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.
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
Size | 2.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2,000 items) |
Abstract | Osborne Bennett Hardison (1892-1959), native of Wadesboro, N.C., was a career United States naval officer, retiring as vice-admiral. The collection includes official and service-related personal letters and papers. The bulk of the material relates to World War II, when Hardison was commander of the aircraft carrier "Enterprise" in the Pacific, 1942-1943, and later chief of naval aviation training in the United States. |
Creator | Hardison, Osborne Bennett, 1892-1959. |
Language | English |
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Osborne Bennett Hardison (1892-1959), native of Wadesboro, N.C., was a career United States naval officer, retiring as vice-admiral. Hardison was the son of William Cameron Hardison and Harriett Eleanor Bennett Hardison. He was educated at the University of North Carolina and the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. During World War II he commanded the aircraft carrier "Enterprise" in the Pacific, 1942-1943, and received a presidential citation and the Navy Cross for his participation in the Battle of Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands. In 1944 he returned to the United States to serve as chief of Naval Air Primary Training, based at Fairfax Airport, Kansas City, Kan., and at the Naval Air Station at Glenview, Ill. After the war, Hardison held various positions including Commander, Aircraft, Philippine Sea Frontier, 1945-1946; Commander, Carrier Division Five, 1946; Commander, Seventh Fleet, 1946-1947; Chief of Pan American Affairs and United States Naval Missions, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., 1947-1950; Commander, Naval Forces, Marianas, 1950-1951; and Commander, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Fla., 1951-1953.
Hardison was married to Ruth Morgan of Washington, D.C. They had two children, Osborne Bennett Junior and William Gerry Morgan Hardison.
Back to TopThe collection includes official and service-related personal letters and papers of Osborne Bennett Hardison. The bulk of the material relates to World War II, when Hardison was commander of the aircraft carrier "Enterprise" in the Pacific, 1942-1943, and later chief of naval aviation training in the United States. The military correspondence and papers concern naval operations and navigational training, naval problems, fleet exercises and maneuvers, the naval air force, and accidents and mishaps involving naval aircraft. There are also reports and other items related to the bombing of the "Enterprise" at the Battle of Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands. Topics discussed in Hardison's personal correspondence include his encounters with native populations while stationed in various locales, reactions to the administration of Harry S. Truman and its proposed reorganization of military air forces, Hardison's awards and achievements, and the educational aspirations and progress of his son, O. B. Hardison Junior.
Back to TopProcessed by: SHC Staff
Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007
Updated by: Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, July 2009
This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.
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