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A life worthy of a movie
John R. Harris was the product of a loving family which lived life steadfastly through hardships and tragedy. I was blessed to have known Mr. Harris during several decades of his leadership in our school system. I was especially drawn to him not solely on my observations, but also by the closeup observations of my mother-in-law, Hazel Brown, who worked in the middle school office a number of years while he was principal. We can count and recount here the many contributions Mr. Harris made to our community and our school system. But, only after seeing our community and his life through his eyes can we truly appreciate and understand the man that that loving family and those hardships and tragedies bestowed upon our community.
In his book, Mr. Harris opens a chapter on his political reflections noting, "It is difficult for me to accept the fact that I have lived to be a part of 12 presidential administrations." He was part of 13 before he died in 2005. Near the end of the chapter he states, "The Lord has blessed me to experience and witness a lot of historical events during my lifetime, for which I am indeed thankful. In my opinion, we must be living in the time of the end when the Bible says... 'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.' Daniel 12:4. I believe that in spite of man's best efforts, there will be no lasting peace until Christ, the Prince of Peace, intervenes." There is a chapter in the book in which he pays tribute to other stalwarts with whom he worked in the school system, superintendents R. K. Sites, Miss Annie Grier, Lonnie Chester and Ray Knight. Concluding a chapter about the family's tragedies, he stated, "Even though the experiences were traumatic, I realize that such tragedies were not unique to our family and I take comfort in the thought... 'Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.' Psalm 30:5." In "Defying the Odds" Mr. Harris left us with a wealth of insight about our community's history, its shortfalls, its perseverance and accomplishments from a different perspective - through the eyes of a black man that made a difference in our community beginning at a very early age. The following, slightly edited biographical sketch is from his book. John R. Harris A native of Early County, born near Cedar Springs in 1927, his family moved to the Allen Chapel Community shortly after his birth where he grew up as a farm boy. He was second in a family of twelve children of the late Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Harris. Educational opportunities were quite different from what they are today. In fact, it may sound unreal but there were more than thirty black schools in Early County at that time, primarily of the "one or twoteacher" type, many of which were housed in churches. It was in this school setting that his elementary grade training was received. In 1941, he entered the eighth grade of Washington High School in Blakely. This posed a serious problem in that there was no public transportation at that time. Also, being the oldest son, his assistance was needed with farm chores. So, an old bicycle was acquired to be used in commuting to and from school. Riding that bicycle to school for two years proved to be a real challenge due to the distance - 11 miles one way - and adverse weather conditions, at times. During his junior and senior high school years, his parents had purchased an old pickup truck which he and his sister used for getting to and from school. After high school graduation, with encouragement and sacrifice from his mother, he entered Albany State College. Requirements for a B.S. degree were completed in March 1949. Immediately, he returned to Early County and started his teaching career by completing the school year for a teacher who had taken maternity leave. The school consisted of one room, a church and 40 students in grades one through eight. When his colleagues learned that he was seriously considering remaining as a teacher in his home area, many of them counseled against it. Jesus even stated that "A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and his own house." Nevertheless, he decided to "buck the odds" and try it. He never regretted his decision. Transportation was just beginning for black students, and buses were privately owned. Six hundred dollars, annually, was appropriated for bus driver salaries, and the difference was made up by the parents whose children rode the bus. His day began when he drove his father's school bus to the Washington High campus, dropped off the students and continued to Zion Hope, the one-room school. This first job was a real learning situation in that his professional training had not equipped him to effectively deal with such a program. Nevertheless, the school year was brought to a successful completion, and thus marked the beginning of a very challenging and rewarding experience in the Early County School System. He continued to upgrade his professional skills by doing graduate work at Atlanta University where he received his M.A. degree in school administration. Additional course work was completed at Florida A. & M. University, University of Chicago, and the University of Kentucky. He served continually in the Early County School System since that March in 1949 with exception of a brief tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict. His professional career in Early County included: teaching at Washington High School 1949-1951; serving as principal of Carver elementary and high school in Jakin 1951- 1956; as school principal of Kestler elementary and high school in Damascus 1956-1960; and was principal of Washington elementary and high school in Blakely for ten years 1960- 1970. When the Early County schools were integrated in 1970 he was named principal of the Early County Middle School, a position he held for 19 years until his retirement in 1989. Whatever success he had realized, he attributed to (1) having tried to make the Lord first, last and always in his life; (2) his mother's encouragement and sacrifice; (3) the cooperation and support of a lot of people, including School Superintendent Lonnie B. Chester. His most coveted honor was bestowed upon him March 15, 1981, when the Early County Board of Education named and dedicated the Middle School Media Center in his honor. It was a most humbling experience in large measure to the fact that it occurred in his lifetime. Mr. Harris was a member of the Calvary Seventh-Day Adventist on the Church, Cedar Springs Road where he served as a lay elder and Sabbath school teacher. He was a life member of the Georgia Retired Teachers Association; a member of the Blakely- Early County Chamber of Commerce; Advisory Board of Washington High School Alumni Association; and the Early County Literacy Task. He was a member of the RESA Advisory Board and was appointed to the Georgia Agrirama Development Authority in 1985 by Gov. Joe Frank Harris. Gov. Harris appointed him to a second four-year term in January 1989.
He was married to the late Herdisene Robinson Harris and they were the parents of three children: Jon Michael, Cheryl Lynnette, Wayne Bernard, two daughters-in-law, Enid Christina and Marilyn Margaret; and one son-inlaw, Phil WaNdambi.
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