Phyllis Margaret Freeman was born on January 3, 1928 in Staten Island, New York. Freeman attended Curtis High School where she served as captain of the undefeated girl's basketball team during her senior year. Freeman graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C. with a B.A. in Spanish in 1948, followed by a wedding on June 12 to William H. Harper, Jr.

The Harper's had three children, the youngest of whom was born deaf. As a result of her son Freeman's disability, Harper earned an M.A. in Deaf Education at Columbia University in New York City in 1959. She achieved a doctorate in Educational Administration at the University of Iowa in 1980. Harper's early professional life was focused around the education of deaf children, incorporating a pedagogy that included parents' participation.

Harper taught in the Quincy, Illinois school district from 1959-1966. She supervised the Parent-Pupil Tutor Program at the Illinois School for the Deaf in Jacksonville, Illinois from 1966-1972, where she drew national attention for her article "A Visible Speech Aid" in The Volta Review. During the summers between 1961 and 1975, Harper was a lecturer on Parent Education Guidance and Counseling at the Summer Institute for Parents' and Preschool Deaf Children in Illinois. In 1975, Harper became an itinerant teacher for the hearing impaired in the Lee County, Iowa public school system. From 1975-1977 she was also the supervisor of the Hearing Conservation/Education Services in Ft. Madison, Iowa. Harper served as a lecturer, supervisor, coordinator, teacher and consultant at the University of Iowa from 1977 until her retirement in 1990.

Harper's knowledge and experience placed her on several state and national boards including: the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, TRIPOD (support service for hearing impaired individuals and their families), the National Advisory Committee on Individuals with Disabilities, the National Planning and Advisory Council for the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals, the Parent Committee of the Convention of American Instructors of the Deaf, the Iowa Council on Speech, Hearing and Language Disorders, and the National Advisory Group for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

After being widowed for several years, Harper married Janusz Bardach, a plastic surgeon in 1981. Janusz Bardach died on August 16, 2002. Before he died, he received critical success as an author, particularly for his memoirs as a prisoner in the Soviet gulag, Kolyma. Since her retirement in 1990, Harper-Bardach has been active in volunteer activities at area schools and with Speak Up! Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP). In 1998, Harper-Bardach was one of several Johnson County seniors who received awards from then-Governor Terry Branstad in recognition of their service to nonprofit agencies. Phyllis Harper-Bardach passed away in 2015.