Robert A. Beach papers
Collection
0100-LIT
Robert A. Beach, Jr. served as the Assistant to the President for University Relations at the University of Maryland from 1966 to 1978. During this time Beach helped to bring Katherine Anne Porter's papers and extensive library to the University of Maryland. Simultaneously, Beach developed both a personal and professional relationship with Porter until her death in 1980. The Beach papers contain correspondence, photographs, clippings, audio, and Beach's handwritten notes detailing both the University's and Beach's relationship with Porter.
1.5 Linear Feet (1 record storage box)
English
The Robert A. Beach, Jr. Papers contains photographs, professional and personal correspondence, audio, and hand written notes, as well as various writings from Katherine Anne Porter and Glennway Westcott which include both typescripts and page proofs.
The Beach papers were donated by Carlee Tressel Alson, a member of the Katherine Anne Porter Society whose uncle was a friend and caretaker of Miss Betty Beach, Beach's sister. He was charged with taking care of her possessions after her death and this included the materials in the Beach papers.
The Robert A. Beach, Jr. papers were received by the University of Maryland Libraries and were described in a preliminary inventory in 2016. The preliminary inventory was updated in January 2017 when the collection was re-housed in an archival storage boxes. Folders were replaced as necessary to be served to patrons, and materials were re-arranged. Photographs, correspondence, and typescripts were sorted, and newspaper clippings deemed to be of little value to the collection were discarded.
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives