The Robert Beech Papers are arranged in five series: CORRESPONDENCE, WRITINGS/PUBLICITY, TEACHING, ORGANIZATIONS AND PROJECTS, and PHOTOGRAPHS.
The papers serve two general areas of research. The first is information on Beech himself and his work as director of the Hattiesburg Delta Ministry office, primarily documented in the CORRESPONDENCE, WRITINGS/PUBLICITY, and TEACHING series. The second is the more general work of the civil rights movement in the Delta region, reflected mostly in the ORGANIZATIONS/PROJECTS series, particularly the volunteers' reports of the Minister's Project.
Photographs document living conditions in the Delta region of Mississippi, show work at the Mt. Beulah Community Center, and illustrate various situations involving Beech.
CORRESPONDENCE
The correspondence is arranged into two main groups: outgoing and incoming. Both sections are about equal in volume and cover the same time period.
Letters from late 1964 to early 1967 comprise the densest period of correspondence. This is the same time period in which he served as director of the Hattiesburg office. Nearly all of the correspondence deals with the business of directing the Ministry. They refer to a wide range of issues and concerns. Many of the outgoing letters are aimed at establishing contacts among clergymen around the country, recruiting ministers and other volunteers for work in Mississippi, and thanking people for letters of support and donations. In many of the letters from 1964, Beech gives assessments of the situation in Hattiesburg and his reception by members of the black and white communities. Several letters deal with media representation of the Delta Ministry in which Beech tries to correct distorted reports about his work.
There are many personal letters from past volunteers and other civil rights workers, mostly from late 1964 and early 1965. Some of the letters from friends are signed with cheery salutations such as “See you in jail!” The correspondence to his family includes a letter to his mother (January 16, 1965), and one to his wife and children while he was volunteering for the Ministry Project before they moved to Mississippi with him (June 7, 1964).
The correspondence of Warren McKenna spans the summer of 1964 when he worked with Beech on the Minister's Project. After the summer, McKenna began working as assistant director for the Delta Ministry and asked Beech to run the Hattiesburg office.
WRITINGS/PUBLICITY
This series is small but gives the most direct information about Beech himself. It includes several published articles and newspaper clippings. There are also a few notes for his sermons. Included is a position paper Beech wrote in 1967 summarizing his work with the Delta Ministry and his plans for the future. Published articles by Beech include “Deep in the South” which appeared in Southern California Presbyterian (September 1967). Beech talks frankly about the racism he encountered in Mississippi in an interview from March 1966 published in The Commentator.
TEACHING
The teaching series stems from classes he taught at Mary Holmes Junior College at the end of his tenure with the Ministry. It includes lecture notes, exams, syllabi and reading lists for his Religion 101 and Sociology 101 classes.
ORGANIZATIONS/PROJECTS
The organizations and projects series is the largest in the collection. It consists mainly of operational records of the Delta Ministry, the Minister's Project and other civil rights organizations including the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, Poor People's Corporation, Committee on Religion and Race, Conference of Federated Organizations, Congress of Racial Equality, and Delta Opportunities Corporation.
The files of the Delta Ministry are mostly operational papers such as meeting minutes, reports by and about the Ministry, fact sheets and applications. The files of the Minister's Project are mostly made up of volunteers' reports of their experiences from the summer of 1964 and offer good insight into the Freedom Movement at that time. This file contains Beech's own reports that he wrote for the mailing list called Reports from Hattiesburg from May to August 1964, and give a day-by-day chronology of events and impressions.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs document the activities of Beech and the Delta Ministry including meetings, classes, services, and protests. The substandard living conditions of African Americans in Mississippi is documented as well. Also included is an image of Robert Kennedy in Mississippi.
