Erna P. Harris facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Erna P. Harris
|
|
|---|---|
Harris in her signature beret, 1933
|
|
| Born |
Erna Prather Harris
June 29, 1908 |
| Died | March 9, 1995 (aged 86) |
| Other names | Erna Prather Harris |
| Occupation | Journalist, activist, pacifist |
| Years active | 1936-1980s |
Erna Prather Harris (June 29, 1908 – March 9, 1995) was an American journalist, businesswoman, and activist. She was well-known for her strong belief in peace and non-violence.
Born in Oklahoma, she grew up when schools and public places were separated by race. She attended schools just for Black students. After high school, she worked hard to earn money for college. She wanted to attend a university where all students, regardless of race, could learn together.
After graduating from Wichita State University in 1936, she couldn't find a job. So, she started her own newspaper, The Kansas Journal. It was a successful newspaper for the Black community. But she lost her advertisers when she wrote an article against young men being forced to join the military (the draft).
Later, she moved to California and worked for the Los Angeles Tribune. She wrote articles against racist rules, like the separation of blood donations. She also spoke out against the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Because of her strong opinions, the FBI watched her, and she criticized the House Un-American Activities Committee.
In the 1950s, she moved to Seattle and published a journal called Bias. This journal promoted peaceful cooperation among people. She later moved to Berkeley, California, where she ran a printing shop until she retired. Erna Harris joined many groups that worked for peace and equal rights. She helped lead protests against segregation in the military and supported those who refused to fight in wars for moral reasons.
Early Life and Education
Erna Prather Harris was born on June 29, 1908, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Her parents were Frances and James E. Harris. Her father was a postman and believed in peace. He admired Mahatma Gandhi, a famous leader who used non-violence. Her father's beliefs greatly influenced Erna's own activism later in life.
Erna attended schools that were separated by race. She graduated from Douglass High School in Kingfisher in 1926. She did not want to continue her education in a segregated setting. So, after graduating, Harris worked as a maid. She saved money to attend a university in another state that allowed students of all races.
She enrolled at Wichita State University. She studied journalism and also took classes in religion, sociology, and Spanish. While a freshman, she was the first woman to win a journalism award at the college. During her senior year, she was an editor for the college newspaper, The Sunflower. The paper won an award from the Collegiate Press Association. In 1936, she became the first Black student to graduate from the journalism department with a bachelor's degree.
Journalism Career
After college, Erna Harris found it hard to get a job. So, she decided to start her own newspaper, The Kansas Journal. It was a weekly paper that focused on important issues in the Black community. It was one of the few Black newspapers in the area.
For more than three years, she gained over 500 readers. But in 1939, she wrote an article against the draft, which was about forcing young men to join the military. Because of this, many of her advertisers stopped supporting the paper, and it closed down.
Harris then moved to California. She started working as an editor for the Los Angeles Tribune. This newspaper mainly served the Black community in Los Angeles. It was known for speaking out against racism. She wrote important articles and had a column called "Reflections in a Crackt Mirror." This column was shared with other newspapers.
During World War II, Harris wrote articles against the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. She said that the government's actions were unfair and warned that such unfair treatment could spread to other groups. She also wrote about the policy of separating blood donations by race at the American Red Cross. She strongly supported allowing people fleeing Nazi persecution to enter the country. She also spoke out against the creation of nuclear weapons.
Her articles drew criticism from other journalists and caught the attention of the FBI. The FBI even tapped the newspaper's phone and checked her mail. Despite this, Harris continued to speak out against the investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee and McCarthyism.
After eight years in Los Angeles, Harris moved to Seattle, Washington. She continued her journalism career there. With Dorothy Fisk, she published Bias, a journal that promoted peace and cooperation. In 1952, she moved to Berkeley, California. She ran a duplication and printing shop until she retired.
Activism for Peace and Rights
In the early 1940s, Erna Harris joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation. This was a peace-focused organization. She also joined the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE believed that communication and friendship were the best ways to achieve racial equality.
With other CORE members and peace groups, she helped people who refused to fight in wars for moral reasons (called conscientious objectors). They raised money to help pay their bail and made the public aware of their cause. In 1945, she became an associate secretary in the Workers' Defense League.
Three years later, she became a local leader in the movement against segregation in the military. She organized demonstrations and protests. To end these protests, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 in June 1948. This order officially ended segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
Harris joined the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in 1954. She helped lead the Civil Rights Committee of the national WILPF branch. After the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that school segregation was illegal, her committee pushed WILPF to openly support the ruling. They helped enforce school desegregation through rallies and demonstrations.
She also led WILPF to oppose apartheid in South Africa. Apartheid was a system of extreme racial separation and discrimination. Harris linked racial inequality to global problems that could lead to war. WILPF encouraged people to boycott products from companies that supported segregation.
In 1956, Harris was elected chair of the Berkeley WILPF branch. She was also appointed to the national WILPF Executive Board that same year. She was chosen as a delegate for international meetings in England and Wales. She supported the idea of World Federalism, which means maintaining peace through global laws. She continued to support world governance, attending a conference in Germany in 1968.
Harris made headlines when she was chosen as one of twelve delegates to visit the Soviet Union in 1964. This trip was for a US-USSR meeting about women's cooperation and peace. Of all the topics discussed, Harris felt that global nuclear disarmament was the most important. Both WILPF and Harris believed that Communist nations should be part of global discussions. They also felt that the United States should not interfere in their internal affairs. Because of this, she opposed the United States' policy of isolating Cuba, interfering in Latin America, and the Vietnam War.
Harris was elected as the southwestern regional vice president of WILPF twice. She was also a delegate to international WILPF meetings in the Netherlands (1965) and India (1971). At the 1971 meeting, there was a discussion about whether violence was ever acceptable for liberation movements. Harris said, "I support liberation, all kinds of liberation. And one of them is liberation from the notion that you can release violence on the world and not reap what you sow." WILPF ultimately supported non-violence. However, they also recognized that violent resistance might happen if all other ways to solve unfairness failed.
In the 1970s, Harris became involved in the cooperative movement. From 1978 to 1983, she served on the board of directors for the Berkeley Cooperative. This was the largest cooperative organization in the country. She helped plan the renovation of the University Avenue Cooperative. This project cost $1 million, with most of the money coming from members. When it was finished in 1978, the cooperative included a credit union, funeral services, and travel services.
At the same time, the cooperative planned to build a mixed-income housing project nearby. In March, Harris and Mabel Howard received special degrees for their community work. Harris continued to fight for human rights, even when her views were not popular. She spoke against California Proposition 6, which would have stopped LGBT teachers from working. She also opposed laws that allowed discrimination based on different beliefs. From the early 1980s, Harris was active with the Gray Panthers. This organization works for the rights of senior citizens.
Legacy
Erna Harris passed away on March 9, 1995, in Berkeley. After her death, the City of Berkeley honored her by naming a public housing project the Erna P. Harris Court. It is located at 1330 University Avenue.
She is remembered for speaking out strongly against racism and discrimination of any kind. She was especially known for opposing the unfair treatment of the Japanese-American community during World War II. Her writings and interviews are kept in libraries at the University of Kansas and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
