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Willie Lou Harris, seated at left, with family members Georgia Harris Elvord, standing left, and Calvin and Ruth Harris with their infant daughter, Charlene Elizabeth, in 1950. Harris, whose grandfather was a slave, purchased eight building lots in South Madison in the middle of the Depression from her earnings as a domestic and hospital worker so that her five children could have homes of their own when they grew up.
In the 1940s, Willie Lou Harris was instrumental in transforming South Madison. She petitioned for electricity, hot and cold running water, indoor toilets, streetlights, snow plowing, curbs, gutters and sidewalks in an area that was once known as “Hell’s Half-Acre.”
On Thursday, members of the community and Harris’ family gathered at the corner of Baird and Bram streets as the city unveiled a street sign in her honor.
Attendees gather in Thursday afternoon's sun for a ceremony honoring the legacy of the late Willie Lou Harris. "It's a story that never ends because ... she had a view of the future not yet realized," said her grandson James Elvord.
“On this very corner, I can remember hot and sweaty days when the dust swirled everywhere, before the streets were paved,” James Elvord, Harris’ eldest grandson, said.
“Willie Lou Harris’ story is in the future tense,” Elvord said. “It’s a story that never ends because she saw what was at the moment. She had a view of the future not yet realized.”
Harris was also known for offering her home to neighborhood children so they could study and play games after school. She hosted UW-Madison students who volunteered with local children.
She later transformed that initiative into the South Madison Neighborhood Center. The center is now the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County, and the building has served Madison’s children for more than 70 years.
“Family and religion were most important to her, along with education,” Charlene Harris-Hodge, Harris’ granddaughter, said. “Today, I consider myself a social justice activist. Oftentimes, people ask, ‘Why?’ ‘How?’ I tell them, it’s in our DNA.”
At Thursday’s unveiling ceremony, Michael Johnson, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs, announced a number of initiatives the organization will pursue to honor the memory Harris.
"On this very corner, I can remember hot and sweaty days when the dust swirled everywhere, before the streets were paved," said James Elvord, the eldest grandson of Harris, who petitioned for electricity, hot and cold running water and indoor toilets, along with curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
The organization will be renaming its welcome center the Willie Lou Harris Welcome Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to honor Harris.
The club will be establishing a $100,000 fund in Harris' name. Local developers John and Lisa Livesey are also creating an endowed million-dollar building fund to create a “facility for kids in South Madison that looks like a country club."
“It’s so important that we honor Black people in this community and particularly Black women,” Johnson said. “It’s an honor to be able to see her name on the street ... as someone who invested so heavily in the South Madison community.”
Johnson concluded a line of speakers at Thursday’s unveiling ceremony, among them Dr. Richard Harris, Harris’ son; Harris-Hodge, Harris’ granddaughter; Ald. Sheri Carter, 14th District; and state Rep. Sheila Stubbs, D-Madison.
A sign dedicated to the community service legacy of the late Willie Lou Harris is unveiled Thursday at the corner of Baird and Bram streets in the South Madison neighborhood she transformed in the 1940s.
Stubbs was instrumental in honoring Harris in the state Capitol. When she told Gov. Tony Evers there weren’t enough portraits of Black women in the building, the two partnered to spotlight the Harris’ legacy with a portrait.
“Because of her hard work and because of her dedication, we have been able to develop a growing part of Madison to be the home of Black families seeking opportunity and community,” Stubbs said. “Many people call this neighborhood home because of the work of Willie Lou Harris.”
A pod of American white pelicans gather on rocks in the Wisconsin River below the Alliant Energy dam in Prairie du Sac, Wis. Monday, June 6, 2022. The species, largely unseen in the state during much of the 20th century, are more common to the region now and are one of North America's largest flying birds, featuring a wingspan up to nine feet and weighing up to 30 pounds. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A duck lifts off the water as boaters paddle to Tenney Park Beach during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
(From left lower) Roomates Isabella Bortolotti and Rachel Bearder host friends for a pool party in their front yard, including Maddie Gehring, right, Lola Wojcik, top left, and Grover Bortolotti, all college students, on the Near West Side during a heat wave in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Syanne Morales and her son, Syncere Bowie, enjoy the cool relief offered by a water feature during a visit to the Cypress Splash Park in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Ashley Peotter, front, carries a canoe with her teammate Marie Barry through Tenney Park during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Kelly Parks Snider’s “Between Spaces” exhibit at the Arts + Literature Laboratoryin Madison, Wis. Friday, June 3, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Josh Hull, right, and Trevor Stahl, both of Roanoke, Virginia, who are participating in the Great Race, a vintage car rally that started in Warwick, Rhode Island on June 18 and will end in Fargo, North Dakota on June 26, prepare to hit the road after making a stop at Angell Park on their 2,300-mile journey in Sun Prairie, Wis., Thursday, June 23, 2022.
The group Wild Violets, including Raquel Aleman, right, Sam Rae, front, and Becky Burbach perform outside the Barrymore Theatre during Make Music Madison in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 21, 2022.
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Kit Rittman and her husband Greg, front, cheer as boaters paddle down the Yahara River during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Gretchen Bushman, a recent UW-Madison grad and fan of music artist Harry Styles, relaxes outside her apartment on West Washington Avenue while escaping the heat of her non-air conditioned residence in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Raghiatou Bah and her son, Mamadou, 8, explore their new living space - a condominium purchased with assistance from a grant through Own It: Building Black Wealth - in Madison, Wis. Friday, June 17, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
A Progress Pride Flag is raised above the east wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. in observance of the month of June being designated as Pride Month Wednesday, June 1, 2022. An iteration of the widely recognized Rainbow Pride Flag, the Progress Pride Flag was created to symbolize inclusion of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ community and includes additional stripes forming a chevron pattern that represent LGBTQ individuals of color and the transgender community, as well as those who are living with and who have been lost to HIV/AIDS. Assisting with the effort are Wisconsin Department of Administration workers Darrin Smith, left, and Steve Walker. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Demonstrators protest at the state Capitol after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 24, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
People gather in support of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights at the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Madison Edgewood's Caden Thomas competes in the Division 2 boys high jump during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
McFarland's Julia Ackley reacts after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches on her first attempt in the Division 2 girls pole vault during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL
Oregon girls soccer teammates (clockwise from bottom) Addison Werth, Zoey Pagels, Kately Studebaker and Lily Eisele celebrate their 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship victory over Whitefish Bay on June 18 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.
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Wisconsin men’s soccer coach Neil Jones coaches athletes during a summer camp at University Bay Fields in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Milton catcher Grace Schnell, left, watches as teammate Lydia Miller catches a fly ball after it bounced off of Schnell's mitt during a Division 1 state softball quarterfinal game at Goodman Softball Complex in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Thongchai Jaidee celebrates his victory in the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Sunday, June 12, 2022. AP Photo/Kayla Wolf
Golfers, from left, Vijay Singh, Brandt Jobe and Bernhard Langer and their caddies read the green on the eighth hole during the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 10, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
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A sign dedicated to the community service legacy of the late Willie Lou Harris is unveiled Thursday at the corner of Baird and Bram streets in the South Madison neighborhood she transformed in the 1940s.
"On this very corner, I can remember hot and sweaty days when the dust swirled everywhere, before the streets were paved," said James Elvord, the eldest grandson of Harris, who petitioned for electricity, hot and cold running water and indoor toilets, along with curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
Attendees gather in Thursday afternoon's sun for a ceremony honoring the legacy of the late Willie Lou Harris. "It's a story that never ends because ... she had a view of the future not yet realized," said her grandson James Elvord.
Willie Lou Harris, seated at left, with family members Georgia Harris Elvord, standing left, and Calvin and Ruth Harris with their infant daughter, Charlene Elizabeth, in 1950. Harris, whose grandfather was a slave, purchased eight building lots in South Madison in the middle of the Depression from her earnings as a domestic and hospital worker so that her five children could have homes of their own when they grew up.
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