Preserving the Legacy of the Beats in San Francisco
Our long-term vision for 580 Green includes an additional two floors, an expanded Beat Museum, a cafe, and a Beat Hotel. (Concept drawing by Michael Palumbo)
580 Green Street as it stands today
San Francisco has always been a city of dreams; a beacon for those eager to pursue new ideas and explore new ways of living. If the American West has always symbolized the frontier, a land of opportunity, then San Francisco is the furthest point West one can go.
Since its beginnings, San Francisco has attracted people yearning to reinvent themselves, to pursue their dreams, to create and inspire. All the world is represented here; people from places near and far, sharing with one another a vast array of languages and customs, stories, interests, food, music, and arts. People come here with what they have, to be who they are, or who they’re striving to be. We don’t just tolerate diversity here—we celebrate it—and that’s what makes San Francisco one of the greatest cities in the world.
It’s what brought the Beat Generation here. Amidst the stifling social climate of the 1950s—demanding conformity, racial and economic segregation, and distrust of anything different—the Beat Generation reminded us who we are and what we believe in. The values of the Beat Generation are San Francisco values. We’re at our best when there’s room enough for everyone.
But the problem is that lately, as San Francisco changes dramatically, growing more and more expensive, many of the people and places that give this city its richness and life are getting forced out, and the diversity we treasure is becoming homogenized. Some say that’s the inevitable price of “progress,” that if you aren’t making enough money to stay here, then you don’t belong here. We beg to differ. We believe there are many things that give San Francisco its unique character, and not only make this city an interesting and worthwhile place to live, but are in fact essential to our quality of life; and the value of these cultural institutions cannot be expressed in dollars alone. Certainly, change is a constant in any city, but this City’s soul, its sense of itself, is something absolutely worth preserving.
Michael Palumbo, a Beat Museum supporter with a background and education in Museum Design, put together the following concept sketches for a new, improved Beat Museum.
North Beach is one of San Francisco’s oldest and most iconic neighborhoods, and while a great many people and events contributed to its rich history across hundreds of years, it was the Beat Generation who established North Beach as their urban bohemia, and San Francisco’s reputation as a mecca for literature, art, and music, the avant-garde, the counterculture, and the progressive values that have influenced several generations.
When we opened the Beat Museum on Broadway in 2006, it was with the mission of preserving their history and influence. But more importantly than being a repository for the dusty relics of a not-so-distant past, our purpose is to keep the spirit of the Beats alive; to preserve not just their story, but what they believed in—because it’s what we believe in.
The following photos show the current interior and exterior of 580 Green Street
We’ve been extraordinarily lucky that in the ten years we’ve been here, we’ve received tremendous, enthusiastic support from the North Beach community, and for that we’re far beyond grateful. Also, at a time when so many of our friends and neighbors have faced eviction due to soaring rents, we’ve been fortunate to have an excellent relationship with our landlord. But the fact is, circumstances can change overnight. Buildings get sold, and new landlords can change everything.
Everyone in San Francisco knows at least a few people who have been priced out of their homes in recent years, and it’s happening to small businesses and arts organizations as well. Some museums and galleries have been placing their collections in storage in the hope for a better future. Some have totally closed down, and some have moved to other parts of the Bay Area.
The Beat Museum would be out of context anywhere but in North Beach; it wouldn’t make sense to move somewhere in the East or South Bay. The Beat Museum belongs in North Beach, and the consensus from everyone we’ve spoken with is that we need to stay in North Beach. But how do we ensure that the Beat Museum remains permanently in North Beach?
The answer is, we need to purchase our own building.
We’ve decided to do everything we can to ensure that the Beat Museum is here for the long haul. We believe that protecting the legacy of the Beats in San Francisco is best accomplished by controlling our own destiny—by owning our own building—one that provides flexibility, growth, and stability. The preservation of the Beat spirit in North Beach deserves no less.
- It’s good for North Beach
- It’s good for San Francisco
- It’s good for Beat fans around the world
- Celebrate history where it happened
- Put a cultural institution on historic Green Street
- 580 Green is a commercial building, so there’s no risk of displacing tenants
- Create a literary meeting place in the heart of the neighborhood
- A bigger, better venue for events
- A gathering spot for locals and visitors alike
- A Beat Cafe
- A Beat Hotel
Contribute to our Building Fund Donate
Coming next week:
The big pitch for soliciting funds. What exactly are we going to need to actually make this happen!
August 27, 2016 @ 11:14 am
Need more info on the proposed Green St. bldg….it’s not the museum now,but what? Who was Architect and when built?
So any questions.
August 14, 2016 @ 2:38 pm
I first visited the Beat Museum in the summer of 2010. I was so enthralled that I spent about two hours there looking at all the exhibits, reading everything, watching the film and just generally soaking in its sense of place and its relation to North Beach and San Francisco.
When I got back home to Connecticut I began to read lots of Kerouac books as well as some Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Neal Cassady, William S. Burroughs, et al. My first visit to the Beat Museum had a profound impact on my literary interests.
When I visited the museum for the second time in 2012 I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry Cimino if only for a brief moment. He is both a personable and professional gentleman who is very dedicated to preserving the culture and history of the Beat Generation.
August 11, 2016 @ 8:48 am
Coming from Rhode Island to visit, the Beat Museum was up there with Big Sur as highlights of my first trip to San Francisco. I hope it continues to be a fixture for travelers to San Francisco.
July 25, 2016 @ 11:49 am
By chance I came across a copy of ‘On The Road’ and found it a life changing read. It opened up a new world, giving me the courage to think differently and screamed messages of tolerance, that everybody has a right to be here on earth and we should value the moment.
In today’s world, with large inequality, daily tragedy on the news and countries in the throws of large corporations the values of the Beats and the counter culture they led are all the more relevant in helping humankind believe there is another way.
As someone born decades after Kerouac et al dashed across the roads of the US and living in the UK , I am far removed from the San Francisco scene. Yet, the Beat museum (on both my visits) has done an excellent job of keeping the spirit of the Beats alive. I really hope that the Beat museum finds enough money so it can continue to be not only an important cultural record but an inspiration to young and old from around the world.
July 25, 2016 @ 11:12 am
It is said Carl Jung didn’t know by which myth he was living, so he made it his urgent task to find out. Many of us never even ask this question. I didn’t get to the Beats until much later in life than most. However, I always had a tacit understanding that I was traveling along a road which brought me to San Francisco in the 1990s. This road is our personal mythology, the vibrant infrastructure that informs our life whether we are aware of it or not. When encountering the Beats I became aware of my personal collective origins. In the United States we can trace this origin back to at least the transcendentalist of Emerson and Thoreau; As such, when something resonates so deeply you set out on pilgrimages to encounter these sacred places. Of course San Francisco’s North Beach takes on the same significance to me as does Walden Pond in Concord, MA. Fortunately for us, the Beat Museum is here to keep alive this very American spiritual history of overcoming conformity and the sense of inadequateness and the drive to get away to solitude. Reading the Beats highlights our personal grail quest, the treasure hunt for the Beat Code where we find Neal Cassady as the American Jesus Zen man, Carolyn Cassidy as Mary Magdalene, the disciples of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Huncke, Kesey, Burroughs and Corso and the many other descendants. To my knowledge no other place embodies and displays this story like the Beat Museum. That is why it is necessary to keep the museum alive and in North Beach. So many of our personal landmarks and institutions where we have discovered ourselves have already disappeared in San Francisco. Let’s preserve the legacy of the Beats in San Francisco.
Furtively yours,
Philip E. Thomas
July 24, 2016 @ 8:20 am
Thanks for presenting this plan and moving forward. I am with you.
July 23, 2016 @ 11:56 am
I was probably about 12years old and I discovered a book at the local library called “The Holy Barbarians”. Read about 3 chapters of it before my mother leafed through it and immediately confiscated it. That only got my curiosity going about the Beats. And then , of course, there was the Maynard G. Krebs character on the Dobie Gillis show (I always thank Maynard for his references to Thelonious Monk). It all started around then for me…..the idea that you didn’t have to be like all those gray-suited businessmen on TV or their domesticated wives. It’s really important to keep the idea of the Beats alive for new generations.
July 22, 2016 @ 11:46 am
Yes to this! North Beach needs more authentic, community experiences and less generic tourist drivel. North Beach is historically a neighborhood of immigrants, artists and poets. However the artists, poets and musicians are being forced out. There are not many venues that celebrate our literary community or allow a space for voices to be heard. Do we really need more bars, rent-a-bike places? No. We need a place where creative people can gather and not only celebrate the wild, literary history of our town, but also foster new energy, new voices and build on the bright, alternative spirit that the Beats were all about. New Energy! Positive Energy! New ways of seeing and celebrating the world! A place to foster creative friendships.
July 22, 2016 @ 8:03 am
Best wishes on your venture.
During the “Beat” era, I was a middle and high school student. I was raised in the rigid conformity of a middle class suburb. I went to the book department of a local department store. I browsed, actually read, the works of Jack Kerouac, Alan Watts, Alan Ginsberg, and other San Francisco influenced writers. I learned about the commune and sexual freedom experimental lifestyles. Especially important for my later mini-celebrityhood as a Body Freedom activist/writer, I learned about the nude beaches of Northern California and styles of natural living.
The Beat movement in San Francisco incubated a lot of the later Hippie movement, the rock music scene, LGBTQ movement, sexual freedom and equality, and free expression.
Even though, the Beat Museum is kind of like building a St. Peters Basilica to an art movement. Go for it. The Beat message is still far from totally widespread.
Naturally, George Davis
July 22, 2016 @ 6:51 am
Please fund the new building! Folks I ma 51 and discovered the Beats when I was a teen. Just like millions of others, I too was inspired to hit the road and join the Rucksack generation. With a sad Tristessa heart and a Subterranean soul I have maneuvered through my life with a Beat backbeat running through my blood stream. I visited North Beach, and wished this place was there as I haunted ole Jack’s haunts. Blare the Beat for this great institution: The Beat Museum.
July 22, 2016 @ 4:05 am
Working as an in-house attorney for a San-Francisco based IT-company and living in The Netherlands, I regularly come to San Francisco. It’s a beautiful city and what makes it beautiful other than the bay and the hills is the diversity of people that I see on the streets.
I believe San Francisco and Amsterdam both have a tradition of celebrating diversity and freedom of expression, where artists and creative people typically feel at home. When in San Francisco, like many others, I want to learn about the people that helped to create the atmosphere and the culture of the place. I was very fortunate to bump into the Beats Museum during a recent visit.
It seems to me, over the last couple of years, San Francisco has fallen prey to a widening divide between rich and poor and that moneyed interests (real estate agents, construction companies, developers) who contribute little of cultural interest, are on the winning hand. There are more dining opportunities for rich people but immaterial things, the good vibes on the street, that make the city so attractive seem to be in shorter supply nowadays. Greater numbers of homeless people roam all over the place. They have no qualms about camping out in front of expensive restaurants and cocktail bars and in doing so they act as a bitter reminder of the divide. Partly due to this divide San Francisco is at risk of losing its attractiveness as a place to visit.
Unconventional thinking is required. The first step to turn the tide is to have places like the Beats Museum positioned into more prominence. This is about protecting the heart and soul of San Francisco. Ultimately the benefits will accrue to everybody. While individual contributions are fine, if it comes to survival of the Museum, I believe that $1M must be coughed up by the City. They are responsible for protecting cultural landmarks from being destroyed and thus preserving the attractiveness of the city to all.
July 22, 2016 @ 3:03 am
Writing from London where I first saw Allen Ginsberg read from his Collected Works in the 80s. Later in New York saw him read many times along with Gregory Corso , Anne Waldman and more. Had the privilege of meeting and talking with Caroline Cassady in London. They were among us then, they are among us now. So happy to see the plans for the museum which is and should be a cornerstone in Beat History and a place to pay homage and learn. Wishing you every success and will donate to support. It feels like family.
July 14, 2016 @ 1:38 pm
I could donate a small amount to preserve this culture in such a fantastic location. I was able to visit the Beat Museum in April, 2016 and it was a life memory, and I felt the vibes even then, so many years after the actual occupation of the beats. I lived close to Lawrence, Kansas for many years and was always interested and fascinated by William Burroughs and his activities in Lawrence…he was loved. Please keep me posted of the plans. Best regards, TK. ??????
July 13, 2016 @ 2:54 pm
There are no better words to express such an important message. I can tell you that the Austin area has had the same such issues regarding higher paying customers vs. the artistic community which created the very attraction they were all clambering for. Very frustrating, but the Beats are still very much alive and well (altho some are second and third generation), and we can definitely show those folks how we take a stand! Standing up for the little guy against The Man? Hell yeah! We got this!