<div><strong>In 2023, the Beat Museum will celebrate twenty years sharing the history, legacy, and values of the Beat Generation with the world. We first opened in Monterey in 2003, and in 2006 we moved to our current home at Broadway and Columbus in San Francisco.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>What a journey it’s been—and we’ve still got lots of plans for the future.</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div><strong>Here’s to the next twenty years!</strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/53587596_1671312574696228_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Beat Museum began with a dream. My wife Estelle and I had previously owned a bookstore in downtown Monterey, California. When we would hold events at the store, we realized the ones focused on Jack Kerouac and other Beat poets and writers were extremely well attended. I had a modest collection of books and ephemera back then, and in 2003 we put some of it on display in a new storefront and The Beat Museum was born.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The week we opened The Beat Museum, our hometown newspaper ran an article about what we were doing, and that very afternoon a man walked in with a red-colored LP on the Fantasy label out of Berkeley titled <em>Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Rexroth Live at the Cellar</em>. I was familiar with the album, and I knew it was rare and highly coveted. I said to the man, "This is a treasure, but we just opened a few days ago and I don't have any money to buy this from you." To my surprise, he said, "I'm not looking for money. I want you to put this on your wall. This is history and it's important that future generations know about it."
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/53587596_1671312628879462_r." width="100%" />
<div>The <a href="https://www.kerouac.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/monterey-herald-article-2000px.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monterey Herald article</a> about our opening (tap for larger version).
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>It was in that moment I realized we were on to something.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Another milestone in the growth of The Beat Museum is a meeting I had in 2005 with Kim Greer, CEO of the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California. One day at lunch, Kim leaned over the table and in a conspiratorial tone said to me, "You know, The Beat Museum should be even bigger than the Steinbeck Museum." "Why do you say that?" I asked. "Look, we've got one guy. Granted, he won the Pulitzer Prize and later the Nobel, but you've got an entire movement of writers and poets. And it's not only the Beats—it’s jazz, the hippies of the 1960s, the Vietnam War…the entire counterculture. The Beat Museum should be huge, especially if you take it to San Francisco."
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In 2006, we brought the Beat Museum to North Beach. Opening as a popup at Live Worms Gallery on Grant Ave, the heart of Beatdom on the West Coast, we later moved to 540 Broadway, across the Columbus intersection from City Lights Books, and it’s been our home for the last fifteen years.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In that time, we’ve greeted many thousands of visitors from all over the world, and hosted hundreds of poetry readings, book launches, panel discussions, performances, and other events, including 2015’s Beatnik Shindig—the largest gathering in the world of Beat poets, writers, scholars, and other enthusiasts in twenty years. Since the early days, the Beat Museum’s archives and collections have grown well beyond my small stash of books to now encompass a wide array of important literary and cultural artifacts, from letters and ephemera to artworks and personal effects, and everything in between.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We take pride in knowing young people visit The Beat Museum from all over the world and walk away having gained the inspiration to follow their own dreams.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Maybe you're reading this right now because the Beats changed your life, too.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Beat Generation not only captured a pivotal period in American history, a tectonic shift in popular culture—they were also profoundly responsible for shaping it. The influence of this remarkable group of people and the movement they created remains just as relevant as ever—if not more so. When the culture of mid-century America demanded segregation, conformity, and materialism, the Beats celebrated tolerance, inclusivity, and authenticity. We think that’s pretty important, as is imparting the history, legacy, and values of the Beat Generation to future generations.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We look forward to celebrating our twentieth year throughout 2023.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>To all our friends—everyone who’s ever bought a ticket, bought a book, come to an event, become a member, and supported what we do in ways large or small—thank you for sharing this amazing journey with us. Your ongoing support is crucial and most appreciated.
</div>

Anonymous

Calvin Snyder

richard horvitz

Patricia Deuter

John L Kitzmiller

Holly Mason

Steven HYMAN

Mark Nassar

PW Covington

Pam Russell

Maria Arnone

Leigh Sassone

Whitney Werner

Paul Switzer

Christopher Thomas

Paul Verizzo

Stephen Dickey

Robin Smith

The Beat Museum Turns 20!

Support urgent earthquake relief and past recovery in Venezuela.

Apoya la ayuda urgente tras el terremoto y los esfuerzos de recuperación en Venezuela.

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

Support Comments Allowlist

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

checkout headers audience

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

The Beat Museum Turns 20!

Still $5,117 to go. Help us build momentum.