26 March 2010

Beauford died 31 years ago today. His funeral was held at the American Church on April 6, 1979, and his body was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Division 86 at Thiais Cemetery, just south of Paris.

American Church in Paris

© Discover Paris!

For those who are visiting the blog for the first time, note that the primary mission of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney is to place a permanent market at Beauford’s grave. As president of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, I heartily thank everyone who has contributed to the $2825 that we have in the gravesite fund thus far!

We have not raised the entire amount of money required to proceed with the creation and installation of his tombstone by as of yet, but we remain confident that we can do so. We need an additional $5675 to reach our target of $8500.

 Division 86 at Thiais Cemetery

© Discover Paris!

We are making good progress with our goals of commemorating Beauford and informing the press and the media of his life and accomplishments. As indicated in the posting of 16 February, I presented “Beauford Delaney: From Paris to Beyond” at the U.S. Embassy Black History Month Festival and at Patricia Laplante Collins’ Paris Soirées during the month of February. Articles about Beauford have been published on the American Center France Web site (in English and French), in the Artist Features section of the online Collector Magazine published by the George R. N’Namdi Gallery, and in the South Florida Times newspaper.  Beauford’s hometown newspaper, the Knoxville News Sentinel, published a notice informing the citizens of Knoxville that our organization exists and that we are accepting donations for the gravesite project. More Web publications are to come within the next several weeks.

Our biggest news to date is that we have received a wonderful letter of support from the Honorable Charles H. Rivkin, U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco! I will provide details about the letter in a future posting.

I look forward to bringing you more postings about Beauford, and to including as much information as possible from people who knew him personally. Please forward our URL to anyone who you believe would be interested in learning about him by following the blog and / or anyone who would be willing to contribute to our cause.

Thanks for your support!
Monique Y. Wells
President, Les Amis de Beauford Delaney