The Beat Museum is located in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

and is dedicated to preserving the memory and works of the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

. The Beat Generation was a group of post-WWII artists who challenged the social norms of the 1950s, encouraged experimentation with drugs and sexuality, practiced various types of Eastern religion, and desired to grow as humans. Also known as 'The Beats', they became famous in the 1950s and remain influential today. While dozens of personalities were involved in the formative years of the movement, the most celebrated members were

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

, William S. Burroughs, and

Neal Cassady Neal Leon Cassady (February 8, 1926 – February 4, 1968) was a major figure of the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the psychedelic and counterculture movements of the 1960s. He was prominently featured as himself in the "scroll" (first d ...

.Editor, ''FCJ''
"The Beat Goes On"
''Fog City Journal''. Retrieved 30 October 2017. Some musicians are also considered to be part of the Beat Generation’s legacy including

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, and

Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...

. Thomas Pynchon and Tom Robbins are examples of authors influenced by the Beat generation. The Beat Museum is dedicated to spreading the values of the Beat Generation, “Compassion, Tolerance, and of Living One’s Own Individual Truth.”. Its collection holds thousands of pieces of memorabilia from the era, hundreds of photographs of the Beats and their contemporaries, and an extensive book selection.

History

The Beat Museum began in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

in 2003 because the founders, Jerry and Estelle Cimino, were living there at that time. Estelle had some surplus office space which included a separate entrance at her downtown location for her career counseling business called the Career Action Center. Jerry had recently left corporate America and was ready to try something new, so he placed his personal collection of Beat memorabilia on display in downtown Monterey.

The Beat Museum on Wheels

Wanting to share the Beat Museum with the rest of America, Cimino and John Allen Cassady, son of Neal Cassady (Dean Moriarty in ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...

'') and

Carolyn Cassady Carolyn Elizabeth Robinson Cassady (April 28, 1923 – September 20, 2013) was an American writer and associated with the Beat Generation through her marriage to Neal Cassady and her friendships with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and other promin ...

, founded the Beat Museum on Wheels. Traveling from California to Maine to Florida and back again in an

Airstream Airstream is an American brand of travel trailer ("caravan" in British English) easily recognized by the distinctive shape of its rounded and polished aluminum coachwork. This body shape dates back to the 1930s and is based on the Bowlus Road C ...

345 motorhome in the fall of 2004 and 2005, Cimino and Cassady spoke at universities, high schools, and community centers. Stops included

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

in Detroit, SUNY Geneseo, Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo,

University of Maryland, Baltimore County The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public research university in Baltimore County, Maryland. It has a fall 2022 enrollment of 13,991 students, 61 undergraduate majors, over 92 graduate programs (38 master, 25 doctoral, ...

as well as performances at community centers such as the Henry Miller Memorial Library in

Big Sur Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur ha ...

, the Fitton Center for Creative Arts in

Hamilton, Ohio Hamilton is a city in and the county seat of Butler County, Ohio, United States. Located north of Cincinnati, Hamilton is the second largest city in the Greater Cincinnati area and the 10th largest city in Ohio. The population was 63,399 at th ...

, KerouacFest in Windber, Pennsylvania, ArtSplash in

Rockaway, New York The Rockaway Peninsula, commonly referred to as The Rockaways or Rockaway, is a peninsula at the southern edge of the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, New York. Relatively isolated from Manhattan and other more urban parts of the ...

and Lowell Celebrates Kerouac in

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

The Beat Museum relocates to San Francisco

Coming off the success of The Beat Museum on Wheels two year roadshow, The Beat Museum moved from

to San Francisco's North Beach District in 2006. Initially, the museum secured a space for three months at the Live Worms Gallery on Grant Avenue. Later, it moved to a much larger location at 540 Broadway (at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Broadway Street) directly across the street from City Lights Bookstore, at the epicenter of the 1950s San Francisco Beat hangout spots.

was the guest of honor for the opening weekend at the Beat Museum in North Beach and both the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

ran articles that ran in hundreds of newspapers around the world. Special guests at the opening included

Michael McClure Michael McClure (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020) was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous ...

, Wavy Gravy,

Al Hinkle Al Hinkle (April 9, 1926 – December 26, 2018) was a childhood friend of Beat Generation icon Neal Cassady who was the inspiration for the character of Ed Dunkel in Jack Kerouac’s '' On the Road''. In December 1948 Hinkle contributed $100 to ...

, Magda Cregg, John Allen Cassady, Anne Marie Maxwell and Stanley Mouse.

Exhibitions and acquisitions

City Lights as seen from the Beat Museum

The museum has both permanent exhibitions and rotating exhibitions. Much of the Beat Museum’s acquisitions are items donated by family members, friends, and fans of the Beat generation. Recently donated pieces include the archives of publishers Arthur and Kit Knight; memorabilia from Kerouac’s funeral; and Allen Ginsberg’s typewriter. The referee shirt worn by Neal Cassady in Ken Kesey’s '' The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is on permanent display in the museum, as is Jack Kerouac’s tweed jacket, an original acid test card, and many other novelties from the Beat era.

Walter Salles Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. Early life Salles was born on 12 April 1956 in Rio de Janeiro and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. He is the son of Brazil ...

, director of 2012’s film adaptation of

, donated the 1949

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...

car to the Beat Museum. Per Salles’s request, the car is not to be cleaned: the dirt and grime of the famous cross-country road trip are to remain as part of the car. The Beat Museum as seen across the street

The Beat Museum as seen across the street

Permanent exhibits include details and memorabilia from the 1957 Howl obscenity trial, original art by Lawrence Ferlinghetti,

Harold Norse Harold Norse (July 6, 1916, New York City – June 8, 2009, San Francisco) was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse w ...

, and

Gregory Corso Gregory Nunzio Corso (March 26, 1930 – January 17, 2001) was an American poet and a key member of the Beat movement. He was the youngest of the inner circle of Beat Generation writers (with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burrough ...

, a first edition copy of Kerouac’s first novel,

The Town and the City ''The Town and the City'' is a novel by Jack Kerouac, published by Harcourt Brace in 1950. This was the first major work published by Kerouac, who later became famous for his second novel '' On the Road'' (1957). Like all of Jack Kerouac's major ...

, an advance copy from his hometown library, 'Women of the Beat Generation', which showcases the oft-forgotten Beat women, a room to display a continuously playing documentary, an exhibit called ''Passing the Torch: How the Beats Became the Hippies'', and more. As of 2021 David Woodard's iteration of the Brion Gysin Dreamachine, along with original manuscripts, first editions, and letters, rounds out the permanent collection. Past visiting exhibitions include:

Harold Chapman Harold Stephen Chapman (26 March 1927 – 19 August 2022) was a British photographer noted for chronicling the 1950s in Paris. Biography Chapman was born in Deal, Kent on 26 March 1927. He produced a large body of work over many years, with ...

photography of the Beat Hotel; Jim Hatchett photography of Lew Welch, Philip Whalen, and Michael McClure, and

Brother Antoninus William "Bill" Everson, also known as Brother Antoninus (September 10, 1912 – June 3, 1994), was an American poet, literary critic, teacher and small press printer. He was a member of the San Francisco Renaissance. Beginnings Everson was bo ...

a.k.a. William Everson.

Celebrity supporters

Celebrity visitors to the Beat Museum include musicians

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

, Patti Smith and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

’s

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...

. Former governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura, actors

Owen Wilson Owen Cunningham Wilson (born November 18, 1968) is an American actor. He has had a long association with filmmaker Wes Anderson with whom he shared writing and acting credits for '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Rushmore'' (1998), and ''The Royal ...

Garrett Hedlund Garrett John Hedlund (born September 3, 1984) is an American actor. His films include ''Troy'' (2004), '' Friday Night Lights'' (2004), '' Four Brothers'' (2005), ''Eragon'' (2006), ''Death Sentence'' (2007), '' Tron: Legacy'' (2010), ''Country ...

, Kristen Stewart,

Michael Ornstein Michael Marisi Ornstein (born 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Chucky Marstein on Sons of Anarchy 2008–2014) and its spin-off ''Mayans M.C. (2019-present). Early life Ornstein studied acting as a child a ...

(Sons of Anarchy), Michael Imperioli (Sopranos), film maker John Waters and comedian and magician

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured ...

, and singer

. Waits’s song “

California, Here I Come "California, Here I Come" is a song interpolated in the Broadway musical '' Bombo'', starring Al Jolson. The song was written by Bud DeSylva, Joseph Meyer, and Jolson. Jolson recorded the song on January 17, 1924, with Isham Jones' Orchestra, ...

” is inspired by ''

''. The Beat Museum is highlighted in Jillette’s book ''Every Day is an Atheist Holiday!: More Magical Tales from the Author of God, No!'', “For a Beat fan, beatnik, peacenik, old hippie capitalist guy like me, this is the only museum that matters. Who needs old dinosaur bones?”. Jillette also poses semi-nude in a photograph in the book in homage to a similar photograph by Allen Ginsberg and

that hangs in the museum. As a comedian and entertainer, Jillette says he can relate to a story about Allen Ginsberg being heckled at a poetry reading and then shedding his clothes, “The poet stands naked before the world. Are you willing to stand naked before the world?”.

Public programs

The Beat Museum holds regular readings and book signings and takes part in literature events such as the Litquake.

References

Sources

* Karp, Evan. “The museum that Jack Kerouac built.” ''Examiner''. 7 August 2010. * McManis, Sam. “Discoveries: Beat generation lives in San Francisco museum.” ''The Sacramento Bee'', 16 June 2013. http://www.sacbee.com/2013/06/16/5495388/discoveries-beat-generation-lives.html * Nolte, Carl. “New Museum, public display pay homage to Beat Generation / Kerouac fan opens Grant Avenue digs – ‘On the Road’ scroll be shown at library.” ''SF Gate,'' 13 January 2006.http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-New-museum-public-display-pay-2506622.php * Russo, Tony. “Attention Cool Cats: Frisco’s Beat Museum Welcomes You.” ''The Air Space'', 27 October 2012. http://theairspace.net/commentary/attention-cool-cats-friscos-beat-museum-welcomes-you/ * Mickleburgh, Rod. “Kerouac and Me and the Beat Museum.” ''Mickleblog'', 10 October 2013. http://mickleblog.wordpress.com/tag/jerry-cimino/ * Petruccelli, Kathryn. “The Beats Go On: Jerry Cimino’s shrine to Kerouac, et al, keeps the flame of the 50s alive.” ''Monterey County Weekly'', 27 November 2003. http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/article_8c147295-9ff8-53ea-a741-56f665cdac91.html * Odegard, Dave. “Big Change, Big Sur: Is Jack Kerouac Actually Filmable?” ''Word & Film'', 11 November 2013. http://www.wordandfilm.com/2013/11/big-change-big-sur-is-jack-kerouac-actually-filmable/ * Samay, Melanie. “The Making of The Beat Museum.” ''Contemporary Jewish Museum'', no date given. http://cjmvoices.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-making-of-beat-museum.html * Staff Writer, SF Examiner – Beat Museum Gets Permanent Digs on Broadway