Harden, John, 1903-1985

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.

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.