]
]
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 FAQ section for more information.
Expand/collapse
Collection Overview
| Size | 2.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 1600 items) |
| Abstract | Correspondence, genealogical material, receipts, programs, cookbooks, recipes, clippings, speeches, writings, blueprints, photographs, and a scrapbook of the Hardens of Alamance County, N.C. The bulk of the material documents the public career of Junius Hill Harden (1859-1944), an industrialist, pertaining especially to Harden's efforts to locate a rayon mill in Alamance County in the 1920s and to his involvement with the Congregational-Christian church. There is some material pertaining to Junius Hill Harden's sons, Boyd Harden (b. 1899) and Graham Harden (b. 1892), and to his father, Peter Ray Harden (fl. 1865), including items relating to the latter's involvement in the Big Falls Manufacturing Company in Alamance County in the late nineteenth century. Photographs include pictures of early gas stations in Alamance County. |
| Creator | Harden family. |
| Language | English |
Expand/collapse
Information For Users
Expand/collapse
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.
Expand/collapse
Related Collections
Expand/collapse
Biographical Information
Junius Hill Harden was born 6 November 1859 to Peter Ray and Sarah Elizabeth Holt Harden in Graham, Alamance County, N.C. He was educated at Graham Normal School and Baltimore Business College. He married Lula Graham on 25 September 1891.
Harden was active in industry, education, transportation, public utilities, and real estate in Alamance County. He was responsible for establishing the Piedmont Power and Light Company, the first electric plant in the county; the Alamance Railway Company, the county's first electric street car line; the first ice plant in the area; and the first paved streets in Graham. The county's first telephone operated from his textile mill. Harden helped found Elon College and the first hospital in Alamance County. He reorganized the Holt Granite Mills and was instrumental in developing other industries in the county through the Harden Industrial Cities Corporation. It was through his efforts that the first rayon manufacturing plant came to Burlington. Harden died on 11 June 1944 in Graham.
Harden's sons, Graham and Boyd, were both physicians in Alamance County. Graham was born in Big Falls, N.C., in 1892. He was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1915 and received a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1919. In 1921, he married Mary Bonner Williams. Boyd was born in Burlington, N.C., on 5 February 1899 and was graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1921.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Scope and Content
The bulk of these papers relate to the public career of Junius Harden. Material relating to Junius Harden's father, Peter Ray Harden, is in Series 2. Material relating to Junius Harden's son Boyd is in Series 3, and to his son Graham in Series 4. Series 5 contains maps of Alamance County, a cipher book, and two scrapbooks, one chiefly containing advertising cards and the other relating to Masonic activities of one of Boyd Harden's relatives. Pictures of Harden family members, of business leaders, and of the University of North Carolina, circa 1921, are in Series 6.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Series Quick Links
Expand/collapse
Series 1. Junius Harden, 1845-1962.
Arrangement: by subject.
Includes correspondence, blueprints, genealogical material, cookbooks, recipes, legal material, clippings, and programs documenting the public career and interests of Junius Harden. Most of the material relates to Harden's various business ventures. Of particular interest is material documenting Harden's efforts to locate A. M. Johnson Mills, a rayon manufacturing plant in Alamance County in the 1920s (folders 36-49). Also of interest is genealogical material (folders 10-17) compiled by Harden, and material relating to his involvement with Providence Memorial Christian Church in Graham (folder 35) and the Western Carolina Christian Conference (folders 50-53). Note that there are a few blueprints relating to some of Junius Harden's projects filed as oversize and rolled papers.
Expand/collapse
Series 2. Peter Ray Harden, 1849-1891.
Includes correspondence, receipts, and contracts pertaining to the Big Falls Manufacturing Company and to Peter Harden and Sons, both of which were located in Alamance County.
| Folder 54-55 |
Includes volume 4267/S-2, an account book for 1887-1890 #04267, Series: "2. Peter Ray Harden, 1849-1891." Folder 54-55Folder 54Folder 55 |
Expand/collapse
Series 3. Boyd Harden, 1916-1971.
Includes correspondence, programs, writings, bills and receipts, and loose material from a scrapbook (see Series 5) of Boyd Harden.
Expand/collapse
Series 4. Graham Harden, 1907-1935.
Three postcards to Graham Harden and miscellaneous bills and receipts.
| Folder 60 |
1907-1935 #04267, Series: "4. Graham Harden, 1907-1935." Folder 60 |
Expand/collapse
Series 5. Other Papers, 1890s-1920s.
A cipher book, 1837-1841, of Westley L. Coble, whose relationship to the Hardens is unknown; six rolled maps of Alamance County, 1890s-1920s, some with handwritten annotations indicating ownership of land; a scrapbook, which may have been compiled by Boyd Harden, chiefly containing advertisement cards from the turn of the century and some newspaper clippings relating to the Harden family (loose material from this scrapbook has been filed in Series 3); and a scrapbook, 1875-1923, of Albert D. Holmes of Melrose, Mass., documenting his Masonic activities. Albert D. Holmes appears to have been a relative of Boyd Harden's wife, Ruth Elizabeth Holmes Harden, who, according to newspaper reports, was the daughter of Albert Bourne Holmes of Pennsylvania.
Expand/collapse
Series 6. Pictures, 1780-circa 1930.
Arrangement: by subject.
Photographs of the Harden family, the Alamance Railway Company, the Providence Memorial Christian Church, gas stations in and around Alamance County (with the number of gallons of gas used per month noted on the backs of the pictures), and pictures of the University of North Carolina from around 1921 when Boyd Harden was yearbook editor. There are also publicity photographs of Senator Josiah William Bailey, Governor Clyde R. Hoey, Representative Carl T. Durham, Lt. Governor A. H. Graham, Superintendent of Public Instruction Clyde A. Erwin, and Director of Conservation and Development R. Bruce Etheridge in connection with their being cited by the Industrial Development of Alamance County organization.
Expand/collapse
Items Separated
Processed by: Marion Presler, March 1987; Roslyn Holdzkom, July 1992
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Back to Top