Harpole founded and led the Cinema History Project which created a ten-volume "History of American Cinema" book series, published by Charles Scribner Sons and by the University of California Press, and held in over 600 WorldCat libraries.
Cinema historian Harpole spearheaded the Cinema History Project, leading to the creation of a ten-volume "History of American Cinema" publication series, widely distributed through major publishers and housed in extensive library collections.