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Collection Number: 04267

Collection Title: Harden Family Papers, 1845-1971

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


expand/collapse Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size 2.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1600 items)
Abstract Correspondence, genealogical material, receipts, programs, cookbooks, recipes, clippings, speeches, writings, blueprints, photographs, and a scrapbook of the Hardens of Alamance County, N.C. The bulk of the material documents the public career of Junius Hill Harden (1859-1944), an industrialist, pertaining especially to Harden's efforts to locate a rayon mill in Alamance County in the 1920s and to his involvement with the Congregational-Christian church. There is some material pertaining to Junius Hill Harden's sons, Boyd Harden (b. 1899) and Graham Harden (b. 1892), and to his father, Peter Ray Harden (fl. 1865), including items relating to the latter's involvement in the Big Falls Manufacturing Company in Alamance County in the late nineteenth century. Photographs include pictures of early gas stations in Alamance County.
Creator Harden (Family : Alamance County, N.C.)
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Harden Family Papers #4267, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Received from Dr. and Mrs. Boyd Harden of Chapel Hill, N.C., in January and April 1981, and from Ann Harden Bradford of Durham, N.C., in January 1985.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Marion Presler, March 1987; Roslyn Holdzkom, July 1992

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Subject Headings

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Junius Hill Harden was born 6 November 1859 to Peter Ray and Sarah Elizabeth Holt Harden in Graham, Alamance County, N.C. He was educated at Graham Normal School and Baltimore Business College. He married Lula Graham on 25 September 1891.

Harden was active in industry, education, transportation, public utilities, and real estate in Alamance County. He was responsible for establishing the Piedmont Power and Light Company, the first electric plant in the county; the Alamance Railway Company, the county's first electric street car line; the first ice plant in the area; and the first paved streets in Graham. The county's first telephone operated from his textile mill. Harden helped found Elon College and the first hospital in Alamance County. He reorganized the Holt Granite Mills and was instrumental in developing other industries in the county through the Harden Industrial Cities Corporation. It was through his efforts that the first rayon manufacturing plant came to Burlington. Harden died on 11 June 1944 in Graham.

Harden's sons, Graham and Boyd, were both physicians in Alamance County. Graham was born in Big Falls, N.C., in 1892. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1915 and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1919. In 1921, he married Mary Bonner Williams. Boyd was born in Burlington, N.C., on 5 February 1899 and was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1921.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The bulk of these papers relate to the public career of Junius Harden. Material relating to Junius Harden's father, Peter Ray Harden, is in Series 2. Material relating to Junius Harden's son Boyd is in Series 3, and to his son Graham in Series 4. Series 5 contains maps of Alamance County, a cipher book, and two scrapbooks, one chiefly containing advertising cards and the other relating to Masonic activities of one of Boyd Harden's relatives. Pictures of Harden family members, of business leaders, and of the University of North Carolina, circa 1921, are in Series 6.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Junius Harden, 1845-1962.

About 1450 items.

Arrangement: by subject.

Includes correspondence, blueprints, genealogical material, cookbooks, recipes, legal material, clippings, and programs documenting the public career and interests of Junius Harden. Most of the material relates to Harden's various business ventures. Of particular interest is material documenting Harden's efforts to locate A. M. Johnson Mills, a rayon manufacturing plant in Alamance County in the 1920s (folders 36-49). Also of interest is genealogical material (folders 10-17) compiled by Harden, and material relating to his involvement with Providence Memorial Christian Church in Graham (folder 35) and the Western Carolina Christian Conference (folders 50-53). Note that there are a few blueprints relating to some of Junius Harden's projects filed as oversize and rolled papers.

Folder 1a-1d

Alamance Railway and Electric Company (see also Series 6)

Folder 2-3a

Barnwell Brothers

Folder 3b

BurGraHaw Traction Company

Folder 4

Burlington Mills

Folder 5-7

Folder 5

Folder 6

Folder 7

Cookbooks

Folder 8-9

Folder 8

Folder 9

Elon College

Folder 10-17

Folder 10

Folder 11

Folder 12

Folder 13

Folder 14

Folder 15

Folder 16

Folder 17

Genealogical materials

Folder 18

Good Roads Manufacturing Company

Folder 19-20

Folder 19

Folder 20

Harden Brothers Famous Cream

Folder 21-22

Folder 21

Folder 22

Harden Industries Cities Corporation

Folder 23-29

Folder 23

Folder 24

Folder 25

Folder 26

Folder 27

Folder 28

Folder 29

J. H. Harden and Company

Folder 30-31

Folder 30

Folder 31

Miscellaneous--includes blueprint detailing electric line survey, 1908, linking Burlington, Graham, and Haw River

Folder 32

Mission Chapel

Folder 33a

North State Realty Company

Folder 33b

Personal materials--chiefly letters on routine family matters; many letters are addressed to Lula Harden

Folder 33c

Piedmont Railway and Electric Company (see volume SV-4267/1)

Oversize Volume SV-4267/1

Piedmont Railway and Electric Company

Folder 34

Political material

Folder 35

Providence Memorial Association (see also Series 6)

Folder 36-49

Folder 36

Folder 37

Folder 38

Folder 39

Folder 40

Folder 41

Folder 42

Folder 43

Folder 44

Folder 45

Folder 46

Folder 47

Folder 48

Folder 49

Rayon manufacturing

Folder 50-53

Folder 50

Folder 51

Folder 52

Folder 53

Western Carolina Christian Conference

Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-4267/1

Blueprints

Rolled Item R-4267/1

Blueprint

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Peter Ray Harden, 1849-1891.

About 60 items.

Includes correspondence, receipts, and contracts pertaining to the Big Falls Manufacturing Company and to Peter Harden and Sons, both of which were located in Alamance County.

Folder 54-55

Folder 54

Folder 55

Big Falls Manufacturing Company and Peter Harden and Sons records, 1849-1891

Oversize Volume SV-4267/2

Account book, 1887-1890

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 3. Boyd Harden, 1916-1971.

About 60 items.

Includes correspondence, programs, writings, bills and receipts, and loose material from a scrapbook (see Series 5) of Boyd Harden.

Folder 56

General

Folder 57

Miscellaneous bills and receipts

Folder 58-59

Folder 58

Folder 59

Scrapbook materials

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 4. Graham Harden, 1907-1935.

About 10 items.

Three postcards to Graham Harden and miscellaneous bills and receipts.

Folder 60

1907-1935

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 5. Other Papers, 1890s-1920s.

About 10 items.

A cipher book, 1837-1841, of Westley L. Coble, whose relationship to the Hardens is unknown; six rolled maps of Alamance County, 1890s-1920s, some with handwritten annotations indicating ownership of land; a scrapbook, which may have been compiled by Boyd Harden, chiefly containing advertisement cards from the turn of the century and some newspaper clippings relating to the Harden family (loose material from this scrapbook has been filed in Series 3); and a scrapbook, 1875-1923, of Albert D. Holmes of Melrose, Mass., documenting his Masonic activities. Albert D. Holmes appears to have been a relative of Boyd Harden's wife, Ruth Elizabeth Holmes Harden, who, according to newspaper reports, was the daughter of Albert Bourne Holmes of Pennsylvania.

Folder 61

Cipher book, 1837-1841

Folder 62

Alamance County maps, 1890s-1920s (filed with rolled papers)

Rolled Item R-4267/1

Alamance County maps, 1890s-1920s

Folder 63

Advertising card scrapbook (see SV-4267/3)

Oversize Volume SV-4267/3

Advertising card scrapbook

Folder 64

Albert D. Holmes scrapbook (see SV-4267/4)

Oversize Volume SV-4267/4

Albert D. Holmes scrapbook

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 6. Pictures, 1780-circa 1930.

About 100 items.

Arrangement: by subject.

Photographs of the Harden family, the Alamance Railway Company, the Providence Memorial Christian Church, gas stations in and around Alamance County (with the number of gallons of gas used per month noted on the backs of the pictures), and pictures of the University of North Carolina from around 1921 when Boyd Harden was yearbook editor. There are also publicity photographs of Senator Josiah William Bailey, Governor Clyde R. Hoey, Representative Carl T. Durham, Lt. Governor A. H. Graham, Superintendent of Public Instruction Clyde A. Erwin, and Director of Conservation and Development R. Bruce Etheridge in connection with their being cited by the Industrial Development of Alamance County organization.

Image Folder PF-4267/1

Harden family

Image Folder PF-4267/2

Pages from family Bible, recording births and deaths, 1780-1872

Image Folder PF-4267/3

Alamance Railway Company

Image Folder PF-4267/4

Gas stations

Image Folder PF-4267/5

Providence Memorial Christian Church

Image Folder PF-4267/6

University of North Carolina

Image Folder PF-4267/7

Industrial Development of Alamance County

Image Folder PF-4267/8

Miscellaneous

Image Folder PF-4267/9

University of North Carolina

Image Folder PF-4267/10

Industrial development of Alamance County

Image Folder PF-4267/11

Miscellaneous

Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-4267/1

Oversize images

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Items Separated

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