Series III: Correspondence, Notebooks and Ephemera

Series I: Published Material (Box 1)

This series consists of published material by or about Leo Beachy. Included are four copies of Letters and Pictures for Isabelle, a book by Beachy consisting of his letters and photographs, extolling the virtues of rural life over the urban. There is also a complete set of four volumes containing Leo Beachy’s photographs and writings compiled by his niece, Maxine Beachy Broadwater, and Matthew Novak. Volume I contains an autobiography by Leo Beachy. Beginning in 1982, the Beachy family began printing calendars with photographs by Leo Beachy that were on sale at the Grantsville Library and Main Street stores. Included in this collection is a copy of the 1992 calendar. This series also has a Life magazine article from 1990 containing a photo essay on Beachy which includes images and quotations. There is one unpublished item in this series: A 2001 masters thesis by Beth Ann Holler, entitled "Leo J. Beachy’s Creation of the Rural Ideal in an Age of Conflict: A Study of a Small Town Photographer," which argues for Beachy as "an interpreter of the impact of modernism on rural life.”

Series II: Books and Publications (Boxes 2-3)

This series consists of books and periodicals that were in the possession of Leo Beachy. Authors include: Beatrice Harraden; Thomas De Quincey; Moncure Conway, abolitionist and Unitarian clergyman; John Ruskin, English art and social critic; naturalist Gene Stratton Porter; and Scottish Evangelist Henry Drummond. There are also works on religion, photography, and education. Leo Beachy sold the educational books published by E. L. Kellog & Co., contained in this series to supplement his income.

Series III: Correspondence, Notebooks and Ephemera (Box 3)

This series consists of nine of Beachy’s notebooks, an account book, correspondence, postcards, newspaper clippings, and a map of Fort Riley, Kansas.