The son of the artist James Henry Beard, Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard [1850-1941] was an American illustrator, author, youth leader and social reformer. He founded the Sons of Daniel Boone in 1905, which he later merged with the Boy Scouts of America. He wrote a series of articles for St. Nicholas magazine, which later became the basis of his book "The American Boy's Handy Book". A member of the Art Students League, he was a friend of Ernest Thompson Seton. As an artist, he illustrated several books for Mark Twain.
The Queens, New York Republican Congressman Seymour Halpern (1913-1997) started his political career as a campaign aide to New York's powerful mayor Fiorella La Guardia and first served in New York's State Senate for 14 years before seeking a seat in the U.S. Congress. In Albany Halpern sponsored 279 bills that became law, including measures on schools, housing, civil rights, nutrition and mental health. A Liberal, he was something of an anomaly as the lone Republican representative from New York City, and generally garnered support from Labor Unions and endorsement from the Liberal Party. Yet he never even considered switching parties as he considered membership in the Republican Party a family tradition and commitment. While he found ample time for his private pursuits, including painting and collecting autographs, he took his legislative duties very seriously. Of these, he was proudest of his co-sponsorship of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of the original 1965 Medicare legislation. Good .
Keywords: ILLUSTRATED; ILLUSTRATOR; TYPED LETTER SIGNED; AUTOGRAPH; DANIEL CARTER BEARD; AMERICAN SCOUTING; BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA; CHIEF; SIGNATURE; YOUTH LEADER; SOCIAL REFORMER; UNCLE DAN; SCOUT HALPERN; SONS OF DANIEL BOONE; THE DAN BEARD OUTDOOR SCHOOL; TWENTIE