A Note on My Harding Research

The information I posted during 2020 mostly covered Warren Harding's front-porch campaign from his home on Mt. Vernon Avenue in Marion, Ohio. The campaign officially started on July 31, 1920, and ended on September 25. The plan was to post daily on events that occurred exactly 100 years ago that day, but I shared other information as well. You'll have to read bottom-to-top if you want to follow the campaign from Day 1.

I used the open web for some of my research but also information accessible by using my library card or my subscription to www.newspapers.com. The most useful resource was the Marion Star, which was owned by the Hardings at the time of the campaign. I also browsed online copies of other newspapers like the New York Times, the Washington Star, and the Dayton Daily News, which, in 1920, was owned by Harding's Democratic opponent, Governor James M. Cox. I also posted information from other newspapers that covered Harding's trips away from Marion during the campaign.

Another great resource I used was Dale E. Cottrill's The Conciliator, a 1969 biography of the president that expanded an earlier bibliography of Harding's speeches. An online version is available at the Internet Archive, but I used a hard copy borrowed from the State Library of Ohio.

Readers should not construe anything posted here as a political statement on my part. I just like Harding as a historical topic.

7/06/2020

Harding's Executive Offices

Harding's executive offices during the campaign were in the home immediately east of his own. It was owned by George Christian, his secretary.


A wooden sidewalk connected the Harding home to the side entrance of the temporary offices, which were on the west side of the Christian home.

Many campaign photos were taken at the entrance of the executive offices, including this one in which Senator Harding is closest to the door on the porch:


And this one of a crowd:

Source: https://ohiopix.org/record-display/p267401coll32/26836

And here's a screenshot from a Harding newsreel that shows Harding on his porch and the entrance of the headquarters next door.


Here's a screenshot from a 1920 newspaper in which you can see the entrance to the headquarters from the view of the Harding porch:


George Christian sold the house to the Harding Memorial Association a few years before it was torn down in May 1935. The association wanted to provide more park space around the Harding home, which opened as a museum in 1926. The house immediately to the west of the Harding house was torn down for the same reason in 1934.

Here's the land in which the executive offices used to stand in a picture taken Saturday, August 22, 2020. This is looking from the Harding backyard out to Mt. Vernon Avenue; the Harding home is to the right:


The historic photographs are from the Warren G. Harding Collection. More details are here.

Source:
  • "Will Tear Down Christian Home for Park Space." Marion Star. 4 May 1935.
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