[asholi88]

I have a house that was build in the late 30's and am working on finishing the basement. There is a wall that is directly beneath the wooden support beam and I want to add a large (6'-8') door to access the bedrooms. There is currently one small door in this wall. The beam and the wall run perpendicular to the joists, which lead me to believe it may be load bearing. If it is, is creating a door way like this even possible and if so, what options do I have (if needed) to support the house?

[joypulv]

It surely sounds like a bearing wall.
Any bearing wall can be taken out IF a big/strong enough beam replaces it, along with enough support at the ends to accept the load (several 2 x 4s as posts, (and sometimes even footings in the basement floor to carry the load further, such as in a large multi-story house). If it's a low beam already you can see about using a steel beam.
You need to know the load of everything above the beam to be replaced, from the roof down and from the joists out. You can ask your building inspector or hire an engineer to calculate it (and the inspector might even require an engineer). If you feel you know a contractor with solid knowledge of loads you can ask him.
Not to mention jacks to hold everything up while it's done.

[ma0641]

Is the wall separate from the beam or does the beam get spported by the wall? Are there any steel posts supporting the beam or just the wall? If it is indeed a bearing wall, and it seems so, you will need to support the beam by cribbing the joists on either side of the wall, determine the header size, I'd use a 2X12, and then install the header supported by 2X4's. 6-8 ft. is easily supported by 2X12's sandwiched with 1/2 ply. If you determine the wall is non load bearing, just cut the studs out but I would still add a header, maybe 2X6's.