George Delancey Harris

George Delancey Harris (October 21, 1892 – December 10, 1958) was an American business executive. Harris served as chairman and president of D.P. Harris Hardware and Manufacturing Company, an early bicycling manufacturer. He assumed leadership from his father, Delancey P. Harris, who founded the company in 1895.

Early life and education Harris was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, on October 21, 1892. He was the son of DeLancey P. Harris and Mary May Harris. Harris descended directly from colonial merchant Stephen Delancey and Lieutenant Governor James De Lancey.

He graduated from the Morristown School (now Morristown-Beard School) in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1914. Harris then completed his bachelor's degree at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Career During World War I, Harris drove an ambulance for Section 30 of the American Field Service in France. He assisted the French Army at the second offensive of the Battle of Verdun and the Chemin des Dames front. On October 8, 1917, Harris enlisted as a private with Section 632 of the United States Army Ambulance Service. He assisted Allied Forces at the Somme Defensive, the Alsac-Lorraine front, Chemin des Dames, the Second Battle of the Marne, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In 1918, Harris sent a letter to his father to share news of the turning of the war for the Allied Forces. Recognizing his service efforts, France awarded Harris their Croix de Guerre. Originally sold for $65, private collectors now sell the Hopalong Cassidy bicycle for $6000 to $10,000 (depending on the condition of a specific item).

George D. Harris Foundation

Harris founded the George D. Harris Foundation in 1947. For several decades, the foundation provided financial assistance for educational, medical, and religious initiatives. Harris served on its Board of Trustees from 1946 to 1959.

George D. Harris, Jr. (April 21, 1925 - Dec. 7, 2007), who married Joanna Primrose Cochrane (January 28, 1922 - March 8, 2008), the daughter of Frank Cochrane and Eve Titheradge, British actors. Thomas Lovejoy Harris (December 23, 1926 - January 22, 2013) married Yasuko Furuyama (m. 1969 - 2003, her death) and Geraldine (Gerre) Samuels Bracey (m. 2003 - 2013, his death). Tom was special assistant to Leonard Feather; president of the American Committee for K.E.E.P.; president of The Louise Bogan Poetry Society and a founding president of The Duke Ellington Society.

Harris died in 1958.