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Created page with "{{Infobox officeholder | name=Hazel Fain Tilley Beard | image=Hazel Beard of LA.jpg | nationality=American | office=Mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana..."
{{Infobox officeholder
| name=Hazel Fain Tilley Beard
| image=Hazel Beard of LA.jpg
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| office=[[Mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=December 27, 1990
| term_end=December 27, 1994
| preceded=John Brennan Hussey
| succeeded=Robert Warren "Bo" Williams
| office2=Shreveport City Council member
| term_start2=1986
| term_end2=1990
| preceded2=
| succeeded2=Robert Warren "Bo" Williams
| birth_date=September 16, 1930
| birth_place=Franklin Parish, Louisiana
| death_date=December 22, 2022
| death_place=Marble Falls, [[Texas]]
| occupation=[[Business]]woman
| spouse=Charles Carroll Beard}}
'''Hazel Fain Tilley Beard''' (September 16, 1930 – December 26, 2022), was the first woman and the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] to have served as [[mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], since the era of [[Reconstruction]]. A fiscal [[Conservatism|conservative]], Beard grappled with many economic and social problems during her single term as mayor from 1990 to 1994. Prior to her mayoralty service, Beard was a small [[business]] owner and a member of the Shreveport City Council from the southwest portion of the city. She was also the first woman to have been chairperson of the city council. She is the first of only three Republican mayors in city history.
==Career===
Beard entered the mayoral race against three major, including the [[African-American]] [[dentist]] [[C. O. Simpkins, Sr.]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[civil rights]] activist, and two fellow council members, Republican Carolyn Calhoun Whitehurst and Democrat Bill Bush, a businessman, led in the pre-election polls. Whitehurst, a [[real estate]] broker, later Carolyn C. Huckabay (1935-2022), is descended from a prominent DeSoto Parish: her father, [[Reimer Calhoun]], was a Democratic state senator for two terms from 1944 to 1952. Whitehurst, who represented a southeast Shreveport council district, had the support of ''The Shreveport Times.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2014/10/01/bush-former-councilman-dies-fall/16549359|title=Bill Bush obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=October 1, 2014|accessdate=November 18, 2014}}.</ref>
Simpkins led in the primary with 31 percent of the ballots cast, but Beard secured the second slot to proceed to the [[general election]].<ref> In the second round of balloting, Beard prevailed, 38,604 votes (59 percent) to Simpkins' 26,341 (41 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 1990.</ref>
Soon after taking office, Beard appointed her nephew, [[Steve Prator]], then a 17-year member of the Shreveport Police Department as chief of police, a position that he held until 1999. Prator successfully sought the office of Caddo Parish sheriff and became the first Republican since Reconstruction to hold that position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prator.org|title=Caddo Sheriff Support|publisher=prator.org|accessdate=May 23, 2012}}</ref> He was a successful candidate for a sixth term in the primary held on October 12, 2019.
In 1992, when Mayor Beard welcomed [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] to Shreveport during Bush's ill-fated reelection campaign, the president mistakenly referred to her as "Nasal" Beard. The mayor accepted the slip of tongue with humor.<ref>George Bush Quotes: I would like to thank Nasal Beard… - Famous Inspirational Quotes & Sayings (inspirationalstories.com), accessed March 27, 2023.</ref>
As mayor, Beard appointed the Republican activist [[Harriet Belchic]] to the Shreveport Women's Commission and the Riverfront Redevelopment Advisory Committee. The panel completed Riverfront Park although it was poorly designed and unable to withstand seasonal overflows of the nearby Red River. Rising waters would flood the fountains in the park and interfere with the operation of the water pumps.
Mayor, Beard had often expressed her opposition to any form of riverboat gambling legislation which then [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] had pushed for legislative approval. Shreveport-Bossier received five gaming licenses, and the area stood potentially to benefit financially from such efforts. Beard hence changed her position and announced her support for one riverboat operation in Shreveport. But as legislative dealmaking resumed, Beard recanted her support once a limited gambling operation began. When once asked about her political legacy, Beard said, "I hope it's not gambling.<ref> Shreveport-Bossier City has seen ups and downs in 25 years of casinos, accessed ,. (shreveporttimes.com), accessed March 27, 2023.</ref>
It was widely anticipated that former Mayor [[John Brennan Hussey]], the man whom Beard had succeeded, would challenge her for reelection in 1994, but Beard surprised political observers by not seeking reelection. Hussey ran as expected, but two city council members, Republican Robert Warren "Bo" Williams, and Democrat Roy Cary, an African-American, went into the general election, which Williams won by a comfortable margin. Former Mayor Gardner, in his memoirs, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II'' describes Beard as:<blockquote>''"... [A] large woman physically and had been a high school basketball player ... totally self-assured, [this] gave her strength as mayor. Her public appearances and demeanor were of one who was acting under a voter mandate to change everything. She began her term in office by asking for the resignation of all board and commission members, something not done before or since. At her inauguration, she had stated that 'the era of darkness was gone, the era of light had begun.'... This made me uncomfortable with Mayor Beard ... but we did develop a comfortable working relationship."''<ref>'James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II'' (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 289–290.</ref><blockquote/>
==Personal life==
Beard was reared in Franklin Parish, south of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]]. After the death of her first husband, Ira James Tilley, Hazel Beard married Charles Carroll Beard (November 24, 1920 - May 30, 2002). After her term as mayor ended, the Beards moved to Kingsland, Texas. She died in Marble Falls at the age of ninety-two.
Beard did not receive her college degree until 1985, when at the age of fifty-five, she graduated from Louisiana State University Shreveport with a degree in education. In 2007, she received the LSUS "Distinguished Alumnus Award" when she delivered the commencement address in a ceremony at the CenturyTel Center in [[Bossier City]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Hazel}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Women]]
| name=Hazel Fain Tilley Beard
| image=Hazel Beard of LA.jpg
| nationality=[[United States|American]]
| office=[[Mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]]
| party=[[Republican Party|Republican]]
| term_start=December 27, 1990
| term_end=December 27, 1994
| preceded=John Brennan Hussey
| succeeded=Robert Warren "Bo" Williams
| office2=Shreveport City Council member
| term_start2=1986
| term_end2=1990
| preceded2=
| succeeded2=Robert Warren "Bo" Williams
| birth_date=September 16, 1930
| birth_place=Franklin Parish, Louisiana
| death_date=December 22, 2022
| death_place=Marble Falls, [[Texas]]
| occupation=[[Business]]woman
| spouse=Charles Carroll Beard}}
'''Hazel Fain Tilley Beard''' (September 16, 1930 – December 26, 2022), was the first woman and the first [[Republican Party|Republican]] to have served as [[mayor]] of [[Shreveport]], [[Louisiana]], since the era of [[Reconstruction]]. A fiscal [[Conservatism|conservative]], Beard grappled with many economic and social problems during her single term as mayor from 1990 to 1994. Prior to her mayoralty service, Beard was a small [[business]] owner and a member of the Shreveport City Council from the southwest portion of the city. She was also the first woman to have been chairperson of the city council. She is the first of only three Republican mayors in city history.
==Career===
Beard entered the mayoral race against three major, including the [[African-American]] [[dentist]] [[C. O. Simpkins, Sr.]], a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[civil rights]] activist, and two fellow council members, Republican Carolyn Calhoun Whitehurst and Democrat Bill Bush, a businessman, led in the pre-election polls. Whitehurst, a [[real estate]] broker, later Carolyn C. Huckabay (1935-2022), is descended from a prominent DeSoto Parish: her father, [[Reimer Calhoun]], was a Democratic state senator for two terms from 1944 to 1952. Whitehurst, who represented a southeast Shreveport council district, had the support of ''The Shreveport Times.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2014/10/01/bush-former-councilman-dies-fall/16549359|title=Bill Bush obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=October 1, 2014|accessdate=November 18, 2014}}.</ref>
Simpkins led in the primary with 31 percent of the ballots cast, but Beard secured the second slot to proceed to the [[general election]].<ref> In the second round of balloting, Beard prevailed, 38,604 votes (59 percent) to Simpkins' 26,341 (41 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 6, 1990.</ref>
Soon after taking office, Beard appointed her nephew, [[Steve Prator]], then a 17-year member of the Shreveport Police Department as chief of police, a position that he held until 1999. Prator successfully sought the office of Caddo Parish sheriff and became the first Republican since Reconstruction to hold that position.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prator.org|title=Caddo Sheriff Support|publisher=prator.org|accessdate=May 23, 2012}}</ref> He was a successful candidate for a sixth term in the primary held on October 12, 2019.
In 1992, when Mayor Beard welcomed [[U.S. President]] [[George Herbert Walker Bush]] to Shreveport during Bush's ill-fated reelection campaign, the president mistakenly referred to her as "Nasal" Beard. The mayor accepted the slip of tongue with humor.<ref>George Bush Quotes: I would like to thank Nasal Beard… - Famous Inspirational Quotes & Sayings (inspirationalstories.com), accessed March 27, 2023.</ref>
As mayor, Beard appointed the Republican activist [[Harriet Belchic]] to the Shreveport Women's Commission and the Riverfront Redevelopment Advisory Committee. The panel completed Riverfront Park although it was poorly designed and unable to withstand seasonal overflows of the nearby Red River. Rising waters would flood the fountains in the park and interfere with the operation of the water pumps.
Mayor, Beard had often expressed her opposition to any form of riverboat gambling legislation which then [[Governor]] [[Edwin Edwards]] had pushed for legislative approval. Shreveport-Bossier received five gaming licenses, and the area stood potentially to benefit financially from such efforts. Beard hence changed her position and announced her support for one riverboat operation in Shreveport. But as legislative dealmaking resumed, Beard recanted her support once a limited gambling operation began. When once asked about her political legacy, Beard said, "I hope it's not gambling.<ref> Shreveport-Bossier City has seen ups and downs in 25 years of casinos, accessed ,. (shreveporttimes.com), accessed March 27, 2023.</ref>
It was widely anticipated that former Mayor [[John Brennan Hussey]], the man whom Beard had succeeded, would challenge her for reelection in 1994, but Beard surprised political observers by not seeking reelection. Hussey ran as expected, but two city council members, Republican Robert Warren "Bo" Williams, and Democrat Roy Cary, an African-American, went into the general election, which Williams won by a comfortable margin. Former Mayor Gardner, in his memoirs, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II'' describes Beard as:<blockquote>''"... [A] large woman physically and had been a high school basketball player ... totally self-assured, [this] gave her strength as mayor. Her public appearances and demeanor were of one who was acting under a voter mandate to change everything. She began her term in office by asking for the resignation of all board and commission members, something not done before or since. At her inauguration, she had stated that 'the era of darkness was gone, the era of light had begun.'... This made me uncomfortable with Mayor Beard ... but we did develop a comfortable working relationship."''<ref>'James C. Gardner, ''Jim Gardner and Shreveport, Vol. II'' (Shreveport: Ritz Publications, 2006), pp. 289–290.</ref><blockquote/>
==Personal life==
Beard was reared in Franklin Parish, south of [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]]. After the death of her first husband, Ira James Tilley, Hazel Beard married Charles Carroll Beard (November 24, 1920 - May 30, 2002). After her term as mayor ended, the Beards moved to Kingsland, Texas. She died in Marble Falls at the age of ninety-two.
Beard did not receive her college degree until 1985, when at the age of fifty-five, she graduated from Louisiana State University Shreveport with a degree in education. In 2007, she received the LSUS "Distinguished Alumnus Award" when she delivered the commencement address in a ceremony at the CenturyTel Center in [[Bossier City]].
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Hazel}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Mayors]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:Republicans]]
[[Category:Women]]