Carleton Beals (November 13, 1893 – April 4, 1979) was an American journalist, writer, historian, and political activist with special interests in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. A major journalistic coup for him was his interview with

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

rebel,

Augusto Sandino Augusto is an Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish given name or surname. Notable people with the name include: * Augusto Aníbal *Augusto dos Anjos * Augusto Arbizo *Augusto Barbera (born 1938), Italian law professor, politician and judge *Augusto B ...

in February 1928. In the 1920s he was part of the cosmopolitan group of intellectuals, artists, and journalists in Mexico City. He remained an active, prolific, and politically engaged leftist journalist and is the subject of a scholarly biography.

Early years

Beals was born in

Medicine Lodge, Kansas Medicine Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Barber County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,781. History 19th century The particular medicine lodge, mystery house or sacred tabernacle from ...

. His father, Leon Eli Beals (1864–1941), lawyer and journalist, was the stepson of

Carrie Nation Caroline Amelia Nation (November 25, 1846June 9, 1911), often referred to by Carrie, Carry Nation, Carrie A. Nation, or Hatchet Granny, was a radical member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. Nat ...

, the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...

advocate. His mother was Elvina Sybilla Blickensderfer (1867–?). His brother, Ralph Leon Beals (1901–85), was the first

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. The family moved from Kansas when Beals was age three, and he attended school in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. After graduating from high school in 1911, he worked a variety of jobs while attending the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

where he studied engineering and mining. He won the Bonnheim Essay Prize and the Bryce History Essay Prize. After graduating in 1916,"Beals, Carleton," in ''Historians of Latin America in the United States, 1965: Biobibliographies of 680 Specialists''. Ed. Howard F. Cline. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1966, 8.

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

, he attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on a graduate scholarship, earning a master's degree in 1917.

Career

Unable to find work as a writer, Beals took a job with

Standard Oil Company Standard Oil Company, Inc., was an American oil production, transportation, refining, and marketing company that operated from 1870 to 1911. At its height, Standard Oil was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-f ...

, but it did not suit him. In 1918, he spent a brief period of time in jail as a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

draft evader. Upon release, he decided to go see the world, and with what little money he had, Beals and his wife Lillian drove to Mexico. There, he founded the English Preparatory Institute in 1919, taught at the American High School during 1919 to 1920, and was on the personal staff of President Carranza (1920). They left Mexico in 1921 for Europe where Beals studied at the University of Madrid, and then the University of Rome. Back in Mexico, he became a correspondent for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', separated from his wife, and became romantically involved with photographer

Tina Modotti Tina Modotti (born Assunta Adelaide Luigia Modotti Mondini, August 16/17, 1896 – January 5, 1942) was an Italian American photographer, model, actor, and revolutionary political activist for the Comintern. She left Italy in 1913 and moved to ...

's sister, Mercedes. In February 1928,

Oswald Garrison Villard Oswald Garrison Villard (March 13, 1872 – October 1, 1949) was an American journalist and editor of the ''New York Evening Post.'' He was a civil rights activist, and along with his mother, Fanny Villard, a founding member of the NAACP. I ...

, editor of ''The Nation'', sent Beals to

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

to write a series of articles. He became notable as the only foreign journalist who interviewed General

during Nicaragua's 1927–33 war against US military occupation. In all, Beals wrote over 200 magazine articles for publications such as the '' New Republic'' and ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...

''. Beals also wrote more than 45 books, including on history, geography, and travel. Some of his books are written for a juvenile audience. His autobiography, ''Glass Houses'', was published by J.B. Lippincott Company in 1938. In 1931, Beals was awarded the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

Fellowship for biographies. His biography subjects included

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

Huey P. Long Huey Pierce Long Jr. (August 30, 1893September 10, 1935), nicknamed "the Kingfish", was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a United States senator from 1932 until his assassination ...

, Roberto de la Selva,

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

, John Eliot,

, and

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

. During his career, Beals witnessed Mexican revolutions, lectured on Shakespeare, and was held incommunicado by a Mexican general. His travels took him to

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco (french: Protectorat français au Maroc; ar, الحماية الفرنسية في المغرب), also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco between 1912 to 1956. The prote ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. He was a

Ford Hall Forum The Ford Hall Forum is the oldest free public lecture series in the United States. Founded in 1908, it continues to host open lectures and discussions in the Greater Boston area. Some of the more well-known past speakers include Maya Angelou, Isa ...

speaker in 1936, and a member of the

American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky The American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky was a pseudo-judicial process set up by :American Trotskyists, American Trotskyists as a front organization following the first of the Moscow Trials. It had no powers of subpoena, nor official i ...

in 1937. The following year, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine called Beals, "the best informed and the most awkward living writer on Latin America."

Later years

During the 1960s, he supported the

Fair Play for Cuba Committee The Fair Play for Cuba Committee (FPCC) was an activist group set up in New York City by Robert Taber in April 1960. History The FPCC's purpose was to provide grassroots support for the Cuban Revolution against attacks by the United States gove ...

. Beals was a hero to the young people of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

.Applegate, p. 22 In his later years, Beals lived on Fire Tower Road in

Killingworth, Connecticut Killingworth is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,174 at the 2020 United States Census. History Killingworth was established from the area called Hammonasset, taken from the local Native American tri ...

. He is buried in Killingworth's Evergreen Cemetery.

Partial bibliography

* 1921, ''The Mexican As He is'' * 1922
''Magdalene of Michoacan''
* 1923, ''Rome Or Death; the Story of Fascism'' * 1923
''Mexico; an Interpretation''
(

Agrarian land reform in Mexico Before the 1910 Mexican Revolution, most land in post-independence Mexico was owned by wealthy Mexicans and foreigners, with small holders and indigenous communities possessing little productive land. During the colonial era, the Spanish crown pr ...

) * 1925, ''Tasks Awaiting President Calles of Mexico'' * 1926, ''The Church Problem in Mexico'' * 1927
''Brimstone and Chili: A Book of Personal Experiences in the Southwest and in Mexico''
* 1929, ''Mexico's New Leader'' * 1929, ''Destroying Victor'' * 1930, ''The Coming Struggle for Latin America'' * 1931, ''Mexican Maze'', with illustrations by

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

* 1932, ''Porfirio Díaz. Dictator of Mexico'' * 1932, ''Banana Gold'' * 1933, ''The Crime of Cuba'', with photographs by

Walker Evans Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...

* 1934, ''Fire on the Andes'' * 1934, ''Black River'' * 1935, ''Rifle Rule in Cuba'' * 1935, ''The Story of Huey P. Long'' * 1936, ''The Stones Awake: A Novel of Mexico'' * 1936, ''Prologue to Cuban Freedom'' * 1937, ''America South'' * 1937, ''The New Genre of Roberto de la Selva'' * 1937, ''The Drug Eaters of the High Andes'' * 1938, ''Glass Houses, Ten Years of Free-Lancing'' * 1939, ''American Earth; the Biography of a Nation'' * 1939, ''The Coming Struggle for Latin America'' * 1940, ''Pan America'' * 1943, ''Dawn over the Amazon'' * 1948, ''Lands of the Dawning Morrow: The Awakening from Rio Grande to Cape Horn'' * 1949, ''The Long Land: Chile'' * 1953, ''First Men of America'' * 1953, ''Stephen F. Austin, Father of Texas'' * 1955, ''Our Yankee Heritage: New England's Contribution to American Civilazation'' * 1956, ''Adventure of the Western Sea'', illustrated by Jacob Landau * 1956, ''Taste of Glory; a Novel'' * 1957, ''John Eliot, the Man Who Loved the Indians (July 31, 1604 – May 20, 1690)'' * 1958, ''House in Mexico'' * 1960, ''Cuba's Revolution: The First Year'' * 1960, ''Brass-Knuckle Crusade; the Great Know-Nothing Conspiracy, 1820–1860'' * 1961, ''Nomads and Empire Builders; Native Peoples and Cultures of South America'' * 1962, ''Cyclone Carry, the Story of Carry Nation'' * 1963, ''Latin America: World in Revolution'' * 1963, ''Eagles of the Andes: South American Struggles for Independence'' * 1965, ''War Within a War; the Confederacy Against Itself'' * 1967, ''Land of the Mayas; Yesterday and Today'' * 1968, ''The Great Revolt and Its Leaders: The History of Popular American Uprisings in the 1890s'' * 1969, ''The Case of Leon Trotsky ev Davydovič Trockij Report of Hearings On the Charges Made Against Him in the Moscow Trails'' * 1970, ''Stories Told by the Aztecs Before the Spaniards Came'' * 1970, ''The Nature of Revolution'' * 1970, ''Great Guerrilla Warriors'' * 1970, ''Colonial Rhode Island'' * 1973, ''The Incredible Incas: Yesterday and Today''

References

External links

Beals' portrait
* Beals' articles:

*
"The Black Shirt Revolution, ''The Nation'', 1922

Beals' testimony, Fair Play for Cuba Committee, 1960

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beals, Carleton 1893 births 1979 deaths Journalists from Kansas American male journalists 20th-century American journalists The Nation (U.S. magazine) people Draft evaders People from Killingworth, Connecticut People from Medicine Lodge, Kansas UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni Teachers College, Columbia University alumni Historians of Latin America 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers Historians from Kansas Historians from Connecticut Writers from Pasadena, California Historians from California Journalists from Connecticut Journalists from California American expatriates in Mexico