Background
Charles Curtis Harrison was born on May 3, 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the grandson of John Harrison, a pioneer manufacturing chemist, and the son of George Leib and Sarah Ann (Waples) Harrison.
Charles Curtis Harrison was born on May 3, 1844, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, the grandson of John Harrison, a pioneer manufacturing chemist, and the son of George Leib and Sarah Ann (Waples) Harrison.
Prepared for college at the Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, Charles graduated from the College of the University of Pennsylvania in 1862, first in his class.
Leaving college in the midst of war, Charles Harrison went almost immediately to the front, intending to enlist; but his youth, the state of his health, and his father’s persuasions prevented his entering the military service. He contemplated the study of the law, but his father, who had purchased an interest in a sugar refinery, induced him to engage in business life, in which he might be joined later by his three younger brothers. He therefore became the head of the firm of Harrison, Newhall & Welsh, and continued for nearly three decades to direct the concern, under changing names, as its trade expanded in answer to his management. He retired in 1892 when he and his brothers and a brother-in-law who were the sole proprietors of what had grown to be one of the most important enterprises of the country, sold it to the American Sugar Refining Company, known as the “Trust. ”
Upon the resignation of Provost William Pepper, in 1894, Harrison consented to act in his place ad interim, but at the end of a few months, in 1895, he became the provost in name as well as in fact, a place which he continued to occupy for fifteen years. His predecessor, Provost Pepper, had distinguished himself along with Eliot, Gilman, and Andrew D. White, in the work of modernizing and vitalizing higher education in America, and although Harrison did not possess Pepper’s brilliant touch, he gave financial acumen and the energy of the business man to the execution of Pepper’s program. In a few years he had fulfilled Pepper’s plans and added new projects to the University’s scheme of material development. When he resigned on October 4, 1910, the number of acres in the University tract had nearly trebled, the value of its property had been quadrupled. The number of teachers had increased from 273 to 494, the student body from twenty-four hundred to more than five thousand.
After stepping down as Provost, Harrison continued his involvement with the University as the Vice President and later, President, of the Board of the Managers of the University Museum (1911-1929). He died in Philadelphia in 1929.
Charles Harrison is chiefly remembered as provost of the University of Pennsylvania. During his service there was expansive growth especially in the number of buildings added to the campus. He collected more than ten million dollars for the needs of the institution, contributing liberally all the while from his own Purse. Harrison won the Philadelphia Award in the year 1924.
Harrison had a public outlook and he came to be regarded as one of Philadelphia’s most useful and benevolent inhabitants. His aid and support were constantly sought and judiciously bestowed for the advantage of charitable and civic causes. He was a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania since 1876 until his death. Among his gifts was a half million for the George Leib Harrison Foundation in memory of his father, principally for the support of a number of scholarships and fellowships in the University. His indomitable exertions made possible also important archeological expeditions which brought to Philadelphia the fruits of scholarly research in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and South America.
Harrison was of the simplest habits. His unremitting forays upon the wealthy in Philadelphia were made from a rather shabby office in the downtown business section of the city. Whether as provost or as citizen Harrison was always friendly and accessible. His hurried daily luncheon at a “counter” with clerks and stenographers fitted his tastes better than the entertainment which he knew so well how to lavish upon his guests at his beautiful city and country homes.
On February 23, 1870, Harrison married Ellen Nixon Wain, a great-granddaughter of Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution. Between him and Mrs. Harrison there were the closest ties. He would say that a day never passed when he did not, at its end, unfold to her the results of its activities in the University’s behalf.
