Harrison was a co-owner, alongside his brothers
Alfred and
William Welsh Harrison and brother-in-law, and President of the
Franklin Sugar Refinery, which was built in 1886. It was the largest refinery in Philadelphia. In 1892 he sold 50 percent of his stock to
H. O. Havemeyer and the
American Sugar Refinery. Harrison entered the sugar refining business in 1863 and had a series of progressively larger refineries until he built the Franklin Sugar Refinery. This refinery could process, at its peak, 4,000 barrels or two million pounds of raw material a day six days a week. The raw sugar was sourced from
Cuba,
Java,
Louisiana, as well as brokers in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, London and Germany.
Sugar from Cuba would have been a product of labor by
enslaved Africans, in Cuba there were also Indigenous Mexican and Chinese contract workers. Sugar from
Louisiana at that time would have been a result of the labor of freedmen and women living in only marginally better conditions than when enslaved pre-emancipation. Slavery was abolished in Cuba in 1886, and in Louisiana in 1863 by the
emancipation proclamation and 1864 by the
state constitution. Sugar from a
Dutch-Occupied Java would have been grown by native Javanese who were forced into harsh conditions and low paying labor.
Provost In 1894, at the urging of his colleagues, he became the Provost of the university. His years as Provost, 1894 to 1910, were a time of expansive growth for the University of Pennsylvania, especially in the number of buildings added to the campus. Using his extensive personal contacts from his business and political associates, Harrison raised funds (making large contributions himself) for dormitories as well as
Houston Hall, the
University Museum, the Medical Laboratory, the Law, Engineering, and Dental School buildings from the wealthy of Philadelphia society.
Later career After stepping down as Provost, he continued his involvement with the university as the Vice President and later, President, of the Board of the Managers of the
University Museum (1911–1929). During this period, joint expeditions with the
British Museum were planned and carried out and many works of art were procured for the Museum. His correspondence related to expeditions sent to
Nippur (modern day Iraq) are archived at UPenn.
Sir Leonard Woolley led several expeditions to
Ur, Iran in the 1920s. During the 1910s and 1920s several other expeditions were taken to locations throughout the Americas including Puerto Rico and Guatemala. ==Personal life==