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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
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.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 105.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 85,000 items) |
| Abstract | John William Harden (1903-1985) of Greensboro, N.C., was a journalist, newspaper editor, author, advisor to North Carolina governors and textile executives, and founder of the state's first full-service public relations company. The collection contains materials, 1914-1986, including business records, correspondence, writings, speeches and speech materials, administrative records, newspaper clippings, diaries, scrapbooks, photograph albums, family papers, sound recordings, and videocassettes relating to John Harden. Business records of John Harden Associates include information about businesses and other organizations in North Carolina and the South and the public relations services Harden provided to them. Major clients included North Carolina National Bank (NCNB), the North Carolina Fish Processors Association (promoting the menhaden fishing industry), Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and the Tryon Palace. Other files document Harden's employment as a public relations executive with Burlington Industries, Inc., and Cannon Mills Company. Many of the Cannon Mills files reflect Harden's efforts to improve the company's image in the light of its opposition to union organizing activities. Also included are files related to Harden's political activities as a Democrat; his work as secretary to Governor Robert Gregg Cherry; his work in Hugh Morton's 1972 gubernatorial campaign; and his work promoting North Carolina businesses, especially during the administration of Governor Luther H. Hodges. Harden's work as a journalist and his interest in North Carolina folklore and ghost stories and his collection and publication of The Devil's Tramping Ground, and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories (1949) and Tar Heel Ghosts (1954) are also documented. Harden's personal papers include correspondence about his experiences as a student at the University of North Carolina in the 1920s and about his work with the Episcopal Church in North Carolina. |
| Creator | Harden, John, 1903- |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Information For Users
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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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Biographical Information
Born in 1903 in Graham, N.C., the son of Peter Ray and Nettie Cayce Abbott Harden, John William Harden worked for the Burlington Evening Times and the Raleigh News and Observer before entering the University of North Carolina at the age of 20. While at Chapel Hill, he worked under Bob Madry, head of the University News Bureau. On graduation in 1927, Harden joined the Charlotte News as a reporter and columnist, working there until 1937 when he became news editor of the Salisbury Evening Post. In 1944, Harden became executive news director of the Greensboro Daily News. That same year, he was named director of public relations in R. Gregg Cherry's gubernatorial campaign.
After Cherry's inauguration, Harden was appointed executive secretary to the governor, and wrote Governor Cherry's letter book. While living in Raleigh, he moderated a series of programs on radio station WPTF on Tales of Tar Heelia. Drawing from his personal file of ghost stories and mysteries, he continued this program for eighteen months during 1946-1947. Out of this grew two books, The Devil's Tramping Ground and Other North Carolina Mysteries (1949) and Tar Heel Ghosts (1954), both published by The University of North Carolina Press.
In addition to his works on North Carolina folklore, Harden was the author of Alamance County: Economic and Social (1928); North Carolina Roads and Their Builders, volume 2 (1966); a history of Cannon Mills entitled Cannon (1977), drafts of which may be found in Subseries 2.2 under the title The Story of Cannon; and Boling: The Story of a Company and of a Family (1979), commissioned by The Boling Company. According to a 1981 bio-sheet, John noted that he was attempting to finish a volume on North Carolina adventure stories that would have, when added to The Devil's Tramping Ground and Tar Heel Ghosts, formed a trilogy.
In 1948, Harden became head of public relations in the reelection campaign of U.S. Senator William B. Umstead. Following the election, John joined Burlington Mills Corporation as director of public relations and shortly afterwards was made a vice-president. In 1958, he left Burlington Mills to establish John Harden Associates (JHA), the first full service public relations consulting firm in North Carolina. Based in Greensboro, JHA expanded throughout the 1960s and 1970s, opening offices in Raleigh and Charlotte and setting up its own advertising agency, Cochrane Harden and Stuart.
While establishing himself as the "Tar Heel dean of public relations," Harden maintained close links with former colleagues in North Carolina politics and textiles. In 1959, Governor Hodges tapped him to organize--and publicize--the first North Carolina trade mission to Europe. Harden was also appointed to serve on the board of the Department of Conservation and Development during the administration of Governor Daniel K. Moore, a fellow alumnus of UNC's class of 1927. In 1971, Harden took a leave of absence from JHA to assist the Cannon Mills Company of Kannapolis as its director of public relations. Harden received wide recognition for his work in public relations, most notably being inducted as the first member of the North Carolina Public Relations Hall of Fame. After selling his company in 1981, he continued in an advisory capacity until his death, while working at his desk, in 1985.
On 13 June 1928, John Harden married Josephine (Nina Jo) Holt; they were the parents of Glenn Abbott and John William, Jr. Nina Jo Harden died in 1951. In 1953, John married Sarah Plexico (1925-1997); they had three sons, Mark Michael and Holmes Plexico, who were twins, and Jonathan Holder.
Harden was a Democrat, a Rotarian, and an Episcopalian. He worked with a wide variety of civic groups, including the Greensboro Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Carolina Regional Theater, and the North Carolina Historic Preservation Society. Harden also served in 1955 as the president of the General Alumni Association for The University of North Carolina.
Biographical note from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, Volume 3 (1988), with additional information from the collection.
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Scope and Content
The collection contains materials, 1914-1986, including business records, correspondence, writings, speeches and speech materials, administrative records, newspaper clippings, diaries, scrapbooks, photograph albums, family papers, sound recordings, and videocassettes relating to John Harden. Business records of John Harden Associates include information about businesses and other organizations in North Carolina and the South and the public relations services Harden provided to them. Major clients included North Carolina National Bank (NCNB), the North Carolina Fish Processors Association (promoting the menhaden fishing industry), Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, and the Tryon Palace. Other files document Harden's employment as a public relations executive with Burlington Industries, Inc., and Cannon Mills Company. Many of the Cannon Mills files reflect Harden's efforts to improve the company's image in the light of its opposition to union organizing activities. Also included are files related to Harden's political activities as a Democrat; his work as secretary to Governor Robert Gregg Cherry; his work in Hugh Morton's 1972 gubernatorial campaign; and his work promoting North Carolina businesses, especially during the administration of Governor Luther H. Hodges. Harden's work as a journalist and his interest in North Carolina folklore and ghost stories and his collection and publication of The Devil's Tramping Ground, and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories (1949) and Tar Heel Ghosts (1954) are also documented. Harden's personal papers include correspondence about his experiences as a student at the University of North Carolina in the 1920s and about his work with the Episcopal Church in North Carolina.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. John Harden Associates, 1958-1982.
Records of John Harden Associates (JHA) highlight the development and daily operations of North Carolina's first full service public relations firm. In a broader sense, these files open a window on the post-war industrial development of North Carolina and the South in general: a South concerned, as the field of public relations is concerned, with "image" and good media relations to attract new "customers." Indeed, Harden frequently touted his firm to northern and international businesses as one that understood Southern folkways but more than matched the professionalism of northern public relations firms. On a more practical level, JHA sought to attract clients by providing "New York quality at North Carolina prices."
JHA's client files, Subseries 1.1, form by far the largest portion of this series, and indeed of the entire collection. The rest of the series contains correspondence, memoranda and miscellaneous documents related to the company's routine office activities (Subseries 1.2), financial records (Subseries 1.3), and information on three particularly large clients: Tryon Palace in New Bern, N.C. (Subseries 1.4), the North Carolina National Bank (NCNB) (Subseries 1.5), and the Episcopal Church's Penick Home for the Aging (Subseries 1.6). Subseries 1.7, Public Relations Society of America contains correspondence and other documents maintained by JHA which deal with developments in the field of PR, both nationally and in the Carolinas.
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Subseries 1.1. John Harden Associates (JHA) Client Files, 1958-1982.
Arrangement: alphabetical by client.
Correspondence, press releases, clippings, and other documents pertaining to the services provided by John Harden Associates (JHA) to clients and prospective clients. JHA's broad array of clients reflected Harden's catholic interests in business, politics, and education. Clients ranged from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to Structure House, a Durham, N.C.-based weight loss program, and from B. Everett Jordan's 1972 campaign for the U.S. Senate to the Medical Plastics Corporation of America, manufacturers of the nation's first mildew-free shower curtain. The majority of clients were based in North Carolina, with a scattering of firms based in Virginia and South Carolina.
The following is a list of some of the major topics covered by this series, and files in which information about them may be found. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list, but rather a suggestive one:
North Carolina business and politics: North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development; North Carolina Citizens Association; North Carolina Council of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency
North Carolina commerce and industry: Gilbarco; Texas Gulf Sulphur; (also NCNB, Subseries 1.5)
North Carolina education: North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities; University of North Carolina-Greensboro
North Carolina politics: Campaign Associates, Inc.; Independent Research Associates; Jordan, B. Everett; Morton, Hugh, Gubernatorial Campaign, 1971-2
Greensboro/Guilford County: Gateways; Guilford County Bicentennial; Greensboro Chamber of Commerce; Greensboro Country Club
Textile industry: Cone Mills; National Spinning Company; North Carolina Textile Manufacturers Association; Morpul, Inc.
Southern labor relations: Cone Mills; National Spinning Company; Gilbarco, Inc.; P. Lorillard Company; Patrick B. Comer Associates; McDowell County Industries
Advertising: Ruder and Finn; Ayer and Gillette
Charities: Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation; Crossnore School; the Children's Home Society of North Carolina; Evergreens, Inc.; Muscular Dystrophy Association of America
Grandfather Mountain/Hugh Morton: Grandfather Golf and Country Club
Environment: Appalachian Power Company; Texas Gulf Sulphur; Nuclear Corporation of America (Darlington, S.C.)
Coastal Carolina Water Issues: Texas Gulf Sulphur; Menhaden
Historic Preservation: Historic Cabarrus; Guilford County Bicentennial; Colonial Williamsburg Brick
Alcohol Licensing Laws in North Carolina: Citizens United for Responsible Enforcement
African Americans in North Carolina: Palmer Memorial Institute; Cone Mills
Harden and his associates provided each of their clients with a myriad of public relations services, including press releases; advertising copy for print, radio, and television; company newsletters; brochures; and, for major clients such as the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, full length books. All of these documents assisted JHA in its efforts to get the clients' stories to their intended publics, either directly to consumers via the media, or to public policy makers via the media and lobbying efforts. These documents augmented by clippings about the clients and correspondence between JHA and each client or prospective client provide the raw material for researchers of the collection.
A small number of files are not related to clients, but are instead "information" files. For instance, the "NC Senate, 1969" file contains clippings, biographical material, and policy stances of all members of that body. The file on "NC House, 1969" reveals similar information. These files appear to have been used as part of an effort to gauge legislators' opinions on telephone utility companies, but there are no records of any client requesting this service. Researchers should note that although this collection includes most of the company's files, it does not contain all of them because water damage destroyed a substantial portion.
A number of clients are represented by only one or two files, usually reflecting a short term commitment by JHA. These may vary in usefulness. A few may contain a single press release or scattered clippings. Others are somewhat more revealing of their times. Copy of a radio jingle for A & A discount stores, for instance, is suggestive of the devices used by advertisers to attract customers: "background music should be modern and swinging-not rock. Scene begins as 3 or 4 attractive female models in beach coats and robes take off their robes."
In other instances, the company provided clients a wider array of services over a period of years. In this regard, the relationship of JHA with Gilbarco, Inc., one of JHA's largest clients, is instructive of the kinds of materials found throughout the series--and of the light these materials shed on the changing economics of the South. Gilbarco, a national leader for a century in support products for the petroleum industry moved its international headquarters and its entire American manufacturing operation from Springfield, Mass., to Greensboro, N.C., in 1966.
Correspondence between JHA and Gilbarco executives sheds light on the problems and the opportunities faced by the company's relocation and the early challenges posed by a lengthy Teamsters strike in 1968 and 1969. From its founding in 1958, JHA had offered its clients support in enlisting "official and citizen support in communities where union organizing attempts are resisted." For similar information on JHA's interest in opposing union drives, see also the files on Cone Mills, the National Spinning Company, and the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. Many documents show how JHA attempted to improve Gilbarco's image of good corporate citizenship--by news releases to the media, open days, sponsorship of a Miss Black North Carolina pageant, and publicity of new job opportunities and plant openings. At the same time, JHA advised the company how best to persuade workers that the firm was a loyal employer--by enclosing in wage packets a reminder of the benefits such as financial aid for further education and a ten percent discount on Humble Oil. Copies of Gilbarco News, 1969-1973, a newsletter, also reveal the effort to create a community atmosphere at the plant where workers could read of Armand Ragazzini's hole-in one, Jane Poole's success in the Powder Puff Derby at Caraway Speedway, and of United Fund drives and company picnics. A number of press releases and brochures deal with "project upgrade," an attempt to improve both the quality of the company's main product, gas pumps, and pride in the company's work force, with prizes awarded by a Miss Upgrade, dressed in a "distinctive uniform...of Gilbarco blue sweater, hot pants, and boots."
Much of the correspondence and clippings from the 1970s deals with Gilbarco's efforts to counteract the problems of gas hikes and the oil crises. Personnel and employee recruitment files reveal the company's attempts to attract northerners by highlighting opportunities to "enjoy leisure time in scenic North Carolina."
Copies of Gilbarco recruitment ads for women are also revealing: "Girls...Gilbarco, the company that has that very pretty plant near the airport, has decided to make the inside of the building look just as nice as the outside. So they are hiring women, women, women."
Similar materials reflecting JHA's range of services may be found in the files of the company's larger clients: the Appalachian Power Company, Carolina Motor Club, the Children's Home Society, Crossnore School, Citizen's United for Responsible Enforcement (CURE), Grandfather Mountain Golf and Country Club, Guilford College, Home Security Life Insurance Company, Morpul, Inc., Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, National Spinning Company, North Carolina Association of Independent Schools and Colleges, Ruder and Finn, Inc., Structure House, Texas Gulf Sulphur, and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation.
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Subseries 1.2. Office Files, 1958-1982.
Arrangement: topical.
Records related to the routine office activities of John Harden Associates, including business rosters, clippings about JHA's public relations assignments, and correspondence. Other materials include memoranda on company history, resumes and staff records, financial statements, minute books, and lists of prospective clients.
The business rosters provide names, addresses, telephone numbers, and contact personnel in North Carolina firms in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Correspondence highlights the expansion of the firm into new ventures, notably the advertising agency of Cochrane Harden and Stuart. Many of the memoranda concerning JHA's clients, the company's history and financial situation appear to be have been generated in anticipation of the sale of John Harden Associates in 1980 and 1981. Information on the sale of JHA to Bob Page of Chapel Hill can also be gleaned from legal documents, news clippings, and correspondence between Harden, Page, and their respective lawyers.
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Subseries 1.3. Removed.
Removed and destroyed at donors' request.
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Subseries 1.4. Tryon Palace, 1973-1978.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, news releases, newsletters, reports, articles, and pamphlets concerning restoration of Tryon Palace in New Bern, N.C. Completed in 1770 and restored in the 1950s, the Palace was designed by John Hawks as the residence for William Tryon, North Carolina's colonial governor from England, in the newly designated capital of New Bern. John Harden Associates were hired in 1974 to assist in the public relations campaign to advertise the Tryon Palace Restoration. The Restoration included not only the Palace but also other historical homes in the area. This subseries provides information on the workings of the Restoration Commission in day-to-day operations as well as the larger view of advertising the Palace.
The primary impetus behind the Tryon Palace Restoration project, both in leadership and monetary contributions, was Mrs. Maude Moore Latham and, after her death, her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Kellenberger. John Harden was personally responsible and involved in the Tryon Palace Restoration account. The "Agreements and Negotiations" file outlines Harden's involvement and responsibilities. Much of the Tryon Palace correspondence covers ideas for promoting the Palace, including an unsuccessful attempt to have Queen Elizabeth II tour the Palace on her 1976 trip to America. A large amount of information in the files, including magazine articles, booklets, and newspaper clippings, relates to the American Bicentennial of 1976. There are a large number of pictures in Series 6 associated with Tryon Palace, including photographs of parts of the restoration as it progressed. Some of the photos are from the file "Commission Biography and Photos." This file provides information regarding those individuals appointed to the Commission, usually prominent individuals from New Bern and elsewhere in North Carolina.
A letter from former North Carolina First Lady, Mrs. Dan Moore, dated 2 August 1978, reveals that John Harden Associates were asked to resign their position as publicists for Tryon Palace. That letter and Harden's response reveal the dynamics of the relationship between Harden and the Tryon Commission's administration. Copies of correspondence between Harden and the Commission's administrative officers provide further background on differences between the two parties.
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Subseries 1.5. NCNB, 1954-1973.
Arrangement: by branch, then alphabetical.
Correspondence, annual reports, news releases, memoranda, and other records relating to public relations activities of John Harden Associates on behalf of North Carolina National Bank (NCNB). The General Folder files include information that was loose or was placed in folders without any titles. The bulk of the material primarily covers the 1960s. There are a number of pictures in Series 6 of officers of the bank, as well as photographs of bank buildings and activities such as stockholders' meetings, art in the bank, and other pictures.
John Harden Associates began their relationship with NCNB through their public relations work with Security National Bank, the largest national bank in the state of North Carolina, in 1958. This bank merged with other banks to form NCNB in 1960. C. M. Vanstory, previously assistant treasurer of Burlington Mills and president of Security National Bank, became Chairman of the Board for NCNB. John Harden Associates' work with NCNB was formalized in a memo dated 4 May 1964. Previously, the relationship with both NCNB and Security had been on an informal level. Correspondence in the Joe Cloud folders provide information on this shift, 1964-1965, as well as other aspects of the relationship between the two companies. JHA provided internal assistance, with the in-house NCNB newsletter, The Compass , as well as external assistance.
The records in this subseries provide information and news releases regarding the mergers of banks throughout North Carolina which culminated in the creation of NCNB on 1 July 1960, including a flow chart of the mergers with dates. Throughout the files, reports and memos provide details of the operations of the bank and the changes as NCNB continued to grow. These include administrative changes, new mergers, and the introduction of computers in the bank and how this affected the customers, among other topics.
These files also contain information generated by John Harden Associates regarding other associations in which Vanstory and other NCNB officers were involved. JHA personnel assisted NCNB officers in writing speeches for the organizations and articles published in magazines and newspapers. Included in the files are clippings about NCNB from newspapers and magazines.
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Subseries 1.6. Penick Home, 1969-1980.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, memoranda, press releases, and newsletters concerning Penick Home, an Episcopal Home for the Aging, and the Episcopal Church. Penick Home opened in 1964. John Harden Associates appear to have been most heavily involved from 1964 to 1974, maintaining files on various aspects of the home. The firm played a large part in the Home's Mother's Day fund raising campaign, the object of which was to provide funds for those who could not afford the cost of living in the Home and thereby ensuring that "no one would be turned away for financial reasons." This was the motto of Bishop Penick, for whom the Home was named. Correspondence, examples of information mailed to parishioners, and costs of the campaign are included.
John Harden served on the Board for Penick, and maintained his own Board files from 1971-1973, along with Board Member Information files through 1980. The files are extensive and describe the official actions of the board along with the finances and budget.
The Penick Home Messenger Newsletter, originally written by the residents, progressed from a simple homemade newsletter to a more professional publication mailed out to individuals as well as distributed to those in the home. The early newsletters afford a glimpse into the lives of the people living in the home. The files contain consecutive copies from the period 1972-1977. The newsletter files contain information that went into the newsletters, along with some copies of the newsletter as it developed. The Churchman (later renamed The Communicant), the publication of Diocese of North Carolina, reveals contemporary issues and Episcopal views on activities of their church and the country at large. Correspondence regarding both these publications, with the greatest amount dealing with the Penick Home Newsletter, is found in their respective files.
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Subseries 1.7. Public Relations Society of America, 1957-1982.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence, memoranda, and press releases related to John Harden's activities in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), a national organization of public relations executives. Approximately two-thirds of the material was generated by the national organization, providing members with information on the latest trends in public relations, job opportunities in the field, minutes from the executive meetings of the PRSA board, and the text of speeches on topics relevant to PR professionals. For the 1960s, there are scattered issues of The Gallagher Report: A Confidential Letter to Advertising, Marketing, and Media Executives . There are also more complete runs of the PRSA's National Newsletter in the 1970s. Around one-third of the material comprises correspondence related to the activities of the Carolinas Chapter of PRSA.
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Series 2. Other Business Files, 1947-1981.
Correspondence, memoranda, news clippings, press releases, and other materials relating to John Harden's business activities that were distinct from his work for John Harden Associates.
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Subseries 2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963,
1969-1971.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence and interoffice memos related primarily to Harden's tenure, 1948-1958, as Director of Public Relations at Burlington Mills in Alamance County, N.C. This post was the first of its kind in a southern textile mill, reflecting Burlington's desire, in an age of heightened mass media presence to get its story to the public, and, in particular, to those in power. In that regard, Harden, a confidant of Governor Cherry and Senator Umstead, proved a wise choice. The correspondence reveals that Harden had accepted the position with Burlington Mills while serving as manager of Senator Umstead's election campaign in 1948, but kept it "top secret" until after the Democratic primary.
There are relatively few letters from the late 1940s to mid-1950s, but they do illustrate Harden's extensive contacts with prominent Tar Heel politicians, educators, and newspaper men. One memo also lists Burlington Mills's charitable donations in its home county of Alamance for the period from 1941 to the end of 1950, showing the great extent to which the mill involved itself in the community. Recipients of Burlington's donations ranged from a "negro T.B. victim" ($300) to the Ossipee Baptist church ($1000) to the Burlington Community Building ($70,000).
A number of memoranda provide information on the organization of Burlington Industries, e.g., flow charts detailing the chain of command within the company, names and addresses of Burlington's managers and their locations, and financial data on sales and earnings.
Harden's memos to Burlington chairman, J. Spencer Love, in the late 1950s, are considerably more revealing of his public relations activities, and of southern political and economic developments in general. A number of memos deal with labor-management relations, in particular the long-running textile mill strike at Henderson, N.C. In this instance, Harden's connections in state government proved useful, gleaning information on the strikers activities from an unnamed source in the State Bureau of Investigation. One memo notes the fear of mill executives that the Henderson sheriff and his deputies favored the union side. Another exchange suggests that Time magazine delayed a special feature lauding North Carolina's industrial progress until the Henderson strike was over.
Other memos note the problems of growing foreign competition for Southern textiles, the need for the South to attract new industries, and concern that Luther Hodges's success in doing just that might be jeopardized if he were to be succeeded by a "traditional court house politician." Harden's involvement in the Luther Hodges European Trade Mission (See Subseries 2.3) is also discussed in these memos.
In many of the memos, Harden reported back to Love regarding meetings with University trustees, other businessmen, and politicians. These memos, designed to keep Spencer Love abreast of activities in local and national politics, highlight the close-knit nature of North Carolina's most prominent educators, businessmen, and politicians. Much of Harden's information on events in Raleigh are gleaned from Ed Rankin, Governor Hodges's private secretary and a former journalist with Harden at the Salisbury Post who later joined Harden at John Harden Associates. Harden also used his strong links to the University of North Carolina system --he served as president of the General Alumni Association from 1955 to 1956--to keep Love informed on developments in higher education.
Although Harden left Burlington Industries to establish John Harden Associates in 1958, a number of letters from the early 1960s reveal his continuing personal and professional interest in the firm's activities.
Additional information may be found in Subseries 5.1.4. Photographs regarding Burlington Mills are found in Subseries 6.1.
| Folder 1702 |
Annual reports, 1969-1971 #04702, Subseries: "2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963, 1969-1971." Folder 1702 |
| Folder 1703 |
Brochures #04702, Subseries: "2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963, 1969-1971." Folder 1703 |
Folder 1704-1707
Folder 1704Folder 1705Folder 1706Folder 1707 |
Correspondence, 1947-1979 #04702, Subseries: "2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963, 1969-1971." Folder 1704-1707 |
| Folder 1708 |
Letters of Congratulation #04702, Subseries: "2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963, 1969-1971." Folder 1708 |
Folder 1709-1711
Folder 1709Folder 1710Folder 1711 |
Memos to J. S. Love, 1958-1959 #04702, Subseries: "2.1. Burlington Industries, 1947-1963, 1969-1971." Folder 1709-1711 |
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Subseries 2.2. Cannon Mills, 1971-1981.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence, memoranda, press releases, and other material related to Harden's tenure as head of public relations at Cannon Mills, one of the nation's largest textile manufacturers. From the spring of 1971 to the end of 1972, Harden took a sabbatical from John Harden Associates to assist his brother-in-law, Don Holt, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Cannon. Harden's primary task was to repair a corporate image tarnished by a 1970 exposé by consumer advocate Ralph Nader of poor working conditions in the company's mills, and racial discrimination in company-owned housing. One folder contains a transcript of Nader's televised documentary, Red, White and Blue for Mr. Charlie.
The bulk of materials relate to Harden's efforts to improve Cannon's public relations. Six folders contain press releases on Cannon activities to the local and national media. Harden initiated these releases in 1971 and 1972, but the majority of the releases date from 1973 to 1979, after he had left the company. There is also a full run of the first two years (1971-1973) of Cannon News, a "biweekly publication for employees and friends of Cannon Mills." The News informed its readers of "management's views," ("Strike Can Shut Plants, Holt Says," August 1971), recreational activities such as inter-plant softball, and news of retirees and Cannon scholarships. The first issue of Cannon News in July 1971 profiled a Mr. R. R. "Railroad" Coggins who "'Still Works, Stays Busy' at his 6:30 a.m. shift at Cannon despite a broken leg." Two folders deal with Harden's plan for public tours of the mills, and the construction of a visitor's center at Cannon.
One folder deals with the 1973 National Superdoffer Tournament, a contest to find the fastest doffer in American textile mills. According to the rules of the contest, a doffer must "remove full bobbins of yarn from the spindles on spinning frames, replace them with empty bobbins, then restart the machine so that the cycle of filling the bobbins with yarn can begin again." Harden's correspondence suggests that the tourney proved popular among textile workers and management, but was criticized by Charlotte journalist Harry Golden as akin to Roman bread and circuses, and as an attempt "to take [workers'] minds off the unions." Correspondence and news clippings reveal scattered references to an unsuccessful union drive by the Textile Workers Union of America (TWUA) in 1974.
Other items of note include news clippings on Don Holt, drafts of Holt's speeches, and drafts of a 90-year history of Cannon Mills, written by Harden in 1977. Seven folders contain news releases, fashion brochures, and sewing patterns on a project named, "Love and a Few Stitches," which suggested a myriad of uses (clothing, napkins, children's toys) for Cannon's primary product: towels. These folders also highlight Cannon's shift from staid, conservative designs in bed linens to a more adventurous style. For instance, one brochure, The Many Moods of Me, sought to appeal to "the kind of woman who dares to be different, who wants tomorrow's look today."
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Subseries 2.3. Luther Hodges European Trade Mission, 1959-1961.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence, memoranda, publicity materials, and news clippings related to Harden's role in an industry-hunting tour of Europe by North Carolina businessmen in 1959. The trip built on the state's success in attracting new plant investment (up 32% in 1957-58) and in promoting North Carolina as a business-friendly state with a favorable corporate tax climate. Yet since all the southern states were aggressively courting businesses from America's traditional industrial heartland, Governor Luther Hodges began to look to Europe to give North Carolina an edge over its neighbors. Recognizing that North Carolina needed to sell itself to Europeans who may have harbored less than progressive preconceptions about the South, Hodges handed Harden the task of organizing and publicizing a European tour that would promote the state as a major player in the new era of international trade.
The materials related to the trip can roughly be divided into three parts: correspondence, dossiers on each European city, and news clippings. Other materials include a number of speeches by Governor Hodges and information about travel arrangements. See Series 6 for photographs of the North Carolinians in London, including a photograph of Governor Hodges and a London "bobby" at the gates of Buckingham Palace.
Much of the correspondence concerns Harden's efforts to coordinate planning for the trip. Letters reveal that the tour captured the imagination of many in the North Carolina business community and that far more hoped to participate than could be budgeted. Eventually 64 business leaders, all male and white, made the trip. One constant source of controversy appears to have been the amount of state funds that could be allocated to the trip. Hodges expressed concern about "throwing away state money" (Hodges to Harden, 11 January 1960) and encouraged North Carolina firms to sponsor a luncheon fund to take care of entertainment expenses. A number of documents reveal the cost of the trip ($99,817.00). Other letters deal with the follow up to the European trip, and efforts to maintain contacts with European businesses.
The dossiers on each city visited are also informative. They reveal Harden's work with the diplomatic service and with his European hosts to ensure that the North Carolina party adhered to proper protocol. The commercial attache of the U.S. embassy in London reminded Harden, for instance, that "placing at tables is paramount at British luncheons and dinners." (London dossier) And in France, this attention to cultural sensitivities averted a potential diplomatic faux pas. Harden had sought to utilize the Tar Heel symbol on ties, lapel pins, and publicity materials as an easily recognizable logo. Unfortunately, white French colonial settlers in Algeria, the pieds noirs, had recently adopted a very similar symbol (two black feet) to publicize their resistance to Algerian independence. On being informed of this by French diplomats. Harden agreed for the delegation not to wear Tar Heel ties and emblems in Paris. The dossiers also provide information on the business and political leaders who attended the North Carolina luncheons, itineraries for participants, and briefing papers on the political and business climate in each city. Harden also produced a brochure informing each host nation about North Carolina. These brochures provided Europeans a brief history of North Carolina, a recent (and glowing) Time magazine article on the state's "progressive" race relations and dramatic strides in industrial production. Testimonials from businesses that had recently relocated to the state ("remarkable production record-Westinghouse Electric Corporation") and information on the newly established Research Triangle Park rounded off the brochure's contention that North Carolina was "the different state."
Many of the clippings cover material similar to that found in the correspondence and dossiers. Most of these are from North Carolina newspapers, but also include some from other publications, such as Business Week ("Carolina woos the Rich European") and the English language France Actuelle, which praised Hodges as a "go-getting governor." In the planning stage, the press offered mostly praise for Harden's and Hodges's initiative in formulating such an ambitious plan. Most of the coverage during the trip suggests that the trip had proved successful in making North Carolina known to the wider world. The trips to England and Germany appear to have met with the greatest success, but one account noted a less than enthusiastic welcome for Tar Heels in Paris. This does not seem to have been connected to the "pied noir" controversy, but rather to the fact that the French were reluctant to speak English and the North Carolinians spoke no French. A number of clippings reveal a minor controversy that arose at the end of the trip, concerning Harden's retainer fee of $100.00 a day for 73 days.
Other material of interest includes the texts of several addresses by Luther Hodges given at each European stop, in which he highlights the great strides made by North Carolina industries. There is also a copy of Hodges's pamphlet of a recent trip to the U.S.S.R, A Governor Sees the Soviets, and a German language edition of the tour's publicity brochure, Nordkarolina, der 'Tar Heel' Staat.
See also memos from Harden to J. S. Love in Subseries 2.1 about Harden's involvement in the trade mission.
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Subseries 2.4. Piedmont Associated Industries, Inc., 1961-1973.
Arrangement: chronological.
Correspondence and memoranda generated by Piedmont Associated Industries, Inc. (PAI), a Greensboro-based lobbying group for the North Carolina textile industry, comprise about half of the material in this subseries. The remainder consists of PAI's membership bulletin, a weekly compendium of pending legislation of interest to PAI's membership, developments in labor relations in the industry, and information on social gatherings for members. There are only a handful of bulletins for 1961 to 1962, none for 1963 and 1964, and 20 weekly bulletins for 1965. There is practically a full run of bulletins for 1966, 1970, and 1971, and scattered issues for 1967, 1968, and 1969.
The correspondence offers a vivid portrait of the world of the Southern textile executive in the 1960s. Although Harden had left Burlington Industries to set up his own public relations company in 1958, he did not leave this world behind, and as a member of the Board of Directors of PAI, he kept abreast of the three major challenges faced by southern textile manufacturers in the 1960s: foreign competition, racial integration, and unionization.
The correspondence highlights PAI's efforts to feel the political pulse of Washington and Raleigh on matters concerning the textile industry. A number of letters convey PAI's concerted lobbying of Congress to protect Carolina textiles from Asian imports and the trade barriers of the European Common Market. Other memoranda note African-American efforts to gain access to jobs in textiles; an issue that, the members of PAI suggest, was not of "much concern" to management, but did meet with hostility from a predominantly white work force. In a speech to PAI in March 1962, Harden warned that any plans to integrate firms must proceed with caution. Convinced that good PR can overcome any problem, he proposed that every effort be made to improve "personal communications" between workers of both races and with management. In this regard, PAI sponsored a number of "management sensitization seminars" in the late 1960s to make supervisory personnel aware of the "plight of the minority disadvantaged person."
Several memoranda suggest that textile managers were, however, deeply concerned about federal equal opportunity legislation, and hostile to growing governmental regulation in general, including minimum wage legislation, Medicaid, Medicare, and anti-poverty measures. Many of the correspondents also note their concern about support for these measures within the Sanford administration in Raleigh. PAI's membership bulletin makes clear that, as the 1960s progressed, southern industrialists came to rely more and more on support from Northern Republicans as well as their traditional Southern Democratic allies.
The correspondence and weekly membership bulletins make clear, however, that organized labor posed the greatest concern for the members of PAI. One textile executive feared in October 1965, that the current "climate for union organizing [was] unparalleled in American history," and noted with alarm that "the Negro" hitherto anti-union "and with a history of loyalty to his employer...is no longer sure that's right." In order to combat the labor/civil rights alliance, PAI sponsored a number of conferences on how best to defeat union drives, and a number of pamphlets and brochures detail these efforts. The collection also includes materials produced by PAI's foes, notably labor unions, civil rights groups, and left-wing organizations such as the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Folder 1784-1788
Folder 1784Folder 1785Folder 1786Folder 1787Folder 1788 |
Membership Bulletin, 1961-1972 #04702, Subseries: "2.4. Piedmont Associated Industries, Inc., 1961-1973." Folder 1784-1788 |
Folder 1789-1795
Folder 1789Folder 1790Folder 1791Folder 1792Folder 1793Folder 1794Folder 1795 |
Correspondence, 1958-1973 #04702, Subseries: "2.4. Piedmont Associated Industries, Inc., 1961-1973." Folder 1789-1795 |
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Subseries 2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981.
Arrangement: chronological and topical.
Correspondence, newsletters, and clippings related to John Harden's activities in Rotary International. In 1962, Harden served as Governor of Rotary Chapter 769, a district that included Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point, Kannapolis, and most of the North Carolina Piedmont excluding Charlotte and the Raleigh-Durham area. Harden remained active in that organization for the rest of his career.
Most of the material provides information on upcoming Rotary activities in Greensboro and in North Carolina generally. There are scattered issues of District 769's Governors Monthly Newsletter for the 1960s and for the 1970s. Rotaryarns, a monthly newsletter of Greensboro Rotaryans provides information on the organization's activities in that city from 1970 to 1976. Rotary Club pictures are available in Subseries 6.1.
Folder 1796-1804
Folder 1796Folder 1797Folder 1798Folder 1799Folder 1800Folder 1801Folder 1802Folder 1803Folder 1804 |
Rotary, 1955-1980 #04702, Subseries: "2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981." Folder 1796-1804 |
| Folder 1805 |
Rotary, undated #04702, Subseries: "2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981." Folder 1805 |
| Folder 1806 |
Rotary International District 769: District Governor, 1962-1970 #04702, Subseries: "2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981." Folder 1806 |
Folder 1807-1808
Folder 1807Folder 1808 |
Rotary International District 769: Governor's Monthly Letter, 1962-1980 #04702, Subseries: "2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981." Folder 1807-1808 |
Folder 1809-1810
Folder 1809Folder 1810 |
"Rotaryarns"-Greensboro Rotary Club, 1970-1976 #04702, Subseries: "2.5. Rotary Club, 1955-1981." Folder 1809-1810 |
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Series 3. Political Activities, 1944-1981.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence, press releases, campaign ads, speeches, and clippings concerning North Carolina politics from 1944 to 1981. About two-thirds of the materials cover the period from 1944 to 1958.
The largest single group of materials deals with North Carolina's 1944 gubernatorial campaign. Most of these folders contain speeches and press releases written by Harden in his capacity as director of publicity for Gregg Cherry, the successful Democratic candidate. Topics covered include increased salaries for public school teachers, tax cuts, juvenile delinquency, rural electrification, health care, and post-war planning. On health care, for instance, Cherry proposed in April 1944 that where parents were unable to afford medical care for their children, "the state should assume this cost," as "the neglect of youth becomes the burden of age and a grievous loss to the state in earning power." There are also numerous campaign ads, most supporting Cherry, but one contrasts a photograph of an apparently inebriated Cherry with his rival, Ralph McDonald, who is described as "Safe, Sane, and Sober." Further materials on the Cherry administration are collected in Subseries 4.5 and in Subseries 6.1.
Other folders deal with incumbent Senator William Umstead's losing 1948 campaign for the Senate. Again, most of the material consists of press releases generated by Harden, Umstead's director of public relations. Topics covered include Umstead's opposition to President Truman's "so-called civil rights program" as "an unwarranted invasion of state sovereignty." Umstead's speeches also focused on support for the European Recovery Program as the strongest bulwark against communism abroad and support for the Taft-Hartley Act as the best protection against the "unbridled" power of the labor unions.
Campaign literature and news clippings suggest that civil rights was also a key issue in the 1954 Democratic Senate primary between Alton Lennon and W. Kerr Scott. The primary took place against the backdrop of the Brown decision. Harden did not play a direct role in this primary, but the bulk of the campaign literature is supportive of Lennon's candidacy.
News clippings and campaign brochures account for most of the materials from the late 1950s through the 1960s. There are a number of large campaign advertisements for candidates Dan Moore, Richardson Preyer, and I. Beverly Lake from the 1964 gubernatorial race and correspondence related to Governor Moore's appointment of Harden to a number of state boards.
The remaining folders contain clippings and brochures from various North Carolina campaigns and scattered materials concerning national politics, notably promotional literature from the 1976 presidential campaigns of Senator Henry Jackson of Washington and Governor George Wallace of Alabama.
Further information concerning Harden's political activities can be found in Series 1, in the files of John Harden Associates. Campaign Associates, an offshoot of JHA, ran several electoral campaigns throughout the South in the 1970s, including Hugh Morton's race for North Carolina's Democratic gubernatorial primary in 1972. Photographs of this campaign are found in Subseries 6.1. Harden's writings (Series 4) and the Harden family correspondence (Series 5) also contain information on the Cherry and Umstead campaigns, and on Harden's tenure as Cherry's private secretary.
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Series 4. Writings, 1923?-1984.
Arrangement: by type.
Harden received many letters from fans, especially school children. Harden spoke to many schools and youth groups, including his own children's Boy Scout troops, about the ghost stories he had included in his books. Letters and ghost stories written by school children are included.
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Subseries 4.1. Published Books, 1946-1979.
Arrangement: by book title, then alphabetically.
Correspondence and other papers regarding each of John Harden's published books. Harden published The Devil's Tramping Ground and Other North Carolina Mystery Stories in 1949 and Tar Heel Ghosts in 1954. These books present stories gathered by Harden that deal with North Carolina locales, myths, and stories. Devil's Tramping Ground grew out of a weekly radio program, entitled Tales of Tarheelia, presented over eighteen months on station WPTF in Raleigh in 1946-1947. Both books were illustrated by Lindsey McAlister, an acquaintance of Harden's daughter Glenn Abbott, and were published by the University of North Carolina Press.
Correspondence between Harden and the University of North Carolina Press make up a large part of this subseries. These letters include information on the marketing strategies involved in selling the books. Getting the word out to others through influential and well-placed persons prompted the compiling of the Ghosts Mail List, containing the names of those individuals John Harden and the UNC Press felt should receive copies of the book. Correspondence includes answers from some people who received review copies.
Correspondence between Harden and UNC Press director Lambert Davis reveals the methods and sources for many of Harden's published stories. For both the radio shows and the books, Harden pulled information from a variety of sources. In February 1955, a Mrs. Patton wrote to Lambert Davis, then director of UNC Press, regarding a possible copyright problem. She had published a book earlier which included two stories that appeared in Tar Heel Ghosts.
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Subseries 4.2. Tar Heel Ghosts - Television, 1955.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Scripts, with illustrations, of stories presented in a series produced by WUNC Television in 1955, from Tar Heel Ghosts. Scripts contain notations as to when the pictures would be shown, notations about music and cues, as well as various changes and additions in Harden's hand.
There are two types of illustrations included in this subseries. One type is the smaller, paper drawings found in the regular folders. These were originally glued or taped to the center of a black background. The second type of drawings are in both the regular folder and in oversized folders. These are drawn directly onto a hardboard. Some of these boards are numbered to show the sequence of the pictures along with the text. An average of 4-5 pictures appear with each story. The drawings are by the book's illustrator, Lindsey McAlister.
Although there is not much other documentation on the television production, a letter dated June 1955 from WUNC Television in the Ghosts correspondence file refers to their having to cancel one story and how that influenced the schedule.
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Subseries 4.3. Radio Show, 1946-1947.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Scripts with times, dates, and directing instructions on them, and written copies of the stories used in John Harden's radio shows, entitled Tales of Tarheelia, which was broadcast by radio station WPTF in Raleigh in 1946-1947. On these shows, Harden told North Carolina stories, "giving emphasis to unsolved North Carolina mystery stories in recognition of the prevailing popularity of whodunits." The files are arranged according to Harden's filing of them under series sequence. There is some repetition of stories, but as little as possible.
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Subseries 4.4. Newspaper, 1932-1944.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence, memoranda, articles, and notes relating to John Harden's work as reporter and columnist for the Charlotte News, 1927-1937; news editor for the Salisbury Evening Post, 1937-1944; and executive news director for the Greensboro Daily News, 1947. The majority of the correspondence relates to Harden's "Snapshots" column. Notes and letters sent in by readers provide a view of the relationship Harden cultivated with his readers and their interest in providing odd stories for inclusion in his column.
In addition to his news editor responsibilities in Salisbury, Harden also authored a weekly column with Carl Spencer for most of 1938. The column, "Heeling Tar Heelia," dealt with North Carolina oddities and events and is found in Subseries 4.6.
Folder 1916-1921
Folder 1916Folder 1917Folder 1918Folder 1919Folder 1920Folder 1921 |
Correspondence, 1932-1944 #04702, Subseries: "4.4. Newspaper, 1932-1944." Folder 1916-1921 |
| Folder 1922 |
"Fun in the News" #04702, Subseries: "4.4. Newspaper, 1932-1944." Folder 1922 |
Folder 1923-1924
Folder 1923Folder 1924 |
The Newspaper Speech #04702, Subseries: "4.4. Newspaper, 1932-1944." Folder 1923-1924 |
| Folder 1925 |
Snapshot Logo and Drawings #04702, Subseries: "4.4. Newspaper, 1932-1944." Folder 1925 |
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Subseries 4.5. Governor Cherry's Letter Book, 1950.
Arrangement: by draft number.
Drafts of Governor Cherry's Letter Book, written by John Harden. The Governor's Letter Book, Iron Major, is a summation of Cherry's accomplishments in office. The second file contains a letter from Lynn Nisbet, Bureau Manager of the North Carolina Association of Afternoon Dailies, commenting on Harden's draft. Nisbet's letter addressed Harden's handling of the issue of Cherry's drinking.
Folder 1926-1930
Folder 1926Folder 1927Folder 1928Folder 1929Folder 1930 |
Governor Cherry's Letter Book #04702, Subseries: "4.5. Governor Cherry's Letter Book, 1950." Folder 1926-1930 |
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Subseries 4.6. Original articles by John and Nina Jo Harden, 1927-1945?
Arrangement: by author, then alphabetically by subject.
Titled and untitled writings by both John and Nina Jo Harden, ranging from John's writings while at University of North Carolina to stories that they wrote together. A large number of the writings are nonfiction, but fictional works are found throughout. The bulk of the material appears to have been written in the 1930s and provides a view of contemporary issues and interests of that time period, including a woman's perspective on the Depression and married life.
John Harden's articles written for the newspapers were sent to various magazines for publication and payment. Harden mailed out unpublished stories as well. An envelope marked `Return' held a file of articles sent to different magazines in this attempt. Harden attempted to "sell" his inside knowledge of Paul Green as an article. Green's brother-in-law roomed with John Harden in college, and Harden knew Green through their participation in Playmakers.
The file titled "Heeling Tar Heelia" contains copies, 2 January 1938-4 September 1938, of the weekly newspaper column written by John Harden and Carl Spencer. The column reported on Carolina oddities in brief story form. Many of the columns include cartoon drawings by Carl Spencer in a similar style to Ripley's Believe It or Not, as well as editorial cartoons reflecting contemporary politics and the growing conflict in Europe.
Nina Jo Harden's fiction and non-fiction were written under the name "Jo Holt Harden." The file "Notes of a Haus Frau" contains her reflections on how life should be and the reality that she lived. She described, for example, how she dealt with her baby's thumb sucking and resultant complications, the doctor's prescriptions and home remedies attempted.
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Subseries 4.7. Speeches, 1958-1978.
Arrangement: topical.
Correspondence, news clippings, texts of speeches, lay sermons, and other public addresses given by John Harden and others. The bulk of these materials consist of notes and clippings that Harden gathered in preparation for speeches covering topics such as public relations, morality, free enterprise, welfare, southern industry, and race relations. Harden's notes and selection of clippings on political issues suggest an unflinching commitment to the free enterprise system and a corresponding concern for the efficacy of the 1960s Great Society programs. A similar philosophy can be found in files containing scattered copies of Jesse Helms's WRAL-TV Viewpoints from the 1960s. Other items of note include the text and notes for a number of college commencement addresses, some possibly delivered by Harden. There are also notes and texts of speeches given by Harden and others at Rotary Club meetings and several drafts of lay sermons given by Harden in the 1970s in which he related his notion of faith to the field of public relations and communications. Much of the correspondence in this subseries relates to Harden's speaking engagements.
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Subseries 4.8. Clippings, 1934?-1984.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.
Clippings accumulated by John Harden over his writing career. Newspaper and magazine clippings were put together in subject areas, with titles such as Adventure or Death-Graves-Funerals-Epitaphs-Also Weirdies. The clippings provide further information on North Carolina folk tales and history. Many clippings are on the same subject, but by different authors or in different presentations. The stories that make up both of Harden's books can be found throughout the clippings. Articles by Bill Sharpe from the official magazine of North Carolina state government, The State, are also included. According to a 1981 bio-sheet, John was gathering information to write a book on North Carolina adventure stories.
Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
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Series 5. Personal Correspondence and Papers, 1915-1986.
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Subseries 5.1. Correspondence, 1915-1986.
Arrangement: by correspondent, then chronological.
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Subseries 5.1.1. Holt/Harden Correspondence, 1915-1948.
Arrangement: chronological.
Letters, clippings and some photographs, of John Harden and Nina Jo Holt Harden, dealing with courtship, marriage, World War II, and everyday life.
The Hardens' courtship is reflected in the letters, primarily through letters from John to Nina Jo. The letters are essentially cordial between 1915 and 1925. Nina Jo suffered from hypertension throughout her life, and many letters from John concern her recovery from various illnesses. As the courtship progressed, more and more letters from Jo appear. John corresponded, 1923-1927, with Jo while he was at the University of North Carolina and she was at home in Graham and at the Woman's College in Greensboro. John's feelings for Jo during this time are the main subject of the letters, but there is also a good deal of information about his work for the newspaper, school, and Playmakers, a theater group at UNC. This group went on performance trips, and ephemera from the various locations are included in John's correspondence with Jo. John sent clippings from local papers in practically every letter, whether from Chapel Hill or on a trip. The contents of the clippings are miscellaneous; some are romantic, but many simply reflect John's personal interests at the time. Through his discussions of his school work, friends, and activities John provides a view of collegiate life in the mid-1920s.
After their marriage, letters back and forth between the couple, and the families, are prevalent. Jo went on trips with the children throughout the 1930s, visiting friends and family, while John remained behind to work. Trips to the beach were frequent, and pictures from a 1935 trip are in Subseries 6.2 in Volume S-5.
In 1943, Nina Jo passed a civil service test and went to Washington to serve the government in a security level position. Family correspondence reflects her absence and the children's activities at boarding school. John states that the neighbors were wondering if he and Jo had separated.
John and Jo corresponded with a wide variety of people. Letters during World War II provide information on both the home front and various theaters of fighting. Of particular interest are letters between John Harden and Bill Snider and between Nina Jo Harden and Sue McNeely. Snider, later the editor of the Greensboro Daily News , was stationed in Assam, India, for much of 1944 and 1945, and wrote several letters that reveal a young Tar Heel's growing sensitivity on race relations. On 15 May 1944, he noted that "the racial situation will be dynamite when the army comes marching home," and that the "war is showing us how...undemocratic we all are." Still stationed in India after VJ day, Snider declared his support for Indians seeking independence from Britain (4 December 1945), and concluded that "this army is broadening....I'm not the same old boy who left Fort Bragg." Sue McNeely's world was similarly broadened by her husband's posting to New Mexico, where she enrolled in a civil engineering course at the University of New Mexico. Correspondence between Nina Jo Harden and her brother, Don Holt, also provide information on conditions in the armed forces during the war.
John's 1944 position with Gregg Cherry's campaign in Raleigh resulted in numerous letters to Jo and the children, relating his activities with the campaign and reflecting through his replies the state of affairs in Greensboro.
The correspondence of 1945-1948 is broad in scope, with letters to and from the children, other family members, and friends. After 1948, personal correspondence is more limited and general. These post-1948 letters can be found in Subseries 5.1.3.
Folder 2036-2075
Folder 2036Folder 2037Folder 2038Folder 2039Folder 2040Folder 2041Folder 2042Folder 2043Folder 2044Folder 2045Folder 2046Folder 2047Folder 2048Folder 2049Folder 2050Folder 2051Folder 2052Folder 2053Folder 2054Folder 2055Folder 2056Folder 2057Folder 2058Folder 2059Folder 2060Folder 2061Folder 2062Folder 2063Folder 2064Folder 2065Folder 2066Folder 2067Folder 2068Folder 2069Folder 2070Folder 2071Folder 2072Folder 2073Folder 2074Folder 2075 |
1915-1929 #04702, Subseries: "5.1.1. Holt/Harden Correspondence, 1915-1948." Folder 2036-2075 |
Folder 2076-2077
Folder 2076Folder 2077 |
Undated 1920s #04702, Subseries: "5.1.1. Holt/Harden Correspondence, 1915-1948." Folder 2076-2077 |
Folder 2078-2122
Folder 2078Folder 2079Folder 2080Folder 2081Folder 2082Folder 2083Folder 2084Folder 2085Folder 2086Folder 2087Folder 2088Folder 2089Folder 2090Folder 2091Folder 2092Folder 2093Folder 2094Folder 2095Folder 2096Folder 2097Folder 2098Folder 2099Folder 2100Folder 2101Folder 2102Folder 2103Folder 2104Folder 2105Folder 2106Folder 2107Folder 2108Folder 2109Folder 2110Folder 2111Folder 2112Folder 2113Folder 2114Folder 2115Folder 2116Folder 2117Folder 2118Folder 2119Folder 2120Folder 2121Folder 2122 |
1930-1948 #04702, Subseries: "5.1.1. Holt/Harden Correspondence, 1915-1948." Folder 2078-2122 |
Folder 2123-2129
Folder 2123Folder 2124Folder 2125Folder 2126Folder 2127Folder 2128Folder 2129 |
Undated #04702, Subseries: "5.1.1. Holt/Harden Correspondence, 1915-1948." Folder 2123-2129 |
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Subseries 5.1.2. Get Well/Sympathy Cards, Nina Jo Holt Harden, 1951-1952.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Correspondence to and from John Harden regarding Nina Jo Harden's illness and death, including telegrams and flower cards. Get well cards sent to Jo around the time of her death are also included in the subseries. In late 1951, Jo entered the hospital due to complications stemming from her only having one kidney and hypertension. According to a letter from John, it was the hypertension that was the main cause of death. Nina Jo's death was largely unexpected to many friends and acquaintances, and their shock and grief are reflected in the correspondence. Information regarding Jo's estate is found in Subseries 5.3.1.
Folder 2130-2159
Folder 2130Folder 2131Folder 2132Folder 2133Folder 2134Folder 2135Folder 2136Folder 2137Folder 2138Folder 2139Folder 2140Folder 2141Folder 2142Folder 2143Folder 2144Folder 2145Folder 2146Folder 2147Folder 2148Folder 2149Folder 2150Folder 2151Folder 2152Folder 2153Folder 2154Folder 2155Folder 2156Folder 2157Folder 2158Folder 2159 |
Get Well & Sympathy Cards: A-P, R-W, Y-Z #04702, Subseries: "5.1.2. Get Well/Sympathy Cards, Nina Jo Holt Harden, 1951-1952." Folder 2130-2159 |
| Folder 2160 |
Get Well & Sympathy Cards: Unknown #04702, Subseries: "5.1.2. Get Well/Sympathy Cards, Nina Jo Holt Harden, 1951-1952." Folder 2160 |
| Folder 2161 |
Funeral Prayer #04702, Subseries: "5.1.2. Get Well/Sympathy Cards, Nina Jo Holt Harden, 1951-1952." Folder 2161 |
| Folder 2162 |
Death-Miscellaneous #04702, Subseries: "5.1.2. Get Well/Sympathy Cards, Nina Jo Holt Harden, 1951-1952." Folder 2162 |
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Subseries 5.1.3. John Harden Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1948-1971.
Arrangement: chronological.
Personal and business-related correspondence about North Carolina history, genealogy, household business, and other subjects. Personal correspondence is limited, typed, and usually brief. Throughout Harden's life, his interest in North Carolina history and genealogy was the subject of correspondence. Many letters to him refer to historical places, artifacts, or subjects that his correspondents had seen or heard of.
Household business correspondence is included. In much of these writings, John kept copies of outgoing letters. Correspondence about specific subjects were filed together, with the latest letter at the beginning and proceeding in reverse chronological order. A number of letters in the series are arranged this way, thus providing immediate background information for the correspondence.
General professional business, broad in subject, is included in this file. Much of this correspondence has a more personal flavor than does the business correspondence filed in Series 1.
| Folder 2163 |
Politics-"Gov. Office-Personal" circa 1944-1947 includes letters to and replies from J. Harden #04702, Subseries: "5.1.3. John Harden Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1948-1971." Folder 2163 |
Folder 2164-2187
Folder 2164Folder 2165Folder 2166Folder 2167Folder 2168Folder 2169Folder 2170Folder 2171Folder 2172Folder 2173Folder 2174Folder 2175Folder 2176Folder 2177Folder 2178Folder 2179Folder 2180Folder 2181Folder 2182Folder 2183Folder 2184Folder 2185Folder 2186Folder 2187 |
1948-1971 #04702, Subseries: "5.1.3. John Harden Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1948-1971." Folder 2164-2187 |
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Subseries 5.1.4. Plexico/Harden Correspondence, 1950-1953.
Arrangement: chronological.
RESTRICTED: RESTRICTED UNTIL 1 JANUARY 2024.
Correspondence of Sarah Plexico, John Harden's second wife, while she was in New York City as an aspiring actress, and letters to her from John Harden during their courtship. The courtship correspondence, 1952-1953, makes up the majority of the subseries. The letters are brief, intermingling the personal aspect of their relationship with John's business responsibilities at Burlington Mills. Copies of interoffice correspondence or personal asides about events are included in many of his letters, especially the 1953 letters. Harden appeared to be experiencing financial difficulties and this is referred to in many of his letters.
Clippings and other items were included in most of these letters, with topics ranging from business activities at Burlington Mills to theatrical productions and articles and cartoons about older men marrying younger women. A 3 February 1953 letter includes a clipping regarding North Carolina author Inglis Fletcher and her visit to the O. Henry Hotel. Harden attended a dinner party in honor of Ms. Fletcher. Correspondence dated 18 February 1953 contains a pamphlet of Andy Griffith and his wife Barbara, advertising their potential as performers for different business settings.
| Folder 2188 |
Sarah Plexico Correspondence, 1945-1950 #04702, Subseries: "5.1.4. Plexico/Harden Correspondence, 1950-1953." Folder 2188 |
Folder 2189-2199
Folder 2189Folder 2190Folder 2191Folder 2192Folder 2193Folder 2194Folder 2195Folder 2196Folder 2197Folder 2198Folder 2199 |
Plexico/Harden Correspondence, 1952-1953 #04702, Subseries: "5.1.4. Plexico/Harden Correspondence, 1950-1953." Folder 2189-2199 |
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Subseries 5.1.5. Family Correspondence, 1953-1986.
Arrangement: chronological and by subject.
RESTRICTED: RESTRICTED UNTIL 1 JANUARY 2057.
Letters and clippings about personal and household business, filed chronologically, followed by named folders for family members. These include the extended families of both John Harden and Sarah Plexico Harden, as well as John Harden's children from both marriages. These personal folders contain the majority of the correspondence.
Harden maintained files of his children's correspondence at his office and these are included with the children's files he and his wife kept at home. Correspondence found in these files is primarily between Harden and his children, including Father's Day cards, notes, and detailed letters. Much of the correspondence is during the children's teen and adult years, concerning their activities at college, on trips, marriage, and family. There is also correspondence regarding Harden's death in 1985. Items from the 1960s-1970s make up the majority of the correspondence, although there is a good amount of information from the early 1980s.
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Subseries 5.2. Personal Papers, 1914?-1984.
Arrangement: by subject.
RESTRICTED: RESTRICTED UNTIL 1 JANUARY 2055.
School papers, diaries, playbills, pamphlets and clippings. The arrangement of these papers is similar to the correspondence arrangement. Papers compiled by John and Nina Jo Holt Harden occur first, followed by John and Sarah Plexico Harden, and then the children. The majority of the papers are from 1940 on, with the children's school papers and certificates constituting a large portion of that majority.
Early items include Jo Holt's diaries, 1919-1925; and John Harden's school papers. Playbills and clippings from 1947-1951 reflecting Sarah's time in New York and in summer theater are included, as well as her own school papers, childhood to college.
General clippings from newspapers and magazines from the 1920s-1940s, as well as pamphlets of the same time period are included. A program from the 1947 (first) Williamsburg, Va., production of The Common Glory, written by Paul Green, is included. A pamphlet entitled Love Letters of an Athlete, circulated by the Southern Baptist Convention, circa 1925-1926, is contained here. The letters are "correspondence" between a male and female college senior at different schools discussing modesty in clothes, drinking, and petting. "Caroline, I have been thinking - petting, when carried on to the yellow fever stage, is what ruined Babylon-and Greece-and Rome and Sodom. No nation has ever gotten over a petting spree." An assortment of clippings from the 1920s are included.
The information from the 1940s on is broad in scope. Harden served as the President of the General Alumni Association of the University of North Carolina in 1955 and remained active with this organization for the rest of his life. Papers relating to UNC, the Alumni Association, and reunions of his class are found here.
School papers, drawings, and clippings are the primary subject of all the children's personal papers. From the time of his own twin sons' birth in 1956 until the 1970s, Harden collected many clippings on twins. The special language of twins is the subject of many of these newspaper and magazine articles, and reveal the changing attitude towards the treatment of parents, school and society regarding twin children.
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Subseries 5.3. Removed.
Removed and destroyed at donors' request.
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Subseries 5.4. Genealogy, 1903-1984.
Arrangement: alphabetical by subject.
Correspondence, clippings, birth certificates, charts, and other items relating to the Harden, Holt, Snead, and Abbott families. John Harden's great interest in his own family history is reflected here. The Sneads and Abbotts were the families of Harden's mother, Nettie Cayce Abbott (Muddies). Information about Muddies and her family, and the Snead/Abbott reunions attended by Harden and his siblings, is included. As his mother aged, Harden and his siblings were in close contact as to her financial and physical comfort. They and their cousins corresponded also about the upkeep of Muddie's family home in Virginia.
Correspondence and other records regarding Harden family reunions, held annually near Christmas. Photographs of these events are included in the collection. Many are of John Harden and his siblings in front of hotel signs stating "Welcome Harden Reunion."
Much biographical material on John Harden is included, with bio-sheets written by him providing his perspective on his life. Both John and Sarah Harden were included in a variety of Who's Who publications. Related files contain correspondence, copies of data sheets, and information regarding various Who's Who volumes.
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Subseries 5.5. Religion, 1957-1984.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Papers relating to John Harden's religious activities, chiefly as an active member of Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church in Greensboro. Harden chaired and served on a variety of committees, taught Sunday School, served as secretary to the vestry in 1978, and was a delegate to at least three North Carolina Diocesan Conventions in the 1960s. Programs, itineraries, and lists of participants are included in the Diocesan Convention files. The 1966 Convention attempted to address concerns of the Episcopal members in the diocese regarding the National Council of Churches and that group's attempt to influence legislation repealing the Taft-Hartley Act.
In 1979 or later, John gave a series of church school lessons on aging, entitled "De Senectute", based on a work by Cicero. The written lessons and clippings relating to aging are contained in this file.
This subseries also contains prayers given by John or others on a variety of topics and specific to different occasions. See also sermons by John Harden in Subseries 4.7, Speeches.
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Subseries 5.6. Alamance County, 1966?-1982.
Arrangement: Alphabetical.
Correspondence, pamphlets, clippings, ephemera on Alamance County, Harden's home until he went to the University of North Carolina. Both John Harden and Nina Jo Holt were born in Graham, N.C., in Alamance County. Included is a copy of The Alamance County Architectural Heritage , circa 1980. Correspondence primarily regards historical aspects of Alamance and Harden's knowledge or inquiries in this matter.
| Folder 2510 |
Alamance-Historical Information compiled by JWH, Newspaper Clippings re "Know Alamance" #04702, Subseries: "5.6. Alamance County, 1966?-1982." Folder 2510 |
Folder 2511-2514
Folder 2511Folder 2512Folder 2513Folder 2514 |
Alamance Miscellaneous #04702, Subseries: "5.6. Alamance County, 1966?-1982." Folder 2511-2514 |
Folder 2515-2517
Folder 2515Folder 2516Folder 2517 |
Alamance County #04702, Subseries: "5.6. Alamance County, 1966?-1982." Folder 2515-2517 |
Folder 2518-2519
Folder 2518Folder 2519 |
Alamance County Architectural Heritage #04702, Subseries: "5.6. Alamance County, 1966?-1982." Folder 2518-2519 |
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Subseries 5.7. Miscellaneous Papers.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Newspaper and business information that appears to be unconnected to Harden's official business activities or his writing files.
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Series 6. Photographs, Photograph Albums, and Scrapbooks, 1915?-1984.
Photographs, photo albums and scrapbooks containing personal, business, and political subjects. Predominantly black and white photos. Of the personal photos, the majority were taken by the Hardens, Hugh Morton, or friends. Professional photographers, company photographers, and others were responsible for many of the business and political photographs. A few large photographs are located in the oversized picture file; these are primarily business photographs.
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Subseries 6.1. Photographs, 1915-1984.
Arrangement: by subject: political, business and personal.
Photographs include business, political, and personal subjects. The majority of these pictures are black and white. Many pictures include captions identifying the persons or places pictured.
The photographs of business and politics are primarily file pictures used in news stories or magazines. Hugh Morton, who took many of the Harden's personal pictures ran for governor in 1972. Photographs of his bid for governor include family photographs, photographs of campaign activities, and publicity photos of Morton as a young man and on Grandfather Mountain. Photographs of Harden's tenure with Governor Cherry are primarily publicity photos; the majority are well-captioned and dated. The NCNB photographs primarily contain portrait photographs of the executive officers of the bank. Bank activities and buildings are also included. Folders 16-17 contain photographs of a stockholders' meeting in the 1960s.
Publicity shots for The Devil's Tramping Ground are also included. These photographs center mainly on book signings and on photographs of the physical location of the Devil's Tramping Ground.
The personal photographs cover from the 1910s up until the 1980s, with most taken in the 1920s-1960s. John Harden, his first wife Nina Jo, and Harden's children are the subject of the majority of these pictures. Glenn Abbott, her wedding and family, are well-represented. A portion of the personal photographs appear to have been owned by John's mother, Muddies. Pictures of John and Sarah Plexico Harden and their children Mark, Holmes, and Jonathan are predominantly in color. Photographic Christmas cards make up most of that collection. Subseries 5.1.5 contains other photographs included in correspondence.
Throughout the folders there are many photographs providing a picture of life in North Carolina during this time period, Forexample, there are pictures in Folder 6 of a young Billy Graham preaching at a "Singing on the Mountain," one of the largest religious events in North Carolina, and of tobacco harvesting in the field. In Folder 76, there is a photograph of an all-black football team, presumably from the late 1930s or early 1940s.