Anonymous . Elizabeth Johnson Harris’s Bio
Elizabeth Johnson Harris’s Bio. Anonymous
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Elizabeth Harris was born in Augusta, Georgia, in 1867, to parents who had been slaves. She married Jacob Walker Harris in 1883 at the age of 15 and was the mother of nine children. She lived until 1942, surviving her husband and two of her children. She was a deeply religious woman who spent much of her life in service to her church. She clearly valued education, both for herself and her children. She had several of her poems and vignettes published in various newspapers during her lifetime. She included these in the manuscript of her life story, which she started writing at the age of 55 in 1923.
Elizabeth Harris’s handwritten memoir provides glimpses of her early childhood, of race relations, of Harris’ own ambivalence about her place as an African-American in society, and of the importance of religion and education in her life. She includes the story of her courtship and marriage as well as descriptions of the adult lives of several of her children. Harris divided her memoir into two sections: her childhood years and her life during and after courtship and marriage. The manuscript also includes photos and newsclippings that the author pasted to the pages of the document. The appendix contains the majority of these clippings which consist of her poetry, several folk tales, essays and news stories about Harris’ family.
The manuscript was written in a bound notebook starting on the front side of the pages until the last page, then continuing on the backs of the pages (from back to front). In all, it is 85 pages long. It was written basically in the chronological order of her life, although sometimes earlier stories are included in later sections, as they were recalled to her. The order in which she included her stories and memories has been preserved in this digitized version.
This manuscript was donated to the Special Collections Library in 1984 by Mayme Perry, one of Elizabeth Harris’ descendants.
