PUBLIC "-//Virginia State University::Johnston Memorial Library::Special Collections and Archives//TEXT (US::ViPetS::vipets00021::Alfred William Harris)//EN" "vipets00021" A Guide to the Alfred William Harris Papers Harris, Alfred William 1981-17 Lucious Edwards, Jr. Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University © 2002 By the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University.

Conditions of Use

21kb

 Machine-readable finding aid derived from MS Word 2000, and created by Keith C. Johnson, Jr.[Date of source: March 22, 2002] Description is in English Feb 17, 2004 PUBLIC "-//Virginia State University::Johnston Memorial Library::Special Collections and Archives//TEXT (US::ViPetS::vipets00021::Alfred William Harris)//EN" "vipets00021" converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Feb 26, 2004 converted to conform to eadVIVA.dtd by vivastrict.xsl 2013-11-21 Converted to schema conforming EAD by dtd2schema.vh.xsl. A Guide to the Papers of Alfred William Harris A Collection in Special Collections and Archives 1981-17 o.s.

Special Collections and Archives, Johnston Memorial Library 2002 Lucious Edwards, Jr. Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Special Collections and Archives, Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University Descriptive Summary Special Collections and Archives, Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University Alfred William Harris Papers 1879,1887 1981-17 English Law Degree and photograph of the founder of Virginia State University. Mr.Harris Esquire, was also a member of the General Assembly of Virginia. Alfred William Harris Administrative Information Access

There are no restrictions.

 Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

 Preferred Citation

Alfred William Harris, 1981-17, Special Collections and Archives, Johnston Memorial Library, Virginia State University, Petersburg, VA.

 Biographical/Historical Information

Alfred W. harris was born free in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1854, the son of Henry Harris. Alfred W. Harris was a member of the very large family of Harrises in the counties of Fairfax and Prince William. They were free in these counties as early as the year 1776.

Harris attended the public schools in Alexandria, Virginia. He studied law privately in the office of a African American lawyer, George W. Mitchell, and finally enrolled in the law department of Howard University , where he graduated in 1881. Alfred Harris moved to Petersburg, Virginia in the 1870's. Here he became involoved in local politics and began his practice of law.

In 1881 Harris was elected to the House of Delegate Representing Dinwiddie County. Mr. Harris served in the house until 1888. In 1882 Alfred harris presented the bill chartering the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, now Virginia state university. Mr. Harris was a very active in a number civic and social organizations in and around the city of Petersburg.

Mr.Harris served as the first secretary of the board of visitors for Virginia State University and was later Principal of the John A. Dix School in Dinwidde.

 Scope and Content Information

Two items, each in itself documenting the accomplishments and achievements of an African American male activist, politician, and educator, during the first years after the abolishment of the institution of slavery in Virginia.

 Arrangement

Series I. Printed One Law Degree.

Series II. Photograph the African American members of the Virginia State and the General Assembly of Virginia in 1887.

 Contents List Printed Law Degree (Howard University) 1881 1:1 Photograph Photograph c.a. 1887 1:2