Keita Bates-Diop

Fairfax Harrison, born March 13, 1869, was a distinguished lawyer and astute businessman. He accelerated to prominence through his work with the Southern Railway Company where he began providing legal services in 1896. Within a decade, Harrison’s financial acumen and leadership skills led him to be appointed as the company’s vice-president of finance by 1906.

In 1913, he was elected president of Southern, initiating a period of expansion and meticulous direction that saw the company stretching its network across thirteen states, covering an expanse of over 8,000 miles or roughly 13,000 kilometers. Under his stewardship, the company’s reach and influence saw monumental growth.

Harrison’s tenure at the helm of the Southern Railway Company was also marked by the turmoil of World War I as the United States entered the conflict. At this crucial junction, the federal government assumed control of the railroads and the pivotal United States Railroad Administration was formed. Harrison was selected to serve on this influential body, further cementing his prominence in the industry.

Once the war had concluded, Harrison took upon himself the challenge of resuscitating and rejuvenating the railway. He focused on effectuating a makeover of the company’s public image, inviting the trust of the public and stakeholders alike. Parallel to these PR efforts, Harrison brought about tangible improvements in the company’s technology, replacing older locomotives with more powerful engines that were capable of a higher haulage capacity. He took unprecedented strides in increasing the Southern Railway’s mileage and service area, relentlessly working to recover the losses inflicted by the war.

The advent of the Great Depression heaped burdensome economic challenges on the Southern Railway. However, yet again, Harrison’s leadership saw the company through these testing times. While he had to grapple with financial distress, by 1936, Harrison had steered the company back to profitability.

After an illustrious career that had transformed the landscape of rail transportation in the southern United States, Harrison decided to step down from his post in 1937. Tragically, he passed away just three months later on February 2, 1938.

Born a year after Harrison, on March 13, 1874, Ethel Reed was another American achieving international recognition, albeit in a different field. She became one of the most recognized graphic artists of her time. Her captivating work from around 1895 was immortalized in a photograph taken by Frances Benjamin Johnston. This photograph, a testament to Reed’s artistic prowess, is now preserved in the U.S. Library of Congress.

Written by voluntary editors, the detailed accounts of Harrison’s life and career are part of the Wikimedia Foundation’s non-profit digital library. This English language platform also hosts a range of other volunteer-driven projects with similar biographical information available in various languages.