This past Sunday, we visited a variety of sites important to the life and legacy of Warren G. Harding. These included his birthplace and his resting place, which are only around a half hour's drive away from one another. Like much of the country, the state of Ohio has been encountering fairly consistent snowfall and freezing temperatures of late, so the landmarks and scenery have a distinctly wintry backdrop. Coming from the east, we were able to visit the various locations in the order that Harding would have occupied them throughout his life.
The first site is located in the unincorporated community of Blooming Grove, Ohio, near Galion and the larger city of Mansfield. The Harding Birthplace is a tiny location on the side of Route 97, and it includes a historical marker, site plaque (buried under at least a foot of snow), a wreath and a flagpole. The original house no longer stands, and the markers are actually one house to the east of the Hardings' home. There was once a Presidential Inn Bed & Breakfast located on the Hardings' old farm which opened in 1996, but it is no longer operating. Once a busier crossroads area between nearby towns, the Blooming Grove area is now exceptionally quiet.
Next, we drove just a few miles west to
Iberia, where Harding attended college. Founded as Iberia College in 1854, the college was renamed to Ohio Central College after the Civil War. It was quite progressive for its time, admitting both males and females as well as not discriminating in admission based on race. Harding graduated in 1882, and he left with experience from creating the school's newspaper - a sign of the successful career to come.
Harding's iconic home, used during the Front Porch campaign of 1920, is the next location pictured. While I had been to the home multiple times before this, I had never been able to walk up to the Front Porch nor explore around back (the Harding Home and nearby Presidential Center have been under renovation and construction respectively for the past few years, surrounded by a tall barrier). To stand on the porch was somewhat surreal for me. The house has been used for tours previously, but we were there on a Sunday, and I believe that they are still closed during the weekdays due to the pandemic. Communication from the Ohio History Connection has been light of late.
Behind the house is an short and unassuming yellow building. This place has surprising significance to the Harding story and the campaign for the presidency in particular. "The Shack," as it was often called, was built in just two days using a pre-arranged kit. The Republican campaign needed somewhere convenient for the press to operate out of, and the impromptu house did the trick. Harding was a trailblazer with the media, much like his successors Coolidge and FDR. The success of his Front Porch campaign could only become nationally known if Harding's "back porch campaign" were operating well.
Other points of interest behind the Harding Home include the Freeland House next door, a guard house for security, and a lane for playing horseshoes with members of the media. It appears that visitors will be able to play a round of horseshoes here once snow clears off and the facilities open (at a currently undetermined time).
This is the side of the new Harding Presidential Center, facing the back of the Harding Home. The entrance faces west toward a small parking lot, and along the north side facing the street is a massive image of Harding speaking to the throngs of visitors outside his home. A sign currently sits by the entrance explaining that the center will open when it is safe to properly honor the legacy of the President.
Out front sits this small pillar - we almost missed it because about a third of it was submerged in the snowdrift. It displays a memorable quote uttered by Harding in 1916 at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, IL.: “In the great fulfillment we must have a citizenship less concerned about what the government can do for it, and more anxious about what it can do for the nation.”
This speech seems all too familiar to us in 2020; President Kennedy's Inaugural Address seems to be a bit too similar for mere coincidence.
The Harding Memorial was the most impressive part of the trip. After so many visits this towering yet fairly simple landmark still impresses. I have seen the Memorial in the Summer, Autumn, and Winter, and I must say that (while the greenery within looks amazing in full raiment) the latter suits the place best in my opinion. The image provided does not do justice to the environment nor the structure itself. The day was a bright one, and the tomb is grand indeed. Just behind where we were when taking this picture is a many-panelled sign with a surprising level of detail about the lives of Warren and Florence Harding. My favorite part is the image of Harding with his dog!
As one panel explains: "On December 21, 1927, the bodies of President and Mrs. Harding were removed from the receiving vault and placed in the completed Harding Tomb. Mrs. Harding had passed away on November 21, 1924. On June 16, 1931, President Herbert Hoover dedicated the tomb, erected to the memory of Warren Gamaliel Harding, the 29th President of the United States."
The Harding Tomb is the most recent Presidential resting place to be made in such a grandiose manner (notable predecessors with such graves include McKinley, Garfield, and Harrison - each in Ohio).
We were on our way out of Marion when we came upon this mural on the side of the highway. I was already aware of the site, but it had slipped my mind as a possible addition to the trip. Luckily, it appeared on our right just minutes after we had left town! Visiting this larger-than-life version of the President lasted a fair bit longer than was desired, for the front section of our car became stuck in the snow. Nevertheless, we eventually departed in one piece with this and a handful of other wonderful pictures of a most unexpected treat.