The papers document various aspects of the lives of brothers David Nelson Beach and Harlan Page Beach, including their student days at Yale (1868-1878), Harlan's work in North China (1883-1890), and David's work as a clergyman and with the Anti-Saloon League while in Cambridge, Minneapolis and Denver. David Nelson Beach, 1848-1926, was a prominent Congregational clergyman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Denver, Colorado and was active in temperance reform. He was president of Bangor Theological Seminary from 1903-1921. Harlan Page Beach, 1854-1933, was a missionary to China under the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) from 1883-1890. He was professor of missions at Yale Divinity School from 1905-1921 and librarian of Yale's Day Missions Library from 1911-1925.