[3] As part of her introduction in her diary, Beaman described herself as a tall, slim woman with an eighteen inch waist, with pale skin, long dark hair, and blue-gray eyes.
Beaman knew that this request was out of the ordinary for women,[3] but he assigned her husband a two-year position as an assistant special agent for the Treasury Department.
[6] President Hayes had explained to Beaman that the supervision of seal pelts was important as it provided a substantial income for the United States government.
[7] Unknown as to why, Beaman's nature sketches and paintings are not all accessible to the public, yet her detailed botanical and zoological work described by her husband and included in her journal attest to her ability to connect with and capture the arctic wilderness.
[6] At the time, it was quite unusual for a woman to travel with her husband to a remote island, but Beaman's skills in art, nursing, and mapmaking justified her presence.
[8] Beaman's experience on the islands gave women, such as Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Josephine Diebitsch Peary, the opportunity to write a new narrative for themselves in which their personal work could help establish themselves as contributors to unknown and unmarked regions.
Shortly after the birth of their son, the Beaman's moved to Jefferson City, Missouri, until her husband, John, resigned as an engineer and returned to Washington, D.C., in 1895.