Washington National Cathedral

Alfred Harding (1852–1923), rector of St. Paul’s K Street and a Cathedral Canon, was elected in 1909 to succeed the Right Rev. Henry Yates Satterlee, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Washington (1896–1908). Harding was de facto dean of the Cathedral from 1909 until 1916. According to Chapter Minutes, “The Committee moved, in view of the election of Canon Harding to be Bishop of Washington, that the Provisional Committee be discharged, and that all matters connected with the care and use of the grounds of Washington Cathedral and the proper maintenance of the property and the services, which would usually come under the supervision of the Bishop or Dean, be for the present referred to Canon Harding, the Bishop-elect.”