Monday, September 6, 1920 (LABOR DAY)

Thousands of people in Marion celebrate Labor Day, which is marked in the morning by a parade downtown and a speaking program at Lincoln Park. Senator Harding is one of the speakers. According to the New York Times, "Eight thousand persons were grouped around the speakers' stand in a small grove when the Senator arrived. A strong wind prevented his voice from carrying to the edges of the crowd, but the people moved around to the leeward side, and the Senator held the attention of the picnickers throughout his speech":

Ladies and Gentlemen, My Countrymen All: — Life is Labor, or labor is life, whichever is preferred. Men speak of the labor issue as paramount or imperious or critical — it is always the big thing, because it is the process of all progress and attainment, and has been since the world began. The advocate of excessively-reduced periods of labor simply proposes to slow down human attainment, because labor is the agency of all attainment. If by some miracle of agreement we could reduce the hours of labor to four per day — I speak of labor now in the sense of that which is employed for pay — the live, progressive, civilization-creating, progressive labor would have to go on working twice or thrice that time, because labor is the ferment of human development. No one will challenge these general truths, but we do have a conflict of opinion as to how labor shall be employed and the measure of its compensation. 

It is impossible for me to ignore the fact that I am the candidate of a great party for a place of high responsibility, but I choose to make such utterances as are in my mind on this always-significant holiday, because I preferred to talk before my fellow-townsmen with whom I have worked so many years.

Marion first observed Labor Day seventeen years ago, and Harding was one of the speakers that day.

Sources:

• "All Marion Shows Loyalty to Labor." Marion Star. 7 September 1920.
• "Harding Tells Labor He Wants No Class Rule." New York Times. 7 September 1920.
• "Marion and Labor Day." Marion Star. 4 September 1920.

Sunday, September 5, 1920

From this Tuesday's Star: "Mr. and Mrs. Howard Chandler Christy, of New York, were Sunday visitors at the Harding home and Mr. Christy sketched the nominee."

Saturday, September 4, 1920

Senator Harding takes time from working on his Labor Day speech to greet members of the Great Lakes naval training station this morning. 

I appreciate deeply your coming here to see me. I assume that your coming is in large part due to the fact that I am a candidate for the presidency. It is because I feel more deeply about it every day that I want to tell you, American citizens, and through you, as many Americans as possible, my ideas of the responsibilities of a candidate for the highest office the people can bestow. The first of these responsibilities I have borne in mind and I will continue to preserve it. It arises from the fact that my duty as a candidate, before election, compels me to put higher even than obligation to a great and wise and growing political party, my obligations to all Americans.

He lends H. J. Siroky, solo cornetist, the new gold-plaited cornet he received on Friday from an instrument manufacturer from Indiana. This may be a photograph of Siroky and the new coronet.

Friday, September 3, 1920

Senator Harding meets a delegation from the National Board of Farm Organizations:

With your assent, I will not welcome you as representatives of farmers' organizations and I shall make no appeal, either now or later, to the people of the country which may be labeled an appeal in behalf of farmers. 

Permit me therefore to welcome you as Americans, permit me to welcome you as producers whose Americanism is so sound that I may and do consider that you represent here today the consumers of the United States, and I address you not as farmers but as patriotic citizens of the United States. Every word that I say to you is addressed not to your welfare alone, but to the welfare of every man, woman and child, and to the welfare of the future citizens of our country. 

I deplore the use in political campaigns or in public administration of special appeals and of special interests. I deplore any foreign policy which tends to group together those of foreign blood in groups of their nativity. I deplore undue meddling in the affairs of other nations, which may, some day in a future election, result in a hyphenated vote controlling the balance of power which may be delivered to that candidate who is most supine in the face of un-American pressure. I deplore class appeals at home. I deplore the soviet idea, and the compromises and encouragements which we have seen extended to it.

In the late afternoon, he travels with senators from Michigan and Missouri to Mt. Gilead and addresses a crowd at an American Legion celebration. Members of the legion are raising funds to build a home for their local post.

I believe that every American should do everything he can to show his gratitude to the young men who went out to defend our country in the World War. I want to show my gratitude in helping America to do its part to see that neither they, their sons, nor their sons' sons shall ever be called to the battle front again. If I speak the conscience of America, we will lead the world to outlaw war, and I am not uttering the sentiments of a pacifist people. 

Harding and his guests are back in Marion by six p.m.

Sources:

• "Cooperation a Necessity." Marion Star. 3 September 1920.
• "He Would Keep Sons from War." Marion Star. 4 September 1920.

Thursday, September 2, 1920

Senator Harding greets two groups from Chicago today. The first, a delegation of teachers, hears a speech on education:

Gentlemen of the Committee: — Your visit to me today is one which I most heartily welcome because it suggests an appeal to the sympathy and concern of every American. You represent the great army of teachers of this country — those patient soldiers in the cause of humanity upon whom rests one of the most profound responsibilities given to any men or women. 

And yet, the disadvantages that beset your profession indicate a serious menace to our national institutions. It is indeed a crisis in American education that confronts us. If we continue to allow our public instructors to struggle with beggarly wages we shall find ourselves with closed schools; our education will languish and fail. It is a patent fact that never have our teachers, as a whole, been properly compensated. From the days when the country teachers "boarded around" to the present hour the profession has never been adequately compensated. Requiring, as it does, a high degree of mental equipment, a long preparation, severe examination tests, the maintenance of a proper state in society, and giving employment only a part of the year, with compensation too meager, the wonder of it is that we have had the service of these devoted persons employed in educating our youth.

The second, the Chicago Cubs, are here to play an exhibition game against the Kerrigan Tailers, a minor league team based in Marion. (There's a specific reason for the visit. See the other post today.)

On his front porch, Harding discusses America's pastime:

I pay to you my tribute to baseball, because I like the game, just like every other real American. It has been in the blood for over a half century, and it has helped us as a people. Of course, there has been a vast improvement since the early game, but I am sure it is not reactionary to remind you that you still try to hit them out and the big thing is to reach the home plate. There are progressive ideas, but it rejoices the average crowd of rooters to note an old-fashioned Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance...

Hail to the team play of America! Hail to a hundred millions of American rooters, the citizenship of the Republic, who expect Uncle Sam to put them over or bat them out as the situation requires, and counts upon team play in government, team play in citizenship and everybody interested in America first.

The Hardings arrive at the ball park at 3 p.m. Harding is photographed with the team: 

He also plays catch with Grover Cleveland Alexander: "Alexander didn't use his wicked twirls, but it was good for the movies. Having 'warmed up,' Senator Harding stood in the pitcher's box and struck out [Max] Flack, the Cub's right fielder. It was a technical strikeout, for both Flack and the umpire were generous, while the Marion catcher had to reach wide for the last two rows."

According to this wire photo, Alexander is standing to Harding's left:

Over 5,000 people watch Alexander pitch two innings, and the Cubs win the game 3 to 1.

Sources:

• "5,000 See Cubs Win from Marion's Team." Marion Star. 3 September 1920.
• "Harding Demands Team Government." New York Times. 3 September 1920.
• "Harding Enjoys Seeing Cubs Play." Boston Globe. 3 September 1920.

Thursday, September 2, 1920 (CHICAGO CUBS)

The Chicago Cubs are in Marion today because a newsreel of Harding playing golf "has drawn a perfectly surprising amount of unfavorable reaction around the country. We get hundreds of letters saying it's a rich man's sport." This isn't known at the time but is discussed in letters from Albert Lasker, an advisor to the campaign and a co-owner of the team.

Upon arrival at the ball park, Harding is brought on the field to sign autographs:

"Buck" Herzog, George Christian, Jr., and Warren G. Harding

Harding also throws some pitches:

Harding is also photographed with members of Marion's earliest baseball teams, from 1868, 1874, and 1883:

Film star Mary MacLaren travels to Marion with the Cubs and is at the game to enroll members of the Cubs in the Harding and Coolidge Theatrical League:

Mary McLaren signs up Grover Cleveland Alexander

Sources:

• "Motion-Picture Star Comes to Marion with Cubs." Marion Star. 2 September 1920.

Wednesday, September 1, 1920

Senator Harding works on the speeches he will deliver in Marion on Labor Day on Monday and at the Minnesota State Fair next Wednesday.

[This is the shortest post, so far, of this campaign diary.]

Tuesday, August 31, 1920 (GOVERNORS' DAY)

Senator Harding hosts "Governors' Day" today and welcomes a number of politicians who start to arrive early this morning.

Today's speech is nicely summarized by a report in the New York Times: "A continuation of the reclamation policies begun by Theodore Roosevelt, under a larger and more liberal plan that insures equality of privilege and opportunity, was the plea made by Senator Harding in addressing ten Governors and three Republican candidates for Governor who spent today with him here." Reclamation is described elsewhere as "the menace of too much city population and not enough farm population."

The governors are:

• R. Livingston Beeckman, Rhode Island
• Thomas E. Campbell, Arizona
• Robert D. Carr, Wyoming
• James P. Goodrich, Indiana
• Frank O. Lowden, Illinois
• Samuel R. McKelvie, Nebraska
• Peter Norbeck, South Dakota
• E. L. Phillip, Wisconsin
• William C. Sproul, Pennsylvania
• William D. Stephens, California

The candidates are:

• Arthur M. Hyde, Missouri
• E. F. Morgan, West Virginia
• J. A. O. Preus, Minnesota

Others in attendance include ex-governor William Spry, Utah; Clarence J. Brown, candidate for Ohio lieutenant governor; Simms Ely of Denver; George Stephan of Denver; and William Lloyd of St. Louis.

Here are two photographs of Harding and Representative Joseph Cannon, former Speaker of the House, who is in attendance today.

Here's another of Harding with E. F. Morgan of West Virginia:

In this group shot, Harding is ninth from the left.

Here's the same photograph, cropped, in a contemporary newspaper:

Governor Lowden offers these words: "We admire you, Senator Harding, more than I can say for the dignity and self-restraint with which you discuss public questions. We approve most heartily of the devotion you have to Constitutional Government, and we not only admire your public utterances, Senator Harding, but we applaud the fact that you do not resort to charges against the opposition. It is entirely beyond my power to express the regard we feel for you because you do not hold false promises to the people.."

Harding's introduction:

Your Excellencies: — It is a mighty pleasing thing to greet you as the official representatives of several of our great commonwealths, and especially gratifying to me to be able to take up with you, for brief discussion, one of the most interesting and timely problems of the day. I refer to that of reclamation and development in the great and wonderful West. What a wonderful land is ours! No one has ever come to a full realization of the physical incomparableness of these United States. Nature has been very generous with her bounty and has given us, in the great and measureless West, a variegated and picturesque empire, as beautiful as Switzerland, multiplied many times over in extent, and with a diversification of industry and enterprise which Switzerland could not develop because her mountains are well nigh barren of the riches which characterize the Rockies and the Coast ranges.

After the speech and lunch, the group heads to Garfield Park to attend the annual picnic of the local Grand Army post (although it is the first one in three years). Again the New York Times: "Senator Harding planned this visit because he knew it would please his father, Dr. George T. Harding, a civil war veteran. The candidate and the ten Governors gave up most of the afternoon to the Grand Army men, and the veterans made the most of it. Every one made a speech." Periodically during the speeches, a governor would leave to catch a train.

In Columbus, Cox and Roosevelt visit the Ohio State Fair.

Sources:

• "Attending Fair." Mansfield News-Journal. 31 August 1920.
• "Cooper Post Picnic Is Well Attended Today." Marion Daily Star. 31 August 1920.
• "Governors' Day Over at Marion." Mansfield News-Journal. 31 August 1920.
  
• "Menace Seen by Nominee." Marion Star. 31 August 1920.
• "Notable Visitors Are All Pleased Yesterday." Marion Star. 1 September 1920.

Monday, August 30, 1920

Senator Harding starts his work week with another trip to Mansfield to play golf, this time with Gifford Pinchot, who is described as "one of the last of the former progressives to smoke the pipe of peace with Senator Harding." Pinchot was a member of the Bull Moose Party, which Theodore Roosevelt founded in 1912. His reasoning for forgiving Harding for political conflicts during that contentious election: "I want to help get this country out of the control of the Southern reactionaries by which we have been ruled for nearly eight years."

The newsreels of the Jolson visit are ready to show at the Grand downtown.

Sunday, August 29, 1920

As usual, it is a slow Sunday in Marion, although campaign staff release statements and announce the content of telegrams received in response to Harding's speech on the League of Nations, all of which are in the same vein as the one sent by Jacob Gould Schurman, president of Cornell University: "Cordial congratulations on your league of nations speech today. The substance is extraordinarily good, the style very fine and the presentation very masterly and convincing. Your position will win the country."

According to the New York Times, Harding will focus the rest of the campaign on "two issues -- foreign relations and reconstruction problems," such as cost of living and banking.

Sources:

• "Harding to Ignore Dispute." New York Times. 30 August 1920.
• "To Speak on Reclamation." Marion Star. 30 August 1920.

Saturday, August 28, 1920

This is a "gala day" in Marion as delegations from Minnesota and Indiana come to hear "the most important pronouncement which Warren G. Harding, Republican nominee for president, has so far made from his famous 'front porch.'"

Minnesota Delegation

This delegation arrives at the station at 9:30 this morning. According to the Star, "Thirty-five in the delegation are from the iron county, including seven from Hibbing, said to be the wealthiest village in the world."

Louis L. Collins, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of the state who "is only five feet tall [and] is known as the 'Little Corporal' of the Rainbow division [in the Great War], presents his delegation to the candidate and crowd. "It was Ohio infrantrymen that shouted the name of Senator Harding for president then, and they were from Marion. The whole United States is shouting it now."

Collins and Harding pose for a photograph at the executive offices next door to Harding's home:

Indiana Delegation

Members of the Harding Club of Indianapolis arrive by special train in the afternoon. Indianan Will Hays, chairman of the national committee, returns to Marion to head the parade, alongside Senator New, also back in town, and Elias J. Jacoby, president of the Harding Club.

Other signs on display include "Cox visited President Wilson in the White House, but he never will move in" and "Indiana is Cox sure that Harding is the next President."

Jacoby, a Marion native and acquaintance of Harding, introduces the delegation from the front porch. "Hoosiers have come here to pay you their profound respect and they bid me give you the assurance that 'when the frost in on the pumpkin and the fodder's in the shock' they, with many thousands of others back home, will, with an overwhelming majority, present you with the electoral vote of Indiana."

Harding's Speech

Senator Harding comes out against the League of Nations in a front-porch speech to Republicans from Indiana and Minnesota.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Indiana Delegation: I greet you in a spirit of rejoicing; not a rejoicing in the narrow personal or partisan sense; not in the gratifying prospects of party triumph; not in the contemplation of abundance in the harvest fields and ripening corn fields and maturing orchards; not in the reassuring approach of stability after a period of wiggling and wobbling which magnified our uncertainty — though all of these are ample for our wide rejoicing — but I rejoice that America is still free and independent and in a position of self-reliance and holds to the right of self-determination, which are priceless possessions in the present turbulence of the world.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Harding "declared here today that he would take 'all that is good and excise all that is bad' from both The Hague Tribunal and the Versailles league in forming an association or league of free nations that would 'make the actual attainment of peace a reasonable possibility."

Mrs. Harding tells a reporter from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "After that speech this afternoon I do not believe that there is anyone who can say that they do not know where Warren Harding stands."

In 1924, J. Hampton Moore, who served as mayor of Philadelphia, recalled the day.

August 28th, 1920, the day the accompanying photograph was taken, Senator Harding, then Republican nominee for President, made his celebrated "porch front" speech in favor of a World Court, as opposed to the League of Nations. The Hardings included Mrs. Moore and me amongst their luncheon guests that day. Others present being Colonel George Harvey, Will H. Hays, Charles G. Hilles, Senator George Sutherland, and Harry Dougherty. Throughout the luncheon and during exercises on the porch, Mrs. Harding was the life of the party, a charming hostess at table and a delightful welcomer in the receiving line. Thousand were present that afternoon during which Mrs. Harding was always by her husband's side. The photograph was taken from the sidewalk after the crowd had dispersed. The car in the back ground was the Mayor's official car. --J. Hampton Moore

Sources:

• "Harding Seeks Best in League and Hague Court." Indianapolis Star. 29 August 1920.
• "Harding Talks of New League." Marion Star. 28 August 1920.
• "Marion Cheers State Pilgrims at Front Porch." Minneapolis Star Tribune. 29 August 1920.

Images:

• The photograph of the Hardings and the Moores is in the digital collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Friday, August 27, 1920

Senator Harding, Mrs. Harding, and several friends travel by car to Galion, Ohio, this afternoon. The candidate gives a speech at an "athletic tournament of employees of the Erie Railway," which he describes as "a campaign speech about play":

This occasion of your athletic tournament furnishes me with an opportunity to present to you and later on, I hope, to as many Americans as I can reach, something for all of us to think about deeply. 

From time immemorial the nations and races which have been fit to assume leadership in the world were those whose people knew how to excel in athletic sports and had not forgotten how to play — and how to play hard. The great civilizations — those which have left a profound effect upon the development of mankind, those which have contributed not only to exploration, to the extension of orderly government, to supremacy of arms but even in greater measure to the thought and philosophy of the world have been the nations that developed athletic sports — who know how to play. There was Greece, famous for the original Olympic games; there was Rome, that for centuries kept alive the customs of athletic competition in her arenas; there is the United Kingdom, great extender of enlightenment to far comers of the earth. Japan, leader in the Orient, built her power and her alertness by a tradition of training in competitive games such as wrestling and sword play. And, thank God, there is America, the stronghold of liberty and the square deal, which still can take the honors in the world's competitions in healthy sports.

I am glad to make a campaign speech about play. I believe that play, not mere entertainment, not reading comic strips or "passing the time," as some say, but real play, play that gives a man or woman a chance to express himself or herself as an individual, is one of the finest assets in our national life and one of the best builders of character. 

However, he covers many topics, and the Star leads with the news that he "declared that some day railway workers will hail the Cummins-Esch law as the greatest forward step in the history of railway legislation." That law put the railroads back into private hands.

Let me tell you the things which are in my heart about railway employment. No matter what any one tells you, no matter what your own erroneous impressions are, no thoughtful man in business or private life, no earnest man in public life is without a deep concern for the good fortunes of every railway worker, in the shop, in the yards or office, on the track or on the trains — every man in the service. We may differ about the way to best conditions and the assurances of soul and contentment in your work, but we are agreed about the ends at which we aim. 

In the evening, the women in Marion celebrate the suffrage victory with a demonstration through the city and a visit to the Harding residence:

As reported in the Star, "Pauline Foreman, ten-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Foreman, dressed to represent 'Uncle Sam' and accompanied by Muriel McMurray, four-year-old daughter of Dr. and Mrs. James Wilson McMurray, dressed in the suffrage color of yellow, preceded the women and attracted much attention all along the line of march. Little Miss Foreman carried the ballot for women, tied in the suffrage colors and her tiny companion, in her own sweet self, represented the womanhood of America."

Sources:

• "Cummins-Esch Law Is Praised." Marion Star. 27 August 1920.
• "Senator Called Regular Guy by Erie Workers." Marion Star. 28 August 1920.
• "Suffrage Victory Is Celebrated by Women." Marion Star. 28 August 1920.

Thursday, August 26, 1920

Senator Harding has to once again make it clear he is not attending the Ohio State Fair.

In the first place I have never made any sort of acceptance for a speaking engagement at the Ohio State fair. At no time have I made any reference to a proposed attendance on the part of Governor Cox or any program he should follow during his attendance. I have absolutely no interest therein. I do have an interest in the success of the Ohio State fair, as does every other citizen of Ohio. I have not found it possible to arrange to attend because of other pressing matters of very great importance.

The candidate meets members of the Marion County Teachers' institute, who've marched to Harding's home from the departmental school building:'

This is really a very happy experience. I am very happy to have your call. Of course, you think we always say that, but I speak with the utmost sincerity. My mind runs back to something like thirty-eight years ago — which, of course, none of you ladies can remember — when I was myself in attendance as a teacher at a Marion County Institute. I had only come from college the year before, and I did what was very much the practice of that time — turned to teaching in my abundant fullness of knowledge, merely as a temporary occupation. If I only knew as much now as I thought I knew then, I would be abundantly capable of fulfilling the office for which I have been named.

Wednesday, August 25, 1920

A delegation from Wyandot County, north of Marion, is on Harding's lawn today. In his speech, Senator Harding discusses the women's vote, and the effects of the Great War: 

It is significant that the women are here as a part of your numbers. It is likewise becoming. Clothed as they soon are to be with the right of suffrage, it is a fine example of their appreciation of the responsibility of this added duty of citizenship that they observe this first opportunity to show their interest and concern in matters political. Whatever differences there may have been over the granting of the right of suffrage to the women, there can be no question as to their fitness, their capacity, their patriotism and their earnestness. Whenever the American women determine upon a course they have universally made a complete success. They will regard their obligation with seriousness and always with a concern for their country's welfare...

Tuesday, August 24, 1920

Today is the busiest day in Marion since the nomination ceremonies on July 22; it is also a milestone in presidential campaign history because it is the first time that national celebrities are used to publicize a candidate.

Thousands of people want to see the stars who have traveled from New York to visit Senator Harding. The seventy members of the Harding and Coolidge Theatrical League, including Al Jolson and many other "names," are greeted by a crowd at Marion Union Station, including members of the John Hand band from Chicago, who will support the festivities on Harding's lawn today. A reporter for the Marion Star "was reminded of circus day in viewing the large numbers of citizens who crowded the station platform eager for a glimpse of the stars," who arrive at 7:34 a.m.:

The local citizens have an opportunity to also see Charles Evan Hughes, the previous Republican nominee, who is also here to visit Harding and is on the same train as Jolson and his friends; he is not aware that they'd be traveling together. The procession moves from the train station to the Marion Club, where the stars are served breakfast. Hughes heads to the Harding home for a conference with the candidate.

At the Harding home, another crowd gathers in anticipation of the festivities. The band positions itself to the right of the Harding's walk. Someone carries a sign with the message "We Want a Man Like Teddy":

Al Jolson opens the program by presenting Florence Harding with a roll of names of league members. Here she is holding the roll; Jolson is to her left:

Here's a photograph of Mrs. Harding pinning a boutonniere on Jolson:

Jolson explains that the members in attendance had a busy season ahead of them but still traveled to Marion: "[Y]ou realize how important it is to elect Harding and Coolidge." He mentions the actors who sent regrets, including some names that resonate a century later: Irene Castle, Mary Pickford, and Pearl White. 

Jolson and the band perform a "Harding, You're the Man For Us," a new campaign song that Jolson wrote for the occasion (but never recorded). He also sings "Swanee," one of his signature tunes; the crowd sings "My Country 'Tis of Thee," and the band offers a performance of "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight."

Harding uses the speech as another opportunity to criticize the current president:

There are many plays especially written for notable stars and their presentation has depended on the work of one portraying genius. There is, of course, a fascination in the one-lead drama, but it makes the spectator very much dependent upon one individuality, and if the star should be incapacitated for any reason, there is inevitable disappointment. I think it is a very practical thing to suggest that our American popular government ought not to be a one-lead or a one-star drama of modern civilization. I want to commend the policy of each and every one having his part to play, and we all must play with enthusiasm in order to perfect the whole production. We have been drifting lately under one-lead activities and I am sure the American people are going to welcome a change of the bill. For the supreme offering, we need the all-star cast, presenting America to all the world.

A lunch is held at the Sawyer farm and dinner is provided later. The actors leave Marion in the evening.

Sources:

• "Stars Frolic Around Porch." Marion Star. 24 August 1920.
• All these pictures, except one, are from the Ohio History Connection. The photograph of Mrs. Harding pinning the boutonniere on Jolson is from the Smithsonian Institute (but is cataloged in the same alphanumeric way the OHS photos are).

Tuesday, August 24, 1920 (CHARLES EVANS HUGHES)

Charles Evan Hughes, the previous Republican candidate for president, travels on the same train to Marion as Al Jolson and the members of the theatrical league. On the front porch, he tells a crowd of thousands:

We do not want a trickster. We do not want a shrewd politician. We do not want one who is isolated, who is removed, but we do want a man of courage, possessed of sound common sense, who has an appreciation of American institutions and who knows how to conduct great affairs in according with the spirit of our institutions. We want one who will give us a high standard of administration. We want some one who will, taking account of the great obligations of the most resourceful people of the world, enter upon the performance of these obligations and carry them successfully in a manner consonant with the maintenance of our national security. Such a man is Senator Harding.

According to reports, Hughes "was having the time of his life. He joined in the chorus of 'Mr. Harding, You're the Man for Us,' and with the rest of the crowd helped Blanche Ring in the singing of 'Rings on My Fingers.'" Later that evening, before leaving for St. Louis, Hughes releases a statement in praise of Harding, "a man of rare poise, high-minded and sincere."

Here are pictures from Harding Collection at the Ohio History Connection:

• Hughes (on the left), Harding, and an unidentified man (unfortunately) stand outside campaign headquarters, which is next to the Harding home:

• Hughes speaks to the crowd from the Harding front porch. If you look closely you can see Harding standing behind Hughes, looking at his notes:

• Hughes is still speaking, and Harding, in the same position as above, is easier to see:

• Harding, Jolson, and Hughes stand next to an incorrectly identified actress (I don't believe it is Blanche Ring):

• A photo of Harding, actor Eugene O'Brien, and Hughes will be published in numerous newspapers over the next couple of months, as shown here:

Sources:

• "Hughes Declares Harding Best Man." New York Times. 25 August 1920.
• "Hughes Praises Harding." New York Times. 26 August 1920.

Tuesday, August 24, 1920 (AL JOLSON)

These photographs from the Harding Collection at the Ohio History Connection are displayed in order of the alphanumeric coding on the pictures themselves. I assume they're chronological.

Al Jolson on the Harding front porch:

Al Jolson and [maybe] Blanche Ring (to his right):

Senator Harding and Al Jolson:

According to contemporary reports, Jolson is leading the crowd in the singing of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

Tuesday, August 24, 1920 (OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS)

Senator Harding greets actresses from the theatrical league. Florence Harding is to the right. I love how happy the actress is shaking the senator's hand:

"Senator Harding shaking hands with Blanche Ring":

And more:

Senator Harding and Florence Harding, holding the roll:

Leo Carillo, Al Jolson, and Eugene O'Brien: