Halley Harding

{{short description|American baseball player}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

| name = Halley Harding

| image = Halley Harding.jpg

| position = Shortstop

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|11|13|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1967|4|1|1904|11|13|mf=y}}

| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| bats = Both

| throws = Right

| debutleague = Negro league baseball

| debutdate =

| debutyear = 1926

| debutteam = Indianapolis ABCs

| finaldate =

| finalyear = 1937

| finalteam = Philadelphia Stars

| statyear =

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| teams =

• Indianapolis ABCs (1926)
• Detroit Stars (1927–1928)
• Kansas City Monarchs (1928–1930)
• Baltimore Black Sox (1931)
• Chicago Columbia Giants (1931)
• Philadelphia Stars (1937)

}}

William Claire Halley Harding (November 13, 1904 – April 1, 1967) was an American Negro league shortstop from 1926 to 1937.

A native of Wichita, Kansas, Harding attended Knox College and Wilberforce University, where he was a standout football quarterback and punter.{{cite web|author=Gary Ashwill |url=https://agatetype.typepad.com/agate_type/2013/02/halley-harding.html |title=Halley Harding |publisher=Agate Type |date=February 12, 2013 |accessdate=October 7, 2020}} He played professional basketball for the Harlem Rens,{{cite web|author= |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/halley-harding-born/ |title=Halley Harding |publisher=African American Registry |date= |accessdate=October 7, 2020}} and made his Negro league baseball debut in 1926 for the Indianapolis ABCs.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=hardi01hal |title=Halley Harding |publisher=seamheads.com |date= |accessdate=October 7, 2020}}

Following his baseball career, Harding worked as a sportswriter and editor for the Los Angeles Tribune and the Los Angeles Sentinel, and was a leading voice in advocating for the integration of the Los Angeles Rams and the National Football League.{{cite web|author=Charles Hallman |url=https://spokesman-recorder.com/2017/03/08/halley-harding-trailblazing-sportswriter/ |title=Halley Harding, a trailblazing sportswriter |publisher=Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder |date=March 8, 2017 |accessdate=October 7, 2020}}{{cite web|author=Nathan Fenno |url=https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-kenny-washington-rams-20170128-story.html |title=How the media helped overturn the NFL's unwritten ban on black players |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 28, 2017 |accessdate=October 7, 2020}}{{cite web|author=Barney Brantingham |url=https://www.independent.com/2016/02/18/man-who-integrated-rams/ |title=The Man Who Integrated the Rams: Before Baseball, Halley Harding Pushed the NFL to Break the Color Barrier |publisher=independent.com |date=February 18, 2016 |accessdate=October 7, 2020}} He died in Chicago, Illinois in 1967 at age 62.