Bill Beeny
Encyclopedia
Bill Beeny is a Baptist
minister and self-declared segregationist who led right-wing organizations in St. Louis, Missouri
, during the 1960s. More recently he has worked to popularize his theory that the American singer Elvis Presley
is still living.
, the hometown of the woman he married at age eighteen. Beeny battled recurrent tuberculosis
as a young man; during one painful recuperation, as he later explained, he "got disgusted with my life and was converted to the Christian faith." He was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention
in 1947, and during the 1950s he attended Shurtleff College
in Alton, Illinois
and the American Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois.
, urging the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate his allegations of communist
"infiltration" among university faculty – especially those who had signed a nuclear-test-ban petition organized by California
chemist and Nobel laureate Linus Pauling
. He also participated in national petition drives urging the Committee to investigate the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
and the Black Panthers.
Beeny's political and religious radio broadcasts, which began with one station in Alton, Illinois
, were eventually heard on dozens of stations across the country. At the same time, the minister operated an "anti-communist" youth ranch in Wright City, Missouri
; the ranch, according to Beeny's claim, drew upwards of 1,500 campers per summer during the early 1960s. Beeny faced constant legal problems over questionable financial practices at his Missouri Youth Ranch and his Denver-area radio station "The Voice of Reason." In 1960, accusations of marital infidelity forced Beeny from his position as pastor of the New Testament Baptist Church, which he had founded in a St. Louis storefront five years earlier. Lawsuits over an allegedly fraudulent bond issue to finance his ranch and broadcasting operations soon followed. After his resignation, Beeny took up the pastorship of the St. Louis Baptist Temple, a position he would hold until 1969.
Beeny organized Missouri rallies in support of the Vietnam War
through the 1960s. In 1966, the minister formed the Counter-Revolutionary Organization on Salvation and Service
(CROSS), with chapters in Miami, Florida
and St. Louis. Working out of Beeny's Baptist church at 4249 Gibson Avenue, CROSS's St. Louis chapter organized several controversial "home-defense" seminars. The meetings were intended to instruct members in fire-arms and survivalist tactics in order to fend off what Beeny called "those so-called civil-rights groups now reported to be stocking weapons" in preparation for a revolutionary uprising.
Running for Missouri
Lieutenant-Governor as a Democrat
in 1968 – one of his many unsuccessful bids for state and local office – Beeny endorsed the presidential campaign of the then-segregationist Alabama
Governor George C. Wallace. Beeny's own campaign platform, as outlined in his newsletter The Herald of Missouri, urged "states' rights
," opposed open-housing legislation and bussing for school integration, and advocated a "tough-on-crime" policy that would include ordering police to "shoot to kill" in response to civil disorders.
Beeny also recorded gospel music and played it with a father/daughter duo, Ora and Gwen Gaulden of St. Louis, Missouri.
, in 1969 after a fire at his St. Louis church. There, he operated a general store and more recently has sought to popularize his theory that the American singer Elvis Presley
, who died in 1977, is still living. Beeny was owner of The 50's Cafe, which was packed with 1950s memorabilia focusing mainly on Presley and Marilyn Monroe
. Beeny also founded the Elvis is Alive Museum in his Wright City store space in 1992, and, in 2005, he published his book Elvis' DNA Proves He's Alive. Beeny maintains a website dedicated to Presley and to his own museum at Elvis is Alive. Beeny has also resumed broadcasts of pre-recorded religious, political and Elvis Presley
-related content, this time via the internet at Mighty Stream Radio.
In October 2007, Bill Beeny placed the entire contents of his museum and his two websites on sale on eBay
, as one lot. The sale attracted attention from national news outlets such as the New York Times and National Public Radio. The sale ended November 8, with a winning bid of $8,300 placed by Andy Key of Hattiesburg, Mississippi
. Key reopened the museum in Hattiesburg, but in September 2008 Key was called up for National Guard duty and, unable to continue running the museum, he attempted to sell the collection on eBay. Failing to find a buyer, Key put it into storage. Meanwhile, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
, Beeny has turned the museum's former home into a mission center and food bank helping poor and hungry people. In April 2009, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Beeny's mission center had been burgled, with the perpetrator stealing the computer used to run Beeny's streaming online Christian radio station.
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister and self-declared segregationist who led right-wing organizations in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, during the 1960s. More recently he has worked to popularize his theory that the American singer Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
is still living.
Early years
Beeny, whose father died when he was nine years old, was one of five children. During his late teens and early twenties, he worked as a tavern porter and manager in Eldorado, IllinoisEldorado, Illinois
Eldorado is a city in Saline County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,122 at the 2010 census, with a 1925 peak of 8,000. Although the city's name is spelled as if it were Spanish, the name was originally "Elder-Reado" -- a combination of the last names of the town's two founders,...
, the hometown of the woman he married at age eighteen. Beeny battled recurrent tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
as a young man; during one painful recuperation, as he later explained, he "got disgusted with my life and was converted to the Christian faith." He was ordained by the Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
in 1947, and during the 1950s he attended Shurtleff College
Shurtleff College
Shurtleff College was founded 1827 in Alton, Illinois by Reverend John Mason Peck as Alton Seminary. It became Shurtleff College in 1836 honoring Dr. Brendon Shurtleff, of Boston, who donated $10,000 to the college. Andrew Carnegie in 1910 donated $15,000 for construction of a library...
in Alton, Illinois
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
and the American Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois.
Political and ministerial career
Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, Beeny based himself in St. Louis, where he was active in domestic anti-communist campaigns and led local and national efforts directed against civil-rights and student-movement leaders. In 1961, Beeny picketed Washington University in St. LouisWashington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
, urging the U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities to investigate his allegations of communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
"infiltration" among university faculty – especially those who had signed a nuclear-test-ban petition organized by California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
chemist and Nobel laureate Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century...
. He also participated in national petition drives urging the Committee to investigate the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
and the Black Panthers.
Beeny's political and religious radio broadcasts, which began with one station in Alton, Illinois
Alton, Illinois
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...
, were eventually heard on dozens of stations across the country. At the same time, the minister operated an "anti-communist" youth ranch in Wright City, Missouri
Wright City, Missouri
Wright City is a city in Warren County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Interstate 70 at mile marker 200 approximately west of downtown St. Louis. Wright City is a small, semi-rural community area with primarily single-family housing, with some multi-family dwellings. As of 2005, the...
; the ranch, according to Beeny's claim, drew upwards of 1,500 campers per summer during the early 1960s. Beeny faced constant legal problems over questionable financial practices at his Missouri Youth Ranch and his Denver-area radio station "The Voice of Reason." In 1960, accusations of marital infidelity forced Beeny from his position as pastor of the New Testament Baptist Church, which he had founded in a St. Louis storefront five years earlier. Lawsuits over an allegedly fraudulent bond issue to finance his ranch and broadcasting operations soon followed. After his resignation, Beeny took up the pastorship of the St. Louis Baptist Temple, a position he would hold until 1969.
Beeny organized Missouri rallies in support of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
through the 1960s. In 1966, the minister formed the Counter-Revolutionary Organization on Salvation and Service
Counter-Revolutionary Organization on Salvation and Service
The Counter-Revolutionary Organization on Salvation and Service was a short-lived white-supremacist group. It was founded by the right-wing evangelist Bill Beeny in St. Louis, Missouri during the mid-1960s, and operated out of Beeny's Saint Louis Baptist Temple...
(CROSS), with chapters in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
and St. Louis. Working out of Beeny's Baptist church at 4249 Gibson Avenue, CROSS's St. Louis chapter organized several controversial "home-defense" seminars. The meetings were intended to instruct members in fire-arms and survivalist tactics in order to fend off what Beeny called "those so-called civil-rights groups now reported to be stocking weapons" in preparation for a revolutionary uprising.
Running for Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
Lieutenant-Governor as a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in 1968 – one of his many unsuccessful bids for state and local office – Beeny endorsed the presidential campaign of the then-segregationist Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
Governor George C. Wallace. Beeny's own campaign platform, as outlined in his newsletter The Herald of Missouri, urged "states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
," opposed open-housing legislation and bussing for school integration, and advocated a "tough-on-crime" policy that would include ordering police to "shoot to kill" in response to civil disorders.
Beeny also recorded gospel music and played it with a father/daughter duo, Ora and Gwen Gaulden of St. Louis, Missouri.
Elvis Presley-related work
The minister relocated to Wright City, MissouriWright City, Missouri
Wright City is a city in Warren County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Interstate 70 at mile marker 200 approximately west of downtown St. Louis. Wright City is a small, semi-rural community area with primarily single-family housing, with some multi-family dwellings. As of 2005, the...
, in 1969 after a fire at his St. Louis church. There, he operated a general store and more recently has sought to popularize his theory that the American singer Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, who died in 1977, is still living. Beeny was owner of The 50's Cafe, which was packed with 1950s memorabilia focusing mainly on Presley and Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
. Beeny also founded the Elvis is Alive Museum in his Wright City store space in 1992, and, in 2005, he published his book Elvis' DNA Proves He's Alive. Beeny maintains a website dedicated to Presley and to his own museum at Elvis is Alive. Beeny has also resumed broadcasts of pre-recorded religious, political and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
-related content, this time via the internet at Mighty Stream Radio.
In October 2007, Bill Beeny placed the entire contents of his museum and his two websites on sale on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, as one lot. The sale attracted attention from national news outlets such as the New York Times and National Public Radio. The sale ended November 8, with a winning bid of $8,300 placed by Andy Key of Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Hattiesburg is a city in Forrest County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 44,779 at the 2000 census . It is the county seat of Forrest County...
. Key reopened the museum in Hattiesburg, but in September 2008 Key was called up for National Guard duty and, unable to continue running the museum, he attempted to sell the collection on eBay. Failing to find a buyer, Key put it into storage. Meanwhile, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
, Beeny has turned the museum's former home into a mission center and food bank helping poor and hungry people. In April 2009, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Beeny's mission center had been burgled, with the perpetrator stealing the computer used to run Beeny's streaming online Christian radio station.