Harlow, Rex

Rex Harlow (1892–1993), founder of the first national public relations association and the first national public relations research journal, conducted public relations short courses nationwide and was the first full-time professor at a major university to teach public relations classes. He also pioneered the application of social science research to the practice. He was born in Missouri, began his career in Oklahoma, worked nationwide from his base in California, and lived to within two months of the age of 101. He wrote more than 50 books, edited the Harper series of public relations [Page 415]books (1939–1965), and recorded his story in the unpublished autobiography he typed between 1981 and 1984.

The youngest of 10 siblings, he moved to Oklahoma City at age 19 to work for brother Ernest at Merry Optical, where he got the idea of establishing better relations with optometrists. When another brother, Victor, founded Harlow's Weekly, Rex served as business manager and conducted opinion surveys. He used research findings to advise business executives and political candidates. The literary and political digest published from 1912 to 1940 was the basis for the development of Harlow Publishing in 1915.

Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917, and Harlow was appointed to the Aircraft Production Board. Following a successful campaign to “sell” the value of air power, he resigned to complete officer training. His book, The Trail of the 61st, was published in 1920, the same year he married Ruby Wilson. They had two sons and one daughter.

Harlow completed a B.S. at what is now the University of Central Oklahoma in 1934. A year later, while completing his master's degree at the University of Texas, he became a trailblazer in the emerging field of university relations. His book, The University of Texas As I See It, led to a doubling in legislative appropriations for the university.

When he headed back north of the Red River to work on a social sciences doctorate at the University of Oklahoma, the president of Stanford contacted him seeking the kind of help he had provided for the University of Texas. In March 1935, Harlow headed to Palo Alto where he completed his doctorate. His dissertation study included trips to 14 universities where he found deficiencies in university relations with businesses, professions, and government. The next year, Harlow began his eight-year tenure teaching courses in higher education administration and public relations at Stanford, and he preserved his bound lecture notes from those first public relations classes.

Harlow wrote that public relations needed some common basis for understanding what it is, what it can do, and what constitutes acceptable work in the field. In 1939, he organized the Stanford Institute of Public Relations for short courses and conferences. With corporate sponsors and university connections in multiple states, this became the American Council on Public Relations. Within a decade, 150 lecturers presented 23 short courses to 3,400 participants. The Council also studied opinions and issues related to World War II and sent weekly reports to President Franklin Roosevelt and 125 other government officials. His book, Public Relations in War and Peace, was published in 1942.

...