IOWA WOMEN’S ARCHIVES

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA LIBRARIES

IOWA CITY, IOWA

 

LILEAH HARRIS  (1931-  ) TITLE:»

 

»PAPERS, 1961-1995

3.1 linear feet DATES:»and audiovisual material»QUANTITY:»

 

Processing of this collection was supported through funding from the Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP) Act through a Historical Resource Development Program (HRDP) grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa.

 

ACQUISITION:

The »papers (donor no. 359) were donated by Lileah Harris in 1996.

ACCESS:

The »papers are open for research.

AUDIOVISUAL:

Two audiocassettes shelved in audiocassette collection: AC496-AC497.

COPYRIGHT:

»Copyright has been retained by the donor.

PROCESSED BY:

Your name, year»Natalie S. Brody, 1998, and Suzanne Araas Vesely, 1999.

REVISION:

Bobby Jett, October 27, 1999 [Word 7 HarrisL.doc]


»Biography

            (Evelyn) Lileah Harris was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa, one of the five children of Lee B. and Lily Furgerson.  Her father was a physician and her mother an elementary school teacher.  As a child Harris’ interest in music was encouraged by her mother and at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), she majored in piano.  Since her marriage at nineteen to Percy Harris, the couple has resided in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he practiced medicine for many years, possibly the first black physician to practice in Iowa.  They raised twelve children in Cedar Rapids.  Of particular interest to the Harris investigator will be the uproar caused by the Harris’ purchase of land from St. Paul’s Methodist Church in 1961 to build a new home for the family in one of the better Cedar Rapids neighborhoods.   

            During the 1970s and 1980s Harris was deeply engaged in a wide range of community activities.  She was recognized for her outstanding service through a PTA keeper award in 1986.  Among her many activities for the Washington High School PTA from 1982-1988, she served as President for the years 1984-1985, organized a conference on children. In addition, Harris successfully confronted a racist selection system that discriminated against black aspirants for cheerleading, and hosted a visit by University of Iowa President James O. Freedman in 1986.  In 1983, the Department of Education recognized Washington High School as an exemplary High School in the nation. She was also recognized by Erskine Elementary School as an outstanding volunteer in 1987, receiving the Cedar Rapids Community School District Foundation 20- year award in 1991.

Harris also served on the advisory board for the Jane Boyd Community House, which offered a wide range of community services for at-risk individuals of all ages, and Minnesota Early Learning Design, 1986-88, which addressed the problems of parents in crisis.  Harris was a member of the Multicultural Nonsexist Committee in the early 1980s, which introduced an integration plan for the Cedar Rapids School System, and she was a member of the Cedar Rapids Human Rights Commission throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s.  Both she and her husband have been avid supporters of the arts; they are on the University of Iowa Hancher Honor Roll for 1994 and 1995.  Lileah Harris also served as publicity chair for the Cedar Rapids Symphony, 1973-74.

            Like her mother who returned to school in her 40s, Harris sought a college degree later in life, enrolling in the University of Iowa in 1988.  In 1992, at the age of sixty-two, Harris received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian, along with the Dean’s Achievement Award from the College of Liberal Arts.

Harris saved an article interviewing Martha Harris Fair in her 1982 DPI file (see box 5): Fair believes that racism and sexism is here to stay.  The point, as she sees it, is not to be better than everyone else, but to survive: learn to swim with the sharks.  Lileah Harris also found a way to swim with the sharks, to survive, and to make it possible for women of all races to also survive.


Scope and Content Note

            Begin text here:The Lileah Harris papers date from 1961 »to 1995 and measure 3.1 linear feet.  They are divided into three series: Biographical information, Education activities, and Cedar Rapids community activities.  The collection contains a wide range of materials relating to Harris’ extensive community commitments.  The arrangement is generally chronological, except for a few instances in which some groups of papers apparently went together.  Undated papers are kept with the file in which they arrived.

 

Related Collections:

Furgerson, Betty Jean (sister)

Nash, Martha (sister)

Furgerson, Penny (sister-in-law)


Box no.           Description

 

Box 1

Biographical information

Awards, 1969-1999

Correspondence, 1974-1995

Newspaper and magazine clippings, 1990-1998 (scattered)

Percy Harris (husband) 

Newspaper clippings

St. Paul’s Methodist Church Conference, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, December 13, 1961 [shelved in audiocassette collection: AC496-AC497]

Newspaper clippings

      

Newspaper clippings, 1985, 1998

Speeches, 1983-1989 and undated

 

Education activities

Issues

Maternity leave 1972

Cheerleading, 1980-1981

Washington High School Parents Teachers Association (PTA)

Pre-1982

1982

1983, January-April

1983, May-December

Undated [1983?]

1984

Undated [1984?]

 

Box 2

1985 January-August and undated

1985 September-December and personal notebook [AMS]

James Freedman speech, 1986

1986 January-April and undated

1986 May-December

1987 and undated

1988 and undated

1984-88 and undated

 

Box 3

Calendar Advisory Committee, 1982

District Communications Committee, 1985-1986 and undated     pamphlets

Multicultural Non-Sexist Advisory Committee

General    (1968-1989 and undated)

1981 and undated

Summer 1981: Non-native Speakers

1982 and undated

1983 and undated

1984-1988

 

Box 4

Integrated Education Report

1980

1981

Cedar Rapids Community School District Foundation, 1985-1991

Facilities Committee, 1985-1986

Facilities Committee Planning and Development Manual

Fine Arts Advisory Committee, 1985-1990

 

Box 5

 

Cedar Rapids Schools: The Window, 1979-1981 and Miscellaneous, 1981

Cedar Rapids Schools: The Window, 1982-83 and miscellaneous, 1982.

Cedar Rapids Schools: The Window, 1983, Key Communications Network, 1982-84 and misc., 1982-84.

Iowa Department of Public Instruction (DPI)

Minorities in Education, 1982-1983

Task Force, Teacher Education and Certification, 1984 and    undated

 

Cedar Rapids community activities

Citizens Jail Advisory Committee, 1981

Human Rights Commission

History, 1963-1973

Annual Reports, 1970-1972

Annual Reports, 1973-1974

Employment survey, 1972

 

Box 6

Miscellaneous, 1970-1975

Symphony publicity committee, 1973-1974

Jane Boyd Community House

Jane Boyd Bugle newsletter, 1979-1983

1975-1977

1978

1979 (2 folders)

Minutes

Finances

 

Box 7

1980

Minutes, Letters of support, undated

Finances

Miscellaneous, 1978-1984

1981-1982

1983 and undated

January-May

June-December 1984-1985

 

Box 8

Minnesota Early Learning Design (MELD)

1986 and undated

1987 and undated