The Beach-Thomas family originated in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Beatrice Beach, born in 1889 to James and Caroline Nurse, immigrated to New York City in 1924. She had one sister, Catherine, and a brother Randolph Thomas through her mother. Beatrice's husband, Edward, was a former Corporal in the Trinidad Police Force who became a seafarer in the years immediately before his family emigrated to New York. Eric Thomas, Beatrice's nephew, also immigrated to New York in 1924 and was raised by his aunt and uncle. Later, he served in the United States military during World War II. Except for a trip to Trinidad in the 1950s, Beatrice Beach remained in New York where she died in October 1982.
From the guide to the Beach-Thomas family papers, 1888-1973, 1924-1945, (The New York Public Library. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division.)
