HEC and C. ALLEN further on...

I cannot list all of the companies which C. Allen acquired and directed; I have only a partial listing of all of the non-profit organizations of which he was a vital driving force. So I shall copy from Osborn Elliott's 1959 publication "MEN AT THE TOP"- p. 152 to 154:

"Among the thousands of top men who devote their time and effort to hundreds of charitable, educational and civic groups, it would be impossible to pick the do-bester. But if a tournament of do-gooders were held, one of the finalists most certainly would be C. Allen Harlan of Detroit, President of Harlan Electric Co., and president, director or part owner of fifteen afflicted companies throughout the Midwest and East, Harlan's business interests alone - to say nothing of his wife, Ivabell, and seven children - would seem to be numerous enough to demand his attention seven days and seven nights a week.

But Harlan in 1958 still found time to be an active member of more than a score of extracurricular organizations."

One entire wall and parts of the other three walls of Harlan's Detroit office are covered with citations, awards, certificates, commissions, photographs and other memorabilia of his civic service.

Why does Harlan spend so much time on extracurricular activities? "All these companies around here", he once told a visitor, waving an arm to indicate a big chunk of Detroit industry, "they spend thousand and millions of dollars on public relations. I'm my own public relations" he added with disarming candor. Harlan is quite genuinely concerned with the betterment of mankind. But to a Newsweek reporter he conceded frankly: "I'm the trouble shooter and I'm the guy who brings in business [for my companies]. The tools that I use to bring in business are all these activities. They open a lot of doors. Everything you do in life must be economically feasible."

Harlan mentioned the president of a large Midwestern university which has benefited grandly through Harlan's scholarship program. "Whenever he talks to a contractor who is bidding on a new construction project at the university," Harlan says, "he tells the contractor that the electrical work will be done by C. Allen Harlan." But if this seems unduly commercial, it should be noted that at the same time many a student graduated from that university who would not have managed to do so without Harlan's financial aid. "Unless I make money, I won't have much to give, will I?" Harlan asks matter-of-factly.

Walter Laidlaw, executive vice president of the United Foundation in Detroit, said of him: "Mr. Harlan is the great extrovert. He gets up before meetings and preaches. [In one fund-raising drive] he took a hillbilly band out to the construction jobs and he was most effective in preaching to workers on the job as a Tennessee preacher might. "In one year Harlan first was made head of the Building Industry Committee of the United Foundation in Detroit, he had a target to shoot at - the previous year, $40,000 had been raised. "In our first year," he reported later, "we brought in $140,000. In the second year it was $280,000, and in the third, $360.000."

Harlan started giving money for scholarships after his discharge from the Navy in 1945 (he was a lieutenant). "My wife and I wanted the scholarships to cross all color and creed lines," he said. Their first gift was to the University of Tennessee, and in the five years to 1958 Harlan's and his company's scholarship donations amounted to more than $100,000 annually. He has established scholarships at, among others, the University of Michigan, Michigan State, Wayne State, Brandeis, Bethany, Fisk, Berea College, Union College, and Hampton Institute. At fifty, he held the following posts: president Educational TV Foundation (Detroit); trustee Bethany College; trustee Fisk University; trustee, Hampton Institute; member , State Board of Agriculture (Michigan State University); fellow, Brandeis University (to which he claims to be the "first non-Jew to give scholarship money"); board member, Boy Scouts of America; board member, YMCA; board member, International Institute; board member, Community Health Association; trustee, Burton Mercy Hospital; advisory member, Michigan Economic Development Commission; vice-president, director, United Foundation; member of the board and finance committee, Junior Achievement; board member, American Association for the United Nations; board member, Michigan Society for Mental Health (Wayne County Chapter); board member, Detroit Urban League; board member, United Service Organization; board member, Detroit Council of Churches; member, Labor Participation Committee, United Health, United Health and Welfare Fund of Michigan; board member, Metropolitan Detroit Building Fund; trustee, National Jewish Hospital at Denver."

After having raised so much money, a percentage greater than any one else had reached, for the United Fund, C. Allen was much hurt that he had not been elected to head a drive. It was impossible to convince him that it was not lack of appreciation for what he had done, but that the facts of life required that the position be given to some one from the auto companies. He continued to work for the Fund and do an exceptional job - at least, he was a good talking point - a good example - for everyone else.

And most of it was possible because he had a good secretary who kept track of where he was and where he should have been. She started his day listing all of his appointments, whom, where, and when on a three by five card which he put in his pocket and often forgot. How often she called of a morning to ask "which way did he go?" With the telephone between us I would answer: "He went that-a-way." And we neither one of us knew. There were times when Father would come home, angered because Mrs. Cook had not told him that he should be here or there; the three by five, forgotten, was still in his pocket; something else had intervened. What was all the more remarkable was that C. Allen was an introvert (still a small country boy facing the great city), an introvert who could say - 'this and this I have done', a country boy who could call college presidents by their first names, who was on familiar speaking terms with the presidents of major companies, who could point to a great numbers of buildings and factories and say "we did that job; we are responsible for" - and so on indefinitely. Dr. Warren Cooksey and I were the only two who knew that the country background was still there.

Actually the first gift of funds went to his high school in Columbia, Tennessee. I objected for when we had discussed the matter, it was intended that any moneys were to go to universities. From that time on that is where the money went; time, knowledge and interest but not much cash went to the non-profits. Our next decision was that any money given or directed to help a student should go to students in Michigan schools.

For a long while, C. Allen was intent upon helping Sister Josepha, student in the metal shop at Cranbrook Art Academy. She came from and returned to the Pittsburgh area. When I insisted that he turn her patronage over to Bob Patterson (Power Piping), he did. Sister's tale of going to the Power Piping office to introduce herself to Mr. Patterson is worth repeating. She asked if I could imagine her apprehension at approaching Mr. Patterson; easily. What was amusing was that that first meeting was the beginning of Patterson's education in modern art. At that time, Sister Josepha was shaping her sculpture from tubes. Where better could she find piping then at that plant in Pittsburgh? It was a perfect situation for everyone: Sister began working with bigger pipes. The company supplied the power to bend, shape and paint; and the men working in the plant became fascinated with 'their art'. There is an example of her work at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor and one piece in front of the Telegraph Road office of HEC.

C. Allen always had trouble speaking to an audience. Few noticed that his hands were behind his back and that there was a slight tic to his shoulder because one thumb nail was always flicking a nail on the other hand. But he persevered. The ladies loved listening to him for he quoted poetry - no one else ever did that.

There were many honors and awards. The Newsweek interview which was the basis of that section devoted to C. Allen in Mr. Elliott's book was one honor. He became involved with the activities of the architects; the Michigan Society of Architects elected him an Honorary Member. He received a citation from the landscape people. Always so many groups to help, so many groups to appreciate his gifts. The most far-reaching and the most enduring of all the gifts were those made to the universities. Tony Spina was always there with a camera; pictures are a special record of events.

The spillover of all these years still reaches me today. People take the time to tell me - "Mrs. Harlan, we remember...."