On this day in 1833, Joseph Hardie is born in Huntsville. Hardie was educated in common schools in the area, a graduate of the University of Alabama and Princeton University in 1855. Hardie moved to Selma and became a grocery clerk and within a year he was a partner and in 1859, the sole proprietor. He sold his business in 1861 and enlisted in the Confederate Army, he eventually raised a calvary battalion as a major. After the war he engaged in mercantile business in Talladega before returning to Selma, and later made very profitable property deals in California. Hardie is most well known as a southern delegate to the YMCA international convention in Toronto, Canada. He urged the raising of funds to establish YMCAs for African Americans in the South. He was also a founder of the YMCA in Selma, established in 1887 it remains the oldest YMCA building in the state of Alabama.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Jun 2013 00:13:34 +0000