Fairfax Harrison (March 13, 1869 – February 2, 1938) was an American

lawyer and businessman. He became a lawyer for the Southern Railway

Company in 1896, and by 1906 he was the company's vice-president of
finance. In 1913 he was elected president of Southern; under his leadership,
the company expanded to an 8,000-mile (13,000 km) network across 13
states. Following the United States's entry into World War I, the federal
government took control of the railroads, running them through the United
States Railroad Administration, on which Harrison served. After the war,
Harrison worked to improve the railroad's public relations, upgrade the
locomotive stock by introducing more powerful engines, increase the
company's amount of railroad track and extend the area serviced by the
railway. Harrison struggled to keep the railroad afloat during the Great
Depression, but by 1936 Southern was once again profitable. Harrison retired
in 1937 and died three months later.