Early life
Dema E. Harshbarger was born inCareer
Harshbarger started her career at the Century Lyceum Bureau in Chicago, booking lecturers and entertainers in small towns in Illinois and Indiana. From 1919 to 1921 she and Jessie B. Hall ran the Fine Arts Bureau in Chicago. In 1921 she left Hall to become co-owner of Harrison and Harshbarger, a Chicago concert booking agency. Their first exclusive client was tenor Charles Marshall, and they helped to develop the " Organized-Audience Plan", a subscription model for entertainment bookings in smaller cities. In the 1920s, Harshbarger was co-founder (with Ward French) and president of the National Civic Music Association. "Through her service," explained a California newspaper in 1932, "more than one and a half million people in the forty-eight states are served with musical attractions." Harshbarger sold her agency to NBC, moved to California, and was made head of the network's Artists' Bureau in 1936. She became manager and press agent of Hedda Hopper, and was frequently mentioned in Hopper's gossip column.Personal life
Dema Harshbarger was a lesbian. She was known for wearing tailored suits, bowties, and hats. She lived in La Habra Heights, California, where she raised avocados.Diana WednerIn popular culture
Dema Harshbarger was played by Joyce Van Patten in the 1985 television film about Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, ''Malice in Wonderland''.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harshbarger, Dema 1884 births 1964 deaths People from Knox County, Illinois LGBT people from Illinois American LGBT businesspeople Polio survivors