John Garrick Hardy was born 16 November 1909 in Baldwin County, Alabama, to John Hardy and Pinkie Sommerville Hardy. In 1933, shortly after John earned his Master’s degree in Vocational Guidance from Iowa State College after only nine months in the program, he began teaching at Alabama State Teachers College (now Alabama State University) in Montgomery, Alabama, the institution where he taught for forty-six years (“Archive Record,” n.d., para. 4). Prior to attending ISC, he had earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree from that same school. In 1935, Hardy joined other Iowa Staters at the banquet held by the Iowa State Alumni Association for Frederick D. Patterson’s inauguration as President of Tuskegee. Four years later, Hardy married Mildred Elizabeth Motley on 25 December 1939 in Autauga, Alabama.
In 1946, with a completed Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Hardy became “the first Black in the State of Alabama, who graduated from an all Black Public State supported institution of higher learning, to receive a Master’s degree (Iowa State University) and a Ph.D. degree (University of Wisconsin)” (“Archive Record,” n.d., para. 4). In recognition of his long-time impact on Alabama State and its students, Dr. Hardy received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in the spring of 1977 (“Archive Record,” n.d., para. 4).
He ended his career as the head of the Sociology Department at Alabama State. The John Garrick Hardy University Center at Alabama State is named for him. His life was marked by a strong record of community service and commitment to bettering the lives of others. Dr. John Garrick Hardy passed away on 9 November 1986. He is buried in the Remount Park Cemetery in Montgomery, Alabama.
Iowa State College Dissertation Title: A study of the vocational intentions of negro students in fourteen city high schools in Alabama, 1933
Iowa State University Catalog Record:https://iowa-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/12tutg/01IASU_ALMA21201769240002756
Sources
Photo credit: Archive record: Dr. John Garrick Hardy Collection. (n.d.) Levi Watkins Learning Center. Alabama State University. Retrieved from https://alasu.pastperfectonline.com/archive/6AA61ED5-D87C-4710-96C1-385424122018
Archive record: Dr. John Garrick Hardy Collection. (n.d.) Levi Watkins Learning Center. Alabama State University. Retrieved from https://alasu.pastperfectonline.com/archive/6AA61ED5-D87C-4710-96C1-385424122018
