Documenting Arkansas


Thomas Harding Photographs


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Thomas Harding was born July 7, 1911, at Little Rock, Arkansas. He is the son of Thomas Harding II, an architect, and Mary Rice Harding. Following his education at St. Andrews Cathedral, Little Rock High School and Washington University at St. Louis, Missouri, he practiced architecture with his father. Harding served with the Air Force in North Africa and Italy during World War II. After his discharge in 1945, Harding opened a photography studio in Little Rock. His son Thomas Harding IV was born two years later.

In 1964 Harding sold his Little Rock studio and moved to New York where he was associated with the prestigious Bachrach studio. He returned to Little Rock in 1970 and again opened a commercial and portrait studio. His company has provided advertising photography for most of the advertising agencies in Arkansas as well as numerous national accounts. The portrait division photographed individually over 200 prominent Arkansas lawyers for the Arkansas Bar Association Wall of Fame, several thousand bankers, doctors, professional and business people.

In addition, Harding found time to belong to Holy Souls Catholic Church, the Cathedral at St. Andrew's, the Arkansas Advertising Federation, the Sales and Marketing Executives Club, and the Downtown Little Rock Rotary Club. Harding closed his studio in June 1982 to retire and devote his time to the most important of several hobbies, namely pinhole photography, water color painting, and bread baking.

Harding published two books, One Room Schoolhouses of Arkansas As Seen Through a Pinhole (UA Press, 1993) and An Outhouse by Any Other Name (August House Publishers, 1999). Harding died August 4, 2002, and is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Little Rock.