Editing Otto Harbach (section)

===Early life and education===
Otto Abels Hauerbach was born on August 18, 1873, in [[Salt Lake City, Utah]] to [[Denmark|Danish]] immigrant parents. His family's original surname was Christiansen, but shortly after settling in the United States near Salt Lake City in the 1830s, they took the name of the farm on which they worked, Hauerbach, as their new surname.<ref name="hischak-word-crazy">{{cite book |pages= 19–24 |title= Word Crazy: Broadway Lyricists from Cohan to Sondheim |author= Hischak, Thomas S. |year=1991 |publisher= Praeger}}</ref>

He attended the [[Westminster College, Salt Lake City|Salt Lake Collegiate Institute]], transferring to [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]], in [[Galesburg, Illinois]], where he was a friend of [[Carl Sandburg]], joined [[Phi Gamma Delta]] fraternity, and graduated in 1895. Knox has since named its 599-seat Harbach Theatre in his honor. He then taught English and public speaking at [[Whitman College]] in [[Walla Walla, Washington|Walla Walla]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]],<ref name="hischak-word-crazy"/> with the goal of becoming an English professor. In the early 1900s, complaining of eye difficulties making prolonged reading uncomfortable, he became a newspaper reporter. He also worked at various advertising agencies, at an insurance firm, as a copywriter in advertising, and later as a journalist. He would have to pull out of Columbia when he could not financially support himself.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}