Guide to the Philip C. Beam Papers, 1929-2001, undated
No restrictions.
Cite as: Philip C. Beam Papers, George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine.
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Philip Conway Beam was born in Dallas, Texas, on October 7, 1910. He earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate at Harvard University. Beam joined the Bowdoin faculty in 1936 as curator of the art collections and instructor in the department of art, becoming director of Bowdoin's Museum of Art (1939-1964) and professor of art (1949-1982). In 1967 Beam was named curator of the Museum of Art's Winslow Homer collection, and after his retirement as a faculty member he remained at Bowdoin through the summer of 1983 as honorary curator of the collection. He was the author of many books on art history including Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck and Winslow Homer's magazine engravings. In 1976, a lecture room in Bowdoin's Visual Arts Center was dedicated to Beam and he received the Bowdoin Alumni Council's Alumni Award for Faculty and Staff. Beam was married on August 8, 1939, to Frances Merriman. They had a son, Christopher, and a daughter, Rebecca. Beam died on December 25, 2005.
Papers of Philip C. Beam including writings, photographs, news clippings, correspondence, diplomas and certificates, and ephemera, principally from late in his career. The bulk of the collection relates to Beam's authorship of Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck and Winslow Homer's Magazine Engravings; other materials reflect his Bowdoin College activities and his involvement with the Brunswick, Maine,Town and College Club; also includes family history materials.
Organized into three series: Winslow Homer's Magazine Engravings; Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck; Miscellaneous, 1929-2001
Related Collections: The Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. has a collection titled "Philip C. Beam Papers, c. 1946- c. 1993," which includes Beam's research files regarding Winslow Homer
Typescript draft with corrections, illustrations, and other materials relating to Beam's publication, Winslow Homer's Magazine Engravings (N.Y.: Harper & Row, 1979).
Typescript with manuscript corrections
Typescript with manuscript corrections
Illustrations
Dust Jacket
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes: Checklist, Style, Technique, Themes, & Subjects
Notes: Chronology
Notes: Design, Compositions and Aesthetic Content
Notes: Engravers of W.H. Designs
Notes: Homer Engravings
Notes: Introduction
Notes: Magazine Chronology
Notes: Names of Magazines w/W.H. Engravings
Notes: Selected Bibliography
Photographs
Review in Smithsonian, January 1980
Typescript drafts with corrections, illustrations, correspondence, and other materials relating to Beam's 1966 publication, Winslow Homer at Prout's Neck (Brunswick, Me.: Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1966).
Typescript with manuscript corrections
"Illustrations" 1st draft
"Illustrations: figures 1 through 92"
"W.H. pp. 505 to 586, Bibl." (Chapter VIII)
Credits
Typescript with manuscript corrections, 1965
Index, TS w/ MS corrections
Miscellaneous materials including diplomas, photographs, correspondence, and clippings. Includes a Bowdoin College Reunion talk from 1993, "The Offer of Bowdoin College," and materials concerning the Town and College Club.
Arranged alphabetically.
Alumni Service Award, Fall 1976
Articles and Book Reviews about Beam
Birth, Death, Financial Records Correspondence
Correspondence
Diploma, University City Senior High School, 1929
Harvard Correspondence and 1933 Commencement Program
Marriage and 50th Anniversary of Philip and Francis Beam
"The Offer of Bowdoin College," talk given in Chapel 5 Jun 1993, at 50th Reunion of class of 1943
Photographs
Town and College Club Materials, 2000-2001
B.A. Harvard, 1933 M.A. Harvard, 1943 Ph.D. Harvard, 1944