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.

8/05/2020

Thursday, August 5, 1920

Senator Harding continues to receive callers at his home on Mt. Vernon Avenue, including four "consulting engineers" from Cleveland in the morning and students from the Ohio State department of school administration in the afternoon. According to the Lantern, "The senator chatted with the 10 members of the class informally in his office, emphasizing the need in education of the foreigner so that he may understand American institutions."

The Hardings take a short trip to Lincoln Park as guests at the 22nd annual reunion of the Fourth Ohio regiment, which had been known as the 24th Ohio National Guard regiment until 1898 when it served as the Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Spanish-American War. He was encouraged by the crowd to speak. As reported by the New York Times, "The veterans cheered the Senator's words vigorously, and he was interrupted by more cheers when he said: 'I do not want a council of foreign powers at any time, for any reason, to summon the sons of America to battle."

Photographs taken on Tuesday begin to show up in national newspapers, such as the Indianapolis Star.


And in New York, the slogans keep coming. Here are two more:
  • H-onesty, A-bility, R-eliability, D-iscretion, I-integrity, N-obility, G-entility -- the combination American voters demand.
  • Honest, Able, Reliable, Direct, Intelligent, Noble, Genuine, spells Harding, the needed man.
Sources:
  • "Battle Tocsin for Americans." Marion Star. 6 August 1920.
  • "Educators Pay Visit to G.O.P. Candidate." The Lantern. 11 August 1920.
  • "Fourth Ohio Regiment Holds Reunion Today." Marion Star. 5 August 1920.
  • "Nation-Wide Slogan Contest Daily Stirs Increased Interest." New York Evening World. 5 August 1920.
  • "Presidential Candidate Guest Today at Fourth Ohio Regimental Reunion at Lincoln Park--Some Callers." Marion Star. 5 August 1920.
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