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Cecil M. Harden
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Cecil M. Harden
Cecil Murray Harden (November 21, 1894 – December 5, 1984) was an American educator who became a Republican politician and an advocate of women's rights. She served five terms in the U.S. Representative (January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1959) representing Indiana's 6th congressional district. Harden was the only Republican woman elected to represent Indiana in the U.S. Congress until 2012.
Cecil Murray was born on November 21, 1894, at Covington in Fountain County, Indiana, to Jennie (Clotfelter) and Timothy J. Murray. Cecil's father was a real estate broker and a longtime leader of the local Democratic Party.
She attended local public schools and graduated from Covington High School in 1912. Murray enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, but left IU to become a teacher in the Troy township schools, at later in her hometown of Covington.
On December 22, 1914, Cecil Murray married Frost Revere Harden, "who eventually became an automobile dealer in Covington." Their only child, a son named Murray Harden (1915–1989), became a doctor in Lafayette, Indiana.
Despite her father's ties to the Democratic Party, Harden became active in the local Republican Party. She first became interested in local politics in 1931, when President Herbert Hoover appointed her husband as Covington's postmaster. Harden became even more active in Republican politics in 1933, after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and appointed a Democrat to replace her husband as the Covington postmaster.
Harden entered politics in 1932 as the Republican precinct vice chairman, a position she retained until 1940. Beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, Harden was active in Indiana politics. In 1938, she became vice chairman of the Fountain County Republican Party, a position she held until 1950, and served as the vice chair of an Indiana congressional district.
Harden joined the Republican National Speakers Bureau in 1940. She was elected Indiana's Republican National committeewoman in 1944, serving until 1959, and again from 1964 to 1972. Harden also served as a delegate-at-large to the Republican National Conventions in 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1968.
In 1948, when Indiana Republican Noble J. Johnson resigned from the United States Congress to accept a federal judgeship, Harden won the Republican Party's nomination to run for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the general election in the fall. In her first bid for elective office, Harden narrowly defeated Democrat John James (Jack J.) O'Grady by a margin of only 483 votes out of a total of 132,000 votes cast in the race. O'Grady, a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, was a U.S. Army veteran who had represented Vigo County, Indiana, in both houses of the Indiana legislature.[citation needed] Harden was elected to the 81st Congress and the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1959, a total of five consecutive terms in the U.S. House as a representative of Indiana's 6th congressional district. Harden voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
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Cecil M. Harden
Cecil Murray Harden (November 21, 1894 – December 5, 1984) was an American educator who became a Republican politician and an advocate of women's rights. She served five terms in the U.S. Representative (January 3, 1949 to January 3, 1959) representing Indiana's 6th congressional district. Harden was the only Republican woman elected to represent Indiana in the U.S. Congress until 2012.
Cecil Murray was born on November 21, 1894, at Covington in Fountain County, Indiana, to Jennie (Clotfelter) and Timothy J. Murray. Cecil's father was a real estate broker and a longtime leader of the local Democratic Party.
She attended local public schools and graduated from Covington High School in 1912. Murray enrolled at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, but left IU to become a teacher in the Troy township schools, at later in her hometown of Covington.
On December 22, 1914, Cecil Murray married Frost Revere Harden, "who eventually became an automobile dealer in Covington." Their only child, a son named Murray Harden (1915–1989), became a doctor in Lafayette, Indiana.
Despite her father's ties to the Democratic Party, Harden became active in the local Republican Party. She first became interested in local politics in 1931, when President Herbert Hoover appointed her husband as Covington's postmaster. Harden became even more active in Republican politics in 1933, after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office and appointed a Democrat to replace her husband as the Covington postmaster.
Harden entered politics in 1932 as the Republican precinct vice chairman, a position she retained until 1940. Beginning in the 1930s and 1940s, Harden was active in Indiana politics. In 1938, she became vice chairman of the Fountain County Republican Party, a position she held until 1950, and served as the vice chair of an Indiana congressional district.
Harden joined the Republican National Speakers Bureau in 1940. She was elected Indiana's Republican National committeewoman in 1944, serving until 1959, and again from 1964 to 1972. Harden also served as a delegate-at-large to the Republican National Conventions in 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1968.
In 1948, when Indiana Republican Noble J. Johnson resigned from the United States Congress to accept a federal judgeship, Harden won the Republican Party's nomination to run for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the general election in the fall. In her first bid for elective office, Harden narrowly defeated Democrat John James (Jack J.) O'Grady by a margin of only 483 votes out of a total of 132,000 votes cast in the race. O'Grady, a native of Terre Haute, Indiana, was a U.S. Army veteran who had represented Vigo County, Indiana, in both houses of the Indiana legislature.[citation needed] Harden was elected to the 81st Congress and the four succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1949, to January 3, 1959, a total of five consecutive terms in the U.S. House as a representative of Indiana's 6th congressional district. Harden voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
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