Daniel Carter Beard
Encyclopedia
Daniel Carter "Uncle Dan" Beard (June 21, 1850 – June 11, 1941) was an American
illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone
in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America
(BSA).
into a family of artists. As a youth, he explored the woods and made sketches of nature. He lived at 322 East Third Street
in Covington, Kentucky
near the Licking River
, where he learned the stories of Kentucky
pioneer life.
He started an early career as an engineer and surveyor. He attended art school in New York City. He wrote a series of articles for St. Nicholas Magazine
that later formed the basis for the The American Boy's Handy Book
. He was a member of the Student Art League, where he met and befriended Ernest Thompson Seton
in 1883. He illustrated a number of books for Mark Twain
, and for other authors such as Ernest Crosby
.
Beard became the editor of Recreation magazine and wrote a monthly column for youth. He founded the Sons of Daniel Boone
in 1905, basing it on American frontier traditions. He later moved his column to Woman's Home Companion
. After conflicts with a new editor, he moved to the Pictorial Review
. Since Women's Home Companion retained the rights to the name, he simply renamed the organization to Boy Pioneers of America.
He merged his organization into the Boy Scouts of America
when it was founded in 1910. Beard became one of the first National Scout Commissioners of the Boy Scouts and served it for 30 years. He later became the editor of Boys' Life
magazine, the BSA official magazine, and wrote a monthly column for youth. The work of both Beard and Ernest Thompson Seton
are in large part the basis of the Traditional Scouting
movement.
Beard also helped his sister organize the Camp Fire Girls
and became president of the Camp Fire Club of America. Beard was a Freemason in a New York Lodge, and an award for Masonic Scouters has been named in his honor.
Beard founded Boy Scouts Troop 1 in Flushing, New York, which is believed to be the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scout Troop in the United States. Beard became an Eagle Scout
on February 15, 1915.
Prior to the establishment of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
, Dan Beard was recipient of the only "gold Eagle badge" awarded at the Second National Training Conference of Scout Executives held in 1922 in Blue Ridge, North Carolina.
Dan Beard was also involved with the Culver Academies
' summer camp program for many years, which used his "Sons of Daniel Boone" program. This program still exists as the Academy's Culver Woodcraft Camp.
Beard died on June 11, 1941, shortly before his 91st birthday at his home (named "Brooklands") in Suffern, New York
. He was buried near his home at the Brick Church Cemetery in Spring Valley, New York
. The National Program Director of the Boy Scouts of America, E. Urner Goodman
, was selected to be in charge of the beloved youth leader's funeral in Suffern. An estimated 2,000 people lined the funeral route to the cemetery in Monsey, New York
, where formed an honor guard and assisted with traffic control.
carries I-471
across the Ohio River
. A life-size bronze statue of Daniel Carter Beard and a Boy Scout, created by world-renowned sculptor Kenneth Bradford, stands at 322 East 3rd Street in Covington, Kentucky
, Beard's boyhood home. The nearby Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home
is now a National Historic Landmark
in the Riverside Drive Historic District
.
Junior High School 189 Daniel Carter Beard is located in Flushing, Queens
, New York; the Daniel Carter Beard Mall is a nearby park. The Daniel Carter Beard Elementary School is located in Chicago
, Illinois.
The Dan Beard Council is the administrative body of the BSA in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Many Scout camps have sites named after Beard including Philmont Scout Ranch
in New Mexico, Forestburg Scout Reservation in Forestburg, New York and Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation in Maryland. Other camps have programs named after Beard, such as the first-year camper program at McKee Scout Reservation in Kentucky.
Freemasons in the U.S. offer the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award for Masons who are involved with Scouting. The BSA offers the James West Fellowship Award; an advanced level is the 1910 Society which in turn includes levels of contributions— the Daniel Carter Beard is recognized for a gift of at least $100,000.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
illustrator, author, youth leader, and social reformer who founded the Sons of Daniel Boone
Sons of Daniel Boone
The Sons of Daniel Boone was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American Frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 as one of their National Scout Commissioners, he merged his group into the fledgling BSA.Boys were organized into "Forts"...
in 1905, which Beard later merged with the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
(BSA).
Early life
Beard was born in Cincinnati, OhioCincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
into a family of artists. As a youth, he explored the woods and made sketches of nature. He lived at 322 East Third Street
Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home
The Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home is a National Historic Landmark located in the Riverside Drive Historic District of Covington, Kentucky, overlooking the Licking River, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio...
in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
near the Licking River
Licking River (Kentucky)
The Licking River is a tributary of the Ohio River in northeastern Kentucky in the United States. The river and its tributaries drain much of the region of northeastern Kentucky between the watersheds of the Kentucky River to the west and the Big Sandy River to the east.-Origin of name:The Native...
, where he learned the stories of Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
pioneer life.
He started an early career as an engineer and surveyor. He attended art school in New York City. He wrote a series of articles for St. Nicholas Magazine
St. Nicholas Magazine
St. Nicholas Magazine was a popular children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1905. Dodge published work by the country's best writers, including Louisa May Alcott, Francis Hodgson...
that later formed the basis for the The American Boy's Handy Book
The American Boy's Handy Book
The American Boy's Handy Book is a handbook of activities intended for boys, written by a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, Daniel Carter Beard. It is divided into seasonal sections, with activities appropriate for each season in their respective sections...
. He was a member of the Student Art League, where he met and befriended Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
in 1883. He illustrated a number of books for Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, and for other authors such as Ernest Crosby
Ernest Howard Crosby
Ernest Howard Crosby was an American reformer and author, born in New York City, the son of Presbyterian minister Howard Crosby, and a relative of prolific hymnwriter and rescue mission worker Fanny Crosby....
.
Beard became the editor of Recreation magazine and wrote a monthly column for youth. He founded the Sons of Daniel Boone
Sons of Daniel Boone
The Sons of Daniel Boone was a youth program developed by Daniel Carter Beard in 1905 based on the American Frontiersman. When Dan Beard joined the Boy Scouts of America in 1910 as one of their National Scout Commissioners, he merged his group into the fledgling BSA.Boys were organized into "Forts"...
in 1905, basing it on American frontier traditions. He later moved his column to Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion
Woman's Home Companion was an American monthly publication, published from 1873 to 1957. It was highly successful, climbing to a circulation peak of more than four million during the 1930s and 1940s....
. After conflicts with a new editor, he moved to the Pictorial Review
Pictorial Review
Pictorial Review is a magazine which first appeared in September, 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of William Paul Ahnelt's American Fashion Company. By the late 1920s it was one of the largest of the "women's magazines"....
. Since Women's Home Companion retained the rights to the name, he simply renamed the organization to Boy Pioneers of America.
Scouting
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
when it was founded in 1910. Beard became one of the first National Scout Commissioners of the Boy Scouts and served it for 30 years. He later became the editor of Boys' Life
Boys' Life
Boys' Life is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America . Its targeted readership is young American males between the ages of 6 and 18.Boys' Life is published in two demographic editions...
magazine, the BSA official magazine, and wrote a monthly column for youth. The work of both Beard and Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton was a Scots-Canadian who became a noted author, wildlife artist, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, and one of the founding pioneers of the Boy Scouts of America . Seton also influenced Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting...
are in large part the basis of the Traditional Scouting
Traditional Scouting
The Traditional Scouting movement refers to a back to basics effort that returns Scouting to a scheme intentionally based on Baden-Powell's own model of Scouting; rejecting the world-wide trend to "modernize" Scouting in order to appeal to more youths. This movement is very popular in Canada and...
movement.
Beard also helped his sister organize the Camp Fire Girls
Camp Fire USA
Camp Fire USA, originally Camp Fire Girls of America, is a nationwide American youth organization that began in 1910. The organization has been co-ed since 1975 and welcomes youth from pre-kindergarten through age 21. Camp Fire was the first nonsectarian, multicultural organization for girls in...
and became president of the Camp Fire Club of America. Beard was a Freemason in a New York Lodge, and an award for Masonic Scouters has been named in his honor.
Beard founded Boy Scouts Troop 1 in Flushing, New York, which is believed to be the oldest continuously chartered Boy Scout Troop in the United States. Beard became an Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
on February 15, 1915.
Prior to the establishment of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award is a distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America . It is awarded to an Eagle Scout for distinguished service in his profession and to his community for a period of at least 25 years after attaining the level of Eagle Scout...
, Dan Beard was recipient of the only "gold Eagle badge" awarded at the Second National Training Conference of Scout Executives held in 1922 in Blue Ridge, North Carolina.
Dan Beard was also involved with the Culver Academies
Culver Academies
The Culver Academies is a college preparatory boarding school and summer camp in the United States. The Culver Academies is composed of three entities: Culver Military Academy for boys, Culver Girls Academy , and the Culver Summer Schools and Camps . Collectively known as Culver Academies located...
' summer camp program for many years, which used his "Sons of Daniel Boone" program. This program still exists as the Academy's Culver Woodcraft Camp.
Beard died on June 11, 1941, shortly before his 91st birthday at his home (named "Brooklands") in Suffern, New York
Suffern, New York
Suffern is a village in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of the State of New Jersey; east of Hillburn; south of Montebello and west of Airmont...
. He was buried near his home at the Brick Church Cemetery in Spring Valley, New York
Spring Valley, New York
Spring Valley, incorporated on July 9, 1902 is a village spanning the Town of Ramapo and Town of Clarkstown in Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Nanuet; east of Airmont and Monsey; south of Hillcrest and west of West Nyack...
. The National Program Director of the Boy Scouts of America, E. Urner Goodman
E. Urner Goodman
Edward Urner Goodman was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organization's formative years of significant growth when the Cub Scouting and Exploring programs were...
, was selected to be in charge of the beloved youth leader's funeral in Suffern. An estimated 2,000 people lined the funeral route to the cemetery in Monsey, New York
Monsey, New York
Monsey is a hamlet , in the Town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of the state of New Jersey; east of Suffern; south of Airmont and west of Nanuet...
, where formed an honor guard and assisted with traffic control.
Honors and legacy
The Daniel Carter Beard BridgeDaniel Carter Beard Bridge
The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge , is a twin span steel tied arch bridge crossing the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio. It carries Interstate 471 between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Newport, Kentucky. As to the origin of this nickname, its yellow arches are similar to the "Golden Arches" logo of...
carries I-471
Interstate 471
Interstate 471 is a long United States Interstate Highway, linking Interstate 71 in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio to Interstate 275 in Highland Heights, Kentucky. South of I-275, the expressway continues south to U.S...
across the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
. A life-size bronze statue of Daniel Carter Beard and a Boy Scout, created by world-renowned sculptor Kenneth Bradford, stands at 322 East 3rd Street in Covington, Kentucky
Covington, Kentucky
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 43,370 people, 18,257 households, and 10,132 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,301.3 people per square mile . There were 20,448 housing units at an average density of 1,556.5 per square mile...
, Beard's boyhood home. The nearby Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home
Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home
The Daniel Carter Beard Boyhood Home is a National Historic Landmark located in the Riverside Drive Historic District of Covington, Kentucky, overlooking the Licking River, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio...
is now a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in the Riverside Drive Historic District
Riverside Drive Historic District
The Riverside Drive Historic District is a historic district located at the west bank of the confluence of the Licking River and the Ohio River in Covington, Kentucky, directly across from Cincinnati, Ohio....
.
Junior High School 189 Daniel Carter Beard is located in Flushing, Queens
Flushing, Queens
Flushing, founded in 1645, is a neighborhood in the north central part of the City of New York borough of Queens, east of Manhattan.Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City...
, New York; the Daniel Carter Beard Mall is a nearby park. The Daniel Carter Beard Elementary School is located in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois.
The Dan Beard Council is the administrative body of the BSA in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Many Scout camps have sites named after Beard including Philmont Scout Ranch
Philmont Scout Ranch
Philmont Scout Ranch is a large, rugged, mountainous ranch located near the town of Cimarron, New Mexico, covering approximately of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of the Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico...
in New Mexico, Forestburg Scout Reservation in Forestburg, New York and Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation in Maryland. Other camps have programs named after Beard, such as the first-year camper program at McKee Scout Reservation in Kentucky.
Freemasons in the U.S. offer the Daniel Carter Beard Masonic Scouter Award for Masons who are involved with Scouting. The BSA offers the James West Fellowship Award; an advanced level is the 1910 Society which in turn includes levels of contributions— the Daniel Carter Beard is recognized for a gift of at least $100,000.
Works
- The American Boy's Handy BookThe American Boy's Handy BookThe American Boy's Handy Book is a handbook of activities intended for boys, written by a founder of the Boy Scouts of America, Daniel Carter Beard. It is divided into seasonal sections, with activities appropriate for each season in their respective sections...
(1882) (1903) still in print - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The book was originally titled A Yankee in King Arthur's Court...
by Mark Twain, (1889), illustrator, still in print - The American Boy's Book of Sport (1890)
- The American ClaimantThe American ClaimantThe American Claimant is an 1892 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. Twain wrote the novel with the help of phonographic dictation, the first author to do so. This was also an attempt to write a book without mention of the weather, the first of its kind in fictitious literature...
by Mark Twain, (1892), illustrator, still in print - Moonblight and Six Feet of Romance (1892) still in print
- The Outdoor Handy Book (1896) still in print
- Jack of All Trades (1900) still in print
- Field and Forest Handy Book (1906) still in print
- Handicraft for Outdoor Boys (1906)
- Animal Book and Campfire Stories (1907)
- Boy Pioneers and Sons of Daniel Boone (1909)
- Boat Building, and Boating(1912) still in print
- Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties (1914) still in print
- The American Boy's Book of Bugs, Butterflies and Beetles (1916)
- American Boy's Book of Signs, Signals and Symbols (1918)
- The American Boy's Book of Camp-Lore and Woodcraft (1920) still in print
- The American Boy's Book of Wild Animals (1921)
- The Black Wolf-Pack (1922)
- American Boy's Book of Birds and Brownies of the Woods (1923)
- Do It Yourself (1925)
- Wisdom of the Woods (1926)
- Buckskin Book For Buckskin Men and Boys (1929)
- Hardly A Man is Now Alive (1939) his autobiography
External links
- Info on Beard from The Columbia Encyclopedia
- Info on Daniel Beard Masonic Scouter Award
- The Boy Pioneers: Sons of Daniel Boone full text
- The Outdoor Handy Book
- The American Boy's Handy Book
- Field and Forest Handy Book
- Shelters, Shacks, Shanties
- DANIEL CARTER BEARD MALL
- Info on Beard from Dan Beard Home
- Rare 100-Year Old Images of Daniel Beard at Lake Teedyuskung, PA
- Full text of The American Boy's Book of Signs, Signals and Symbols, J.B. Lippincott Company, 1918.