Finding aid to the Larry Beggs Papers on Huckleberry House, 1967-2009 (bulk 1967-1969) SFH 49

Finding aid compiled by Wendy Kramer. Finding aid updated by Katherine Ets-Hokin 2019.
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
2011
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
sfhistory@sfpl.org


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Title: Larry Beggs Papers on Huckleberry House
creator: Beggs, Larry (Edward Larry)
Identifier/Call Number: SFH 49
Identifier/Call Number: 11
Physical Description: 5 Cubic Feet 3 boxes, 2 flat boxes, 1 box of audiorecordings, 4 folders of photographs, 1 flat file
Date (inclusive): 1965-2009
Date (bulk): 1967-1969
Abstract: The collection consists of correspondence and other personal papers, clippings, ephemera, reports, publications, audiorecordings, posters, and photographs of and about Huckleberry's for Runaways, later known as Huckleberry House, the nation's first runaway shelter for adolescents ages 12-18, founded and co-directed by Reverend Larry Beggs in 1967. The collection documents Beggs' role as counselor, administrator, author, public speaker and youth advocate from an era before the term "youth advocate" was coined; and the response from teens, parents, service providers, and the press to Beggs, his work, and to Huckleberry's. To a lesser extent, it documents the evolution of Huckleberry's as an organization, from a first-of-its-kind runaway project to the multiservice youth agency of today. It also gives a good snapshot of the social mileu of the late 1960s as it relates to middle-class youth and to hippie culture.
Physical Location: The collection is stored onsite.

Access

The collection is open for research, with photographs available during Photo Desk hours. Please call the San Francisco History Center for hours and information at 415-557-4567.

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Larry Beggs Papers on Huckleberry House (SFH 49), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.

Provenance

Gift of Edward Larry Beggs, 2009

Related Materials

Researchers are encouraged to see also Huckleberry's for Runaways by Larry Beggs, in the San Francisco History Center's book collection.

Historical

Huckleberry's for Runaways was founded and co-directed by Reverend Larry Beggs in 1967 as the nation's first community-based runaway shelter for adolescents aged 12-18. Begun as a three-month project sponsored by the Regional Young Adult Project, a church-based coordinating group that included the Glide Foundation, and funded by the San Francisco Foundation, the shelter was opened in anticipation of the large number of young people from across the nation expected to arrive in San Francisco for the Summer of Love. Located in a Victorian house at 1 Broderick Street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, the shelter was named after Mark Twain's fictional runaway character, Huckleberry Finn.
When Beggs-- whose full name is Edward Larry Beggs--became co-director with Barbara Brachman, he was a young Congregational minister with experience in family therapy and a firm commitment to the autonomy and decision-making capabilities of teenagers. In February 1969, with the publication of his book, Huckleberry's for Runaways, and his subsequent book tour and media appearances, he became a national spokesperson and consultant for Huckleberry's and runaway youth issues. When he left the organization in July 1970, his title was Executive Director, and Huckleberry's was well under way in its evolution from a crisis shelter into a multiservice youth organization under the umbrella name Youth Advocates, Inc.
When Huckleberry's began, it was illegal to harbor a minor without parental consent, and it was also illegal for a minor to run away. Runaway youth routinely were arrested and taken to Juvenile Hall. Huckleberry's was a community-based alternative to the criminal justice system that didn't fit within then-current legal and bureaucratic structures. Although Huckleberry's had a policy of requiring parental permission for a young person to stay overnight, there was a police raid on Oct. 20, 1967 in which the staff and youth of Huckleberry's were arrested. The community response to the incident included legal representation by Assemblyman Willie Brown, who later introduced state legislation to allow emergency youth facilities to offer short-term stays for minors in crisis. Beggs' 1969 book, together with his media appearances, publicized and provoked a national discussion on the issue of runaway youth, resulting in the passage of the National Runaway Act in 1974, which decriminalized teen runaways and funded Huckleberry's and other runaway shelters for which Huckleberry's had served as a model.
In 1969, after struggling to maintain funding and find a stable address, Huckleberry's incorporated as Youth Advocates, Inc., and applied for and received funding from the San Francisco and Rosenberg Foundations. The shelter's name was changed to "Huckleberry House," and it became a resource center, offering expanded residential and drop-in services in additon to the crisis shelter. Its clientele was also shifting towards local, rather than mostly out-of-town, youth. In the 1970s, the organization expanded its scope and its funding sources even further and evolved into what the 1973 annual report refers to as a "service system." In 1972, it began contracting with the City and shifted to a fee-for-service model. With this model, it began to formalize and professionalize its implementation of comprehensive services for teenagers and their families, including advocacy counseling, psychological services, as well as medical, legal, educational, and referral services. It also expanded its residences to include short and long-term group homes at other locations in the city, as well as a shelter in Marin County called 9 Grove Lane. In the 1980s, a house at 1292 Page Street, also in the Haight, was purchased as the site for Huckleberry House, which had remained the hub of the agency. This address is the site of Huckleberry House today. In 1998, Youth Advocates, Inc. changed its name to Huckleberry Youth Programs, the organization's current name.

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of correspondence and other personal papers, clippings, ephemera, reports, publications, audiorecordings, posters, and photographs of and about Huckleberry's for Runaways, later known as Huckleberry House, the nation's first runaway shelter for adolescents ages 12-18, founded and co-directed by Reverend Larry Beggs in 1967. The collection documents Beggs' role as counselor, administrator, author, public speaker and youth advocate from an era before the term "youth advocate" was coined; and the response from teens, parents, service providers, and the press to Beggs, his work, and to Huckleberry's. To a lesser extent, it documents the evolution of Huckleberry's as an organization, from a first-of-its-kind runaway project to the multiservice youth agency of today. It also gives a good snapshot of the social mileu of the late 1960s as it relates to middle-class youth and to hippie culture.
Most of the personal papers consist of letters to Beggs from teenagers, young adults, and parents asking for help and advice, writing to Beggs or Huckleberry's before or after visiting, or responding to Beggs' 1969 book, Huckleberry's for Runaways, and/or his television appearances. Beggs' responses are often included as notes written on the letters or as typed copies. There is also a folder of correspondence related to Beggs' speaking engagements. Other personal papers include materials related to the publication and promotion of Beggs' book, including materials for a revision planned for the late 1990s that was never published; together with a folder of correspondence and rough planning notes on Huckleberry's 20th and 25th anniversary reunions, a handful of unpublished articles and bibliographies, and some autobiographical notes.
The small amount of organizational records consists of miscellaneous files, ephemera, and reports of Huckleberry's for Runaways, Huckleberry House, and umbrella and offshoot organizations Huckleberry Youth Programs, Nine Grove Lane, and Youth Advocates, Inc. covering the 1960s-2000s.
Clippings are mostly from San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, about runaway youth, Huckleberry House, and the program counterpart at 9 Grove Lane in San Anselmo, Marin County. There is one folder of clippings of book reviews of Huckleberry's for Runaways and one containing clippings and related material on the police raid of Huckleberry's on Oct. 20, 1967.
Publications--primarily covering 1967-1969--consist mostly of popular magazines, a newsletter, a pamphlet, and an art exhibit guide about runaways and youth culture, some of which feature Huckleberry House specifically. Also included is the 1968 mass market paperback book We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against by Nicholas on Hoffman about "the hippie scene." There is also a 1967 issue of Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development titled Suburban Runaways of the 1960s, annotated by Beggs, whose research "guided the policy formulations of Huckleberry's for Runaways." (per Beggs' notes)
The collection includes a small amount of photographic material, including prints and contact sheets by photographers John Gorman and Bob Fitch, of Beggs and other staff and clients at Huckelberry's, taken for the book and published articles. Additionally, there are a few snapshots that were enclosed with correspondence or photos collaged as part of posters or other assembled files.
Posters are mostly homemade collages containing photos, letters, and clippings of the house, the clients, and Beggs, along with two commercially-printed posters.
Audiorecordings consist of five reel-to-reel tapes of various sizes and in DVD-RW format), 1967-1969, containing client interviews, media interviews with Beggs, interviews with people on the street, family sessions, Beggs' appearance on the Mike Douglas show in March 1969, and a news conference on the police raid of Oct. 20, 1967.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in seven series: Series 1: Correspondence and Personal Papers; Series 2: Organizational Files; Series 3: Clippings; Series 4: Publications; Series 5: Posters; Series 6: Audiorecordings; and Series 7: Photographs.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Social work with youth -- California -- San Francisco.
Runaway teenagers -- California -- San Francisco.
Youth Advocates, Inc
Huckleberry House, Inc
Huckleberry's for Runaways
Huckleberry Youth Programs

 

Correspondence and personal papers Series 138509 1967-1997 1969-1973

Physical Description: 11 folders
box 1, folder 1

Correspondence 38511 1967-1968

box 1, folder 2-3

Correspondence 38512 1969

box 1, folder 4

Correspondence 38513 1970-1997

box 1, folder 5

Correspondence for speaking engagements 38515 1967-1973

box 2, folder 1

Huckleberry's for Runaways book promotion tour 38578 1969

box 2, folder 2

Huckleberry's for Runaways book memorabilia 38580 1967-1980

box-folder 2, folder 3

Huckleberry's for Runaways book revision materials 38579 1997

box 2, folder 4

Huckleberry 20th and 25th anniversary reunions 38550 1987 and 1992

box 2, folder 5

Unpublished articles, drafts, and bibliography 38556 [1997]-2008

box 2, folder 6

Autobiographical notes and typescript obituary 38549 1997, 2009

 

Organizational files Series 238747 1967-1997

Physical Description: 4 folders

Scope and Contents

The Huckleberry House Community Resources Coordinator files in this series consist of a combination of original and photocopied documents, apparently compiled by Lou Ann Needels, Community Resources Coordinator at Huckleberry House in the 1980s. They include a report on the peer counseling program that Needels created, together with letters from youth to Huckleberry House, program fliers, a student report and depositioin of Jesse Byrd.
box 2, folder 7

Huckleberry House peer counseling journals [photocopies] 38544 1980

box 2, folder 8

Huckleberry House Community Resources Coordinator files 38543 1981-1983

box 2, folder 9

Huckleberry House, Youth Advocates, Inc., and Huckleberry Youth Programs Reports 38523 1970-1997

box 2, folder 10

Ephemera 38546 1967-1995

box 2, folder 18

Deposition of Jesse Byrd: Racial Discrimination in the Treatment of Minorities in SFPD Circa 1977

box 6, folder 7

Annual Reports 2013-2015

box 6, folder 6

The Haight Ashbury: an Overview of Resources and Activities 1967

 

Clippings Series 338516 1967-2005 1967-1969

Physical Description: 5 folders
box 2, folder 11

Raid on Huckleberry's 38522 1967

General

Includes a letter to Reverend Beggs and a photocopy of a proposal and budget for Huckleberry's, both of which were filed with these clippings when the collection was received.
box 2, folder 12

Huckleberry's for Runaways book reviews 38517 1969

box 2, folder 13

Huckleberry clippings 38518 1967-2005

box 2, folder 14

Chronicle series "Nobody's Child" 38520 1998

box 2, folder 15

General clippings 38751 1967-1982

 

Publications Series 438748 1965-1995

Physical Description: 2 folders, 1 flat box
box 2, folder 16

Publications featuring Huckleberry's 38750 1967-1968

box-folder 2, folder 17, box 3

Background research publications 38749 1965-1995 1965-1968

box 6, folder 2-4

Articles about Huckleberry House 1967-1997

box 6, folder 1

From Huckleberry's for Runaways and Youth Advocates: Our Report 1973

box 6, folder 5

We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against by Nicholas Von Hoffman 1968

 

Posters Series 538554 1967-1997 1968-1969

Physical Description: 1 flat box, 1 flat file
box 4, folder 1

Photo collage posters 38754 1967-1969

box 4, folder 2

Newsclipping posters 38753 1968

box 4, folder 3

Printed posters 38755 [ca. 1968-1969] and 1997

drawer 1, folder OV 1

Oversize posters 38752 1969-1987

box 5

Audiorecordings Series 638553 1967-1969

Physical Description: 5 reels in 1 box

Digitized copies

Digitized copies of original taped audiorecordings are filed with the collection, in DVD-RW format.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Five reel-to-reel magnetic audiotapes. Reels 1 and 2 are 7-inch; Reels 3-5 are 5-inch; and Reel 5 is 3 1/4-in.

Scope and Contents

Client interviews, media interviews with Beggs, interviews with people on the street, family sessions, Beggs' appearance on the Mike Douglas show in March 1969, and a news conference on the police raid of Oct. 20, 1967.
disk 1-2, reel 1

Family Session and News Conference (not available) 38757 October 6 and 23, 1967

disk 3-6, reel 2

Client interviews at Huckleberry House (not available) 38758 Nov. 15-16, 1967

reel 3, disk 7

Media interviews with Beggs at Huckleberry's and street interviews on Haight Street 38759 undated

reel 4, disk 8-9

Phone call between Beggs and SFPD Missing Persons Bureau officer McKevitt; and interview with runaway client, Greg (not availale) 38760 undated

reel 5, disk 10

Beggs on the Mike Douglas Show 38756 Spring 1969

 

Photographs Series 738555 1967-1987 1967-1968

Physical Description: 4 folders

General

The folder labeled "Bob Fitch's contact sheets on Huckleberry House 1967" is labeled according to Beggs' original folder label; however, the pages themselves are later, undated reproductions (laser printed or color photocopied).
folder SF Photo 1

"Bob Fitch's contact sheets on Huckleberry House 1967" 38581 undated

folder SF Photo 2

John Gorman photographs 38584 1967

folder SF Photo 3

38583 1967-1968

folder SF Photo 4

Photographs separated from other series 38577