Remembering TU pioneer Myra Harris

Myra Harris ’59, one of the first two Black graduates of Towson University and the namesake for a West Village residence hall, died Feb. 1, her family said. She was 87.

In 1959, Ms. Harris and Ms. Marvis Barnes changed the university forever when they earned their degrees and became TU’s first Black graduates. In June 2022, TU announced that residence halls in West Village would be named in honor of the two women.

At the time, University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay A. Perman said, “We owe Ms. Barnes and Ms. Harris a huge debt of gratitude—we all do—and naming these buildings for these women, indelibly a part of TU’s history, is a great way to start paying it off.” 

A dedication ceremony featuring both Ms. Harris and Ms. Barnes was held during homecoming weekend in Fall 2022.

“I would never have dreamed that this would happen to me,” Ms. Harris said at the event. “As one of the first trailblazers, I wish much happiness and success to the students who are following my footsteps today.”

Upon Ms. Harris’ passing, TU officials placed signage and memorial flowers for Ms. Harris in the lobby of the residence hall that honors her legacy. There, students can find a place to leave a message of gratitude in Ms. Harris’ memory.

Harris Hall is among eight residence facilities in West Village. Vernon Hurte, senior vice president for student affairs & university life, led a university committee to recommend the naming of the halls for Barnes and Harris, which was then approved by the University System of Maryland.

“Having had the pleasure of getting to know Ms. Harris, she was truly a shining light and an inspiration, not just to our students, but for so many of us who work daily to build upon her powerful legacy,” Hurte says. “It is my hope that current and future students might be inspired by her courage and her legacy.”

The Barnes-Harris Endowment, created in 1993 by members of Granting Opportunity for Learning and Development (G.O.L.D.) Associates, supports incoming freshmen from metropolitan public high schools who are enrolled full-time (12 or more credits each term) and demonstrate financial need.

“When she graduated in 1959, we lived in a very racialized society, much as we do today,” says Patricia Bradley, vice president for inclusion & institutional equity at TU. “If her life teaches us nothing else, it teaches us resilience.”

Bradley noted that it was nearly 100 years after TU’s founding as the Maryland State Normal School before Ms. Barnes and Ms. Harris became the first Black graduates of the university. While here, they lived alone on a floor in a residence hall, she says.

“I can only imagine the alienation that they felt,” Bradley says. “This is why belonging is so important in our schools, our neighborhoods and our workforce. This is why diversity matters.”

Vernon Marrow, on behalf of G.O.L.D. Associations, offered the following reflection on Ms. Harris’ legacy:

It is indeed with great sadness and with a heavy heart that we learn of the passing of Ms. Myra Harris. Let our hearts be comforted in knowing Ms. Harris was a vibrant God-fearing soul as much as she was a trailblazer.  She was also a great educator who even after retiring from the Baltimore school system, continued to advocate the importance of education for every young person. 

Ms. Harris was always proud, yet humble about being recognized as one of the first of two African Americans to graduate Towson University (formerly, Maryland State Teachers College) and have an endowment and a Towson University campus dorm named in her and Mrs. Barnes' honor.  Ms. Harris demonstrated her love for her alma mater and the Barnes and Harris Scholarship Endowment by being an avid donor. Her legacy and love for higher learning will live in perpetuity through the Barnes Harris Scholarship Endowment. To Ms. Harris' family, we are keeping you lifted in prayer.  

A viewing will be held Feb. 14, while a wake and funeral mass will be held Feb. 15 in Baltimore. Find more details in her obituary.