John Beecher

John Beecher (January 22, 1904 – May 11, 1980) was an activist poet, writer, and journalist who wrote about the Southern United States during the Great Depression and the American Civil Rights Movement. Beecher was active in the American labor and civil rights movements. During the McCarthy era, Beecher lost his teaching job for refusing to sign a state loyalty oath. Following a 1967 decision of the California Supreme Court that disallowed such a loyalty oath, he was reinstated in 1977. Beecher's books include Report to the Stockholders, To Live and Die in Dixie, and In Egypt Land.

Biography

John Henry Newman Beecher was born in New York City on January 22, 1904, to Leonard and Isabel Beecher. He was a descendent of the New England literary and abolitionist Beechers that included Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, Lyman Beecher, and Henry Ward Beecher. His father was a steel industry executive. In 1907, Beecher's father was transferred to Birmingham, Alabama, to work for the United States Steel Corporation and Beecher spent the rest of his childhood in the American South.

John Hubbard Beecher

John Hubbard Beecher, also known as Little John Beecher (8 February 1927 Marshalltown, Iowa – 6 August 1987 Muscogee County, Georgia) was an American bandleader, jazz trumpeter and valve trombonist, and a singer of novelty songs. His band, "Little John Beecher and his Orchestra," was active throughout the 1950s, and was booked by National Orchestra Service of Omaha, Nebraska. Before forming his own band, he played trumpet with Lee Williams.

Bands