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Keith Beauchamp Papers

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS 2015-016

Scope and Contents

Audiovisual recordings, newspaper and magazine clippings, and other documentation of the work of Keith Beauchamp, especially regarding Emmett Till and the 2005 motion picture The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.

Online Copies Available

Some material from the Beauchamp Papers is available through the FSU Digital Library

Dates

  • created: 1950, 1955, 2001-2006, 2015, 2018
  • Creation: Majority of material found within 2001 - 2006

Conditions Governing Access

Except where otherwise noted, this collection is open to all researchers.

Access to video content in Box 1-3 is restricted by donor agreement. Please contact Special Collections & Archives staff for more information on access to these materials. https://www.lib.fsu.edu/specialcollections/

Users may access this collection at the Claude Pepper Library.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyrights in works by Keith Beauchamp in this collection are held by Florida State University. For permission to re-use content beyond Fair Use, contact Special Collections & Archives staff at lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu.

Copyright restrictions may apply to other works in this collection. Re-use or copying beyond Fair Use may require permission from rights-holders. Please contact lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu for more information.

Biographical Note

Keith A. Beauchamp is an African American filmmaker and lecturer. He is known for his creative work and activism regarding African American civil rights, and especially for work related to the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till.

Beauchamp was born in 1972 near Augusta, Georgia, and grew up in Louisiana. He studied Criminal Justice at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1999, Beauchamp founded Till Freedom Come Productions and began traveling among New York City, Chicago, and locations in Mississippi, investigating the murder of Emmett Till. On May 10th, 2004, the United States Department of Justice re-opened the Emmett Till murder case, citing Beauchamp’s documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till as a factor in their decision and the starting point for their investigation.

In 2007, Beauchamp begin his collaboration with the FBI’s Civil Rights Cold Case Initiative, producing documentaries on unsolved civil rights murders. Other works by Till Freedom Come Productions include Wanted Justice: Johnnie Mae Chappell (2009); If I Die Tonight (2009); and the BET Her series Exceptional Black Women (2019). Beauchamp also served as executive producer and host of Investigation Discovery’s crime reality series The Injustice Files (2011-2014), and screenwriter and producer of the feature film Till (2022).

Sources

Jackson, Angelique. “Whoopi Goldberg, Danielle Deadwyler to Star in Movie About Emmett Till’s Mother Directed by Chinonye Chukwu.” Variety online. July 23, 2021. https://variety.com/2021/film/news/whoopi-goldberg-emmett-till-movie-danielle-deadwyler-1235026380/

Till Freedom Come Productions. “Production Portfolio,” accessed November 22, 2021. https://www.tillfreedomcome.com/

Authors: Rory Grennan and Haley McGuyre

Extent

4 Linear Feet

175 Gigabytes

Language of Materials

English

Technical Access Requirements

Content on videocassette is not immediately available for use in Special Collections & Archives reading rooms. Please contact staff at (850) 644-3271 or lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu for more information about viewing and using audiovisual recordings from archival collections.

Source of Acquisition

Keith A. Beauchamp (creator)

Method of Acquisition

Donation. Deed of Gift executed October 2015. Acquired on February 24, 2017. Additional materials donated in February 2018.

Related Resources

Keith Beauchamp (director). (2005). The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till [motion picture]. USA: Velocity/Thinkfilm. https://youtu.be/bvijYSJtkQk

Emmett Till Project. "Conversations." http://www.emmetttillproject.com/conversations

Title
Keith Beauchamp Papers
Author
Rory Grennan and Haley McGuyre
Date
03/00/2017
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Repository

Contact:
116 Honors Way
PO Box 3062047
Tallahassee FL 32306-2047 US
850-644-3271