the public history program and teaches courses in twentieth-century American history and public history.

List of Figures

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I. Generations Playing Their Part

Chapter 1. The Beecher Family

Chapter 2. Shaping Forces

Part II. Becoming a Twentieth-Century Beecher, 1904–1928

Chapter 3. The Education of John Beecher

Chapter 4. Becoming a Poet

Part III. Professional Life, 1928–1955

Chapter 5. Experimental College and Sociology Work

Chapter 6. Working the New Deal

Chapter 7. The War and Its Aftermath

Chapter 8. The Loyalty Oath

Part IV. Poetry and Legacy, 1955–1980

Chapter 9. A Small Press of Their Own

Chapter 10. Beecher and the Civil Rights Movement

Chapter 11. The Final Years

Epilogue

Appendix 1. Beecher Family Tree

Appendix 2. John Beecher’s Published Work

Notes

Bibliography

Index