Pearlie Harris will serves as grand marshal for the 2021 Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade
The parade begins at 6 p.m.
Updated: 11:59 AM EST Nov 26, 2021
JANE: TONIGHT, IN OUR PROJECT COMMUNITY HISTORY AND HOPE SERIES, WE’RE FEATURING PEARLIE HARRIS, A RETIRED GRENNVILLE TEACHER WHO TAUGHT BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER DESEGREGATION. HARRIS BEEN HONORED DOZENS OF TIMES IN THE COMMUNITY. SHE IS THE NAMESAKE OF THE BON SECOURS PEARLIE HARRIS CENTER FOR BREAST HEALTH, AND LAST YEAR WAS HONORED AS THE CENTERPIECE ON A MASSIVE MURAL THAT CELEBRATES DIVERSITY AND UNITY. PEARLIE HARRIS SHARED HER MESSAGE OF UNITY WITH OUR DESTINY CHANCE. >> YOU ALWAYS START OUT THE WAY YOU WANT TO END UP. DESTINY: MRS. PEARLIE HARRIS GREW UP IN SALUDA, NORTH CAROLINA, MOVED TO HENDERSONVILLE, AND ENDED UP IN GREENVILLE. >> I ENDED UP COMING BACK HERE, BECAUSE MY HUSBAND LOVED THIS PLACE. HE SAID GREENVILLE WAS A NICE SMALL TOWN TO RAISE CHILDREN. BUT WHEN I CAME TO GREENVILLE, I WAS AFRAID. I MEAN, I WAS REALLY AFRAID. I HAD TO GET ON THE CITY BUS. I DIDN’T SEE ANY BLACK PEOPLE BUT ME, AND IT WAS REALLY FRIGHTFUL. DESTINY: FOR 30 YEARS, SHE TAUGHT BETWEEN 25 AND 30 SCHOOLS IN GREENVILLE COUNTY. >> GREENVILLE WAS HIGHLY SEGREGATED BACK IN THE DAY, TOO. DESTINY: HOW WAS THAT FOR YOU AS AN EDUCATOR? >> ALMOST NERVE-TAKING, TO SOME EXTENT, BECAUSE I WAS AMONG THE TEACHERS THAT WERE SELECTED TO GO INTO THE ALL-WHITE SCHOOLS IN GREENVILLE. AND THE SUPERINTENDENT APPROACHED ME AND SAID, "WE’RE GOING TO SEND YOU TO A NEW SCHOOL NEXT YEAR, AND IT WILL BE ALL-WHITE." AND HE SAID, "HOW DO YOU THINK YOU’LL DO?" AND I SAID, I’LL DO FINE. CHILDREN ARE CHILDREN. AND IT WASN’T THAT HARD, AND IT WASN’T THAT EASY, BECAUSE THE CHILDREN LITERALLY CALLED ME A N-WORD. AND THE PARENTS DID, TOO. BIG PTA MEETINGS, THEY’D SAY, , SOME OF THE PARENTS WERE REALLY UPSET BECAUSE THEY WOULD SAY "WE NEVER WANTED A N-WORD TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN, BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THE WHITE TEACHERS KNOW AND THEY DON’T HAVE THE EDUCATION MY HUSBAND WAS OVERSEAS IN VIETNAM, AND I DECIDED, THIS YEAR WILL BE THE BEST YEAR THESE CHILDREN EVER WILL HAVE IN SCHOOL THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. AND I WAS DETERMINED TO BE THAT BEST TEACHER IN THAT SCHOOL, BECAUSE I WAS BLACK. DESTINY: WHAT WAS YOUR BEST MEMORY DURING THAT TIME? >> HAVING A PARENT CALL ME AND APOLOGIZE FOR CALLING ME N-WORD. THAT WAS ONE OF MY BEST MEMORIES. THAT LITERALLY BROUGHT ME TO TEARS, AND I TOLD HER, THIS IS EXCEPTIONAL. BECAUSE WHO CALLS SOMEONE 20 YEARS LATER TO APOLOGIZE F SOMETHING THEY SAID 20 YEARS AGO THAT LITERALLY HURT YOUR FEELINGS? AND YOU NOW ARE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT YOU DID THIS. SHE SAID, "BECAUSE I’VE DECIDED I WANT TO BE A TEACHER IN MY LATE YEARS, AND I WANT TO BE THE PERSON YOU WERE." DESTINY: THE UNITY MURAL ON THE OLD BB&T BUILDING ON COLLEGE STREET, WHEN YOU SAW THAT PRESENTED TO YOU, CAN YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT THE SIGNIFICANCE TO YOU WHEN YOU SAW THE WORD UNITY? >> DIVERSITY, UNITY, LOVE, COMPASSION, HEART. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A GOOD HEART. YOU HAVE TO HAVE A LOVE FOR CHILDREN AND PEOPLE TO BE A TEACHER, AND TO STRETCH YOURSELF OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. AND I’M AMAZED AT ALL OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ME IN MY LIFE. BECAUSE NONE OF THIS I EXPECTED. I DIDN’T EVEN DREAM OF SITTING HERE WITH YOU TODAY. BUT I’M PROUD OF THE FACT THAT IT IS ME, AND I HOPE IT CAN BE PART OF WHAT GREENVILLE CAN SAY, SHE MADE US PROUD. DESTINY: IN GREE
Pearlie Harris will serves as grand marshal for the 2021 Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade
The parade begins at 6 p.m.
Updated: 11:59 AM EST Nov 26, 2021
The Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade is back! And the city announced Friday that Pearlie Harris will serve as the grand marshal.(Video above: Harris reflects on moving to Greenville)The native of Saluda, North Carolina, and longtime Greenville resident is the namesake of the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Breast Health Center. Last summer, her legacy as an educator was commemorated in a larger-than-life mural on an eight-story building downtown.The mural at 301 College Avenue, commissioned by the Charleston-based real estate firm The Beach Company, represents the power of education in molding young minds and teaching inclusivity through togetherness. Pearlie Harris discusses integration of schools on Project CommUNITY ConversationsPearlie Harris raises awareness for breast cancer on Project CommUNITY Conversations“The idea is I’m standing over Greenville and the hundreds of thousands of people who come into Greenville every day," Harris said. "We hope it’s saying something to those people about diversity and about love – love for one another, love for children and love for the community,” Harris spent 37 years in the classroom.“As a teacher during integration, I was that Black teacher – the one parents would openly talk about," Harris said. "They’d say they never thought they’d have someone like me in their school, so I promised myself it was going to be one of the best years I’d ever taught just to prove a point,” Harris said.Harris will lead the parade down Main on Saturday, Dec. 4 beginning at 6 p.m. For more than 75 years, the parade has signaled the start of the Christmas season in Greenville.Each year the parade attracts thousands of visitors downtown to view the holiday floats and activities.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Greenville Poinsettia Christmas Parade is back!
And the city announced Friday that Pearlie Harris will serve as the grand marshal.
(Video above: Harris reflects on moving to Greenville)
The native of Saluda, North Carolina, and longtime Greenville resident is the namesake of the Bon Secours St. Francis Health System Breast Health Center.
Last summer, her legacy as an educator was commemorated in a larger-than-life mural on an eight-story building downtown.
The mural at 301 College Avenue, commissioned by the Charleston-based real estate firm The Beach Company, represents the power of education in molding young minds and teaching inclusivity through togetherness.
“The idea is I’m standing over Greenville and the hundreds of thousands of people who come into Greenville every day," Harris said. "We hope it’s saying something to those people about diversity and about love – love for one another, love for children and love for the community,”
Harris spent 37 years in the classroom.
“As a teacher during integration, I was that Black teacher – the one parents would openly talk about," Harris said.
"They’d say they never thought they’d have someone like me in their school, so I promised myself it was going to be one of the best years I’d ever taught just to prove a point,” Harris said.
Harris will lead the parade down Main on Saturday, Dec. 4 beginning at 6 p.m. For more than 75 years, the parade has signaled the start of the Christmas season in Greenville.
Each year the parade attracts thousands of visitors downtown to view the holiday floats and activities.