Harden, Cecil Murray (1894–1984)

American congresswoman, Republican of Indiana, who served from January 2, 1949 to January 3, 1959. Born in Covington, Indiana, on November 21, 1894; died in Lafayette, Indiana, on December 5, 1984; attended public schools; attended the University of Indiana at Bloomington; married Frost R. Harden (an automobile dealer), in December 1914.

Five-term congresswoman Cecil Harden was born and raised in Covington, Indiana, attended the University of Indiana at Bloomington, and taught school before her marriage to Frost R. Harden in 1914. She did not become active in politics until 1932, her interest piqued by meetings of the local Republican Party which were held in a room above her husband's car dealership. After chairing the Fountain County Republican Party from 1938 to 1950, she served as Republican national committeewoman from Indiana and was an at-large delegate to the Republican national convention of 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1968.

Harden ran for the Sixth District seat in July 1948, after Representative Noble J. Johnson left to assume a court judgeship. She was narrowly elected, beating her Democratic rival by only 483 votes, but she was ultimately reelected to four additional terms. During her tenure, she served on the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, the Committee on Expenditures in Executive Departments, the Committee on Government Operations, and the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. She promoted flood control for the Wabash Valley and helped secure funds for a dam and a park facility. In 1956, she fought against Defense Department plans to close a water plant in her district, claiming that it would only add to the mounting unemployment problem.

Harden was one of five Indiana Republicans who lost seats in a national Democratic sweep of 1958, which ultimately cost the GOP 48 House seats. Two months after leaving Congress, she was appointed special assistant for women's affairs to Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield, a post she held until March 1961. In 1970, she served on the National Advisory Committee for the White House Conference on Aging. Cecil Harden died on December 5, 1984.