Founded in 1854, Beacon Press is an independent publisher of fiction and non-fiction works. The current publishing emphasis is on African-American studies, anthropology, essays, gender studies, education, children and family issues, nature and the environment, religion, science and society, and women's studies. Well-known works published by Beacon Press include James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son and, in 1971, the first book form of The Pentagon Papers. Beacon Press is an associate member of the Association of American University Presses and a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association.