On This Day In Alabama History: John Beecher Was Born In New York

By Graydon Rust Alabama 200

January 22, 1904

Poet, journalist and social activist John Beecher was born in New York. A descendent of abolitionists Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Beecher spent his youth in Birmingham and, at the age of 14, worked in the steel mills of the Tennessee, Iron and Railroad Co. After witnessing the harsh conditions of factory and mills and the mistreatment of workers first hand, Beecher later dedicated his career to the American labor and civil rights movements. He published several books and collections of poetry throughout his career, including “To Live & Die in Dixie & Other Poems” and “Hear the Wind Blow: Poems of Protest & Prophecy.”

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