"The NAACP Hot Springs Unit 6013, presents profiles of 63 black candidates who filed for political office in Hot Springs, Arkansas, from 1954-2010."
For the last 50 years, Elmer Beard has been a prominent leader in the African American community in Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, where he and his late wife Dorothy reared their son and two daughters. A retired college professor and K-12 educator, Beard has a bachelor's degree in English from Arkansas Baptist College in Little Rock and a master's degree in education from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Beard was an eight-term city councilman and is currently the self-appointed political griot of the Spa City. He has spent his career documenting the strides and struggles of black political candidates there. In The Challengers, Beard joins the local chapter of the NAACP to record profiles of the 63 black residents from 1954-2010 who dared to make a difference in their communities. This is first book.
