James M. Henderson

{{Short description|Advertising business executive}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = James M. Henderson

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1921|03|28}}

| birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|10|31|1921|03|28}}

| education = Clemson University, University of Denver

| known_for = Founding Henderson Agency

| party = Republican

| spouse = Donna Baade

| children = 3

| relatives = Jim DeMint (son-in-law)

| module =

{{Infobox military person

| embed = yes

| branch_label = Branch

| branch = United States Army

| battles_label = Wars

| battles = World War II

}}

}}

James Marvin Henderson (March 28, 1921 – October 31, 1995){{Cite web |year=1999 |title=James M. Henderson {{!}} Legacy of Leadership Profile |url=https://www.knowitall.org/video/james-m-henderson-legacy-leadership-profile |access-date=2021-01-23 |website=knowitall.org}} was the founder of the Henderson Agency.

Henderson founded the eponymous agency in 1946.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2003-09-15|title=Henderson Advertising|url=https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/henderson-advertising/98693|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-23|website=Advertising Age|language=en}}{{cite news|author=Philip H. Dougherty|date=April 8, 1986|title=Henderson Advertising is sold to eight executives|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/08/business/advertising-henderson-advertising-is-sold-to-8-executives.html}} The agency was described by The New York Times as "one of the bigger agencies in the Southeast."{{cite news|author=Philip H. Dougherty|date=November 1, 1983|title=Fotomat looks|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/01/business/advertising-fotomat-looks.html}}

In 1969, Henderson took a one-year leave of absence from his advertising agency to serve as Special Assistant to the Postmaster General for Public Information, returning February 1970.{{cite news|date=February 8, 1970|title=Special Assistant|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/02/08/archives/special-assistant.html}} In 1970, he was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of South Carolina. Henderson was elected secretary-treasurer of American Association of Advertising Agencies, "the most prestigious organization in its field" in 1971.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/14/archives/advertising-first-woman-joins-4as-board.html

|title=Advertising: First Woman Joins 4A's Board

|author=Philip H. Dougherty |date=May 14, 1971}}

In 1974, his life story to that point was described by a New York Times writer as a "slightly cracker-barrel rags-to-riches saga."{{cite news|author=Philip H. Dougherty|date=May 17, 1974|title=Advertising: Bid by a 4-A Chief|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/17/archives/a-advertising-bid-by-a-4a-chief-penthouse-sales-revised-and-in-new.html}}

He retired from the Henderson Agency in 1986 at the age of 65. Twenty years later, the headline "A South Carolina Agency Closes Its Doors" told about the end of what The New York Times called Henderson Advertising.{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times

|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/24/business/addenda-a-south-carolina-agency-closes-its-doors.html

|title=A South Carolina Agency Closes Its Doors

|author=Ken Belson |date=April 24, 2006}}

A regional obituary noted that Henderson was "known for putting Greenville on the national advertising map" because it was "in 1980 ... the first ad agency outside of Chicago or New York to be named Advertising Agency of the Year by Advertising Age magazine."