Harlow Akers

Akers was born on October 28, 1898, in Phoenix, Arizona, son of Arizona pioneers Charles A. and Jennie Bryan Akers.^[2][3] Akers attended Phoenix Union High School,^[4] and after graduating, he joined the U.S. Navy, and served throughout World War I.^[5] After receiving his discharge from the Navy, he went on to receive his B.A. and LL.D. at the University of Michigan, graduating in 1924. While at university, he was a member of Delta Chi.^[4] When he graduated from law school in 1924, he intended to become a lawyer. However, his father, owner of the Arizona Gazette, died that year, and Akers returned to Phoenix to help run the paper.^[5] He married Pearl Addams on January 25, 1925, in Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix.^[4] The couple had one son, Charles Harlow.^[2]

In 1926, Akers ran for one of the two Arizona State Senate seats from Maricopa County.^[5] Of the eight candidates in the Democrat primary, Akers obtained the most votes in the primary.^[6] In the November general election, Akers and fellow Democrat Dan P. Jones, won.^[7] In 1932, Akers ran in the primary for the Democrat nomination for the U. S. Senate.^[8] There were four candidates in the race and Akers finished second behind incumbent Carl Hayden, 38,705 to 30,632. The other two candidates finished a distant third and fourth place.^[9] Akers died on December 1, 1945, in Phoenix, after a six-week illness.^[2]