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Lileah Harris papers

 Collection
Identifier: IWA0256

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Scope and Contents

The Lileah Harris papers date from 1961 to 2014 and measure 3.1 linear feet. They are divided into three series: Biographical information, Education activities, and Cedar Rapids community activities.

The Biographical information series includes speeches, correspondence, clippings, and the tapes and transcript of a heated 1961 meeting at which members of St. Paul's Methodist Church voted to allow the Harrises to purchase a lot from the church on which to build a home.

The Education activities series documents Lileah Harris's involvement with a number of committes and organizations of the Cedar Rapids schools, including the district's Multicultural Non-sexist Advisory Committee and the Washington High School PTA.

The Cedar Rapids community activity series contains a wide range of materials relating to Harris' extensive community involvement.

Dates

  • Creation: 1961-2014

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been retained by the donor.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

(Evelyn) Lileah Harris was born and raised in Waterloo, Iowa, one of the five children of Lee B. and Lily Furgerson. Lee Furgerson was a physician; Lily Furgerson became an elementary school teacher after she was widowed in 1948, earning a teaching certificate and finishing college at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). Lileah Furgerson's interest in music was encouraged by her parents, and at Iowa State Teachers College, she studied piano.

Lileah Furgerson married Percy Harris at age nineteen. They lived in Washington, D.C. from 1950-1957 while Percy Harris studied medicine at Howard University. During that time, their first children were born and Lileah Harris worked as a clerk typist at the Pentagon and elsewhere. They returned to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they raised their twelve children and Percy Harris practiced medicine.

Lileah Harris was engaged in a wide range of community activities, particularly those that tackled problems of inequality. She served on the Cedar Rapids Human Rights Commission until 1975, resigning when pregnant with her last child. She was on the Commission's team that investigated a sex discrimination charge by two teachers who were required to stop teaching at the end of their fifth month of pregnancy.

Harris was active with the Washington High School PTA from 1982-1988 and served as president in 1984-1985. She was a member of the Multicultural Nonsexist Committee in the early 1980s, which successfully attracted black teachers to the district and introduced an integration plan for the Cedar Rapids School System. She was part of a committee that examined and brought about changes in the selection criteria for cheerleaders at Washington High that discriminated against minority students. Harris received a number of awards and honors recognizing her service to the Cedar Rapids schools.

She also served on the advisory board of 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. She and her husband were avid supporters of the arts; Lileah Harris was publicity chair for the Cedar Rapids Symphony in 1973-74.

Like her mother, Harris returned to school at midlife, enrolling in the University of Iowa in 1988. In 1993, at the age of sixty-two, Harris earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian and received the Dean's Achievement Award from the College of Liberal Arts.

Extent

3.10 Linear Feet

2 audiocassettes [AC496, AC497]. boxes

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Professional volunteer active in several arts, civic, educational, and religious organizations in Cedar Rapids.

Method of Acquisition

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

Related Materials

Betty Jean Furgerson papers (IWA) and Martha Nash papers (IWA): Lileah Harris's sisters.

Penny Furgerson papers (IWA): Lileah Harris's sister-in-law.

Author
Natalie Brody, 1998;  Suzanne Vesely, 1999; Bobby Jett, 1999.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the Iowa Women's Archives Repository

Contact:
100 Main Library
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City IA 52242 IaU
319-335-5068
319-335-5900 (Fax)