Curtis W. Harris

Curtis W. Harris
Curtis W. Harris, Sr.
Orders
Ordination	1959
Personal details
Born	(1924-07-01) July 1, 1924 (age 92) Dendron, Virginia
Nationality	American
Denomination	Baptist
Occupation	Minister, civil rights activist, politician

Curtis West Harris, Sr. (born July 1, 1924 in Dendron, Virginia) is an American minister, civil rights activist, and politician in Virginia.

Harris' civil rights work began in 1950 with his stint as President of the Hopewell chapter of the NAACP. In 1960, he was arrested and sentenced to 60 days in jail for his role in a sit-in at segregated Georges' Drugstore in Hopewell, Virginia. Later in that year, he protested the segregation of the Hopewell swimming pool, which eventually led to the pool's closure. In 1966, Harris led a peaceful demonstration to prevent the building of a landfill in Hopewell's African American community; and was confronted by the Ku Klux Klan on the steps of city hall.

In 1960, Harris helped to organize the Hopewell Improvement Association, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and was elected Vice President. He was named to the Board of Directors of the National SCLC in 1961 while Martin Luther King, Jr. was president. Also in 1961, Harris was cited for contempt by the Boatwright Committee of the Virginia General Assembly for not revealing the names of individuals associated with SCLC and not responding to the questions asked by the committee. On March 29, 1962, Martin Luther King along with more than 100 Virginia ministers and laymen accompanied Harris to his contempt trial (Boatwright Committee) in Hopewell. Harris worked with King on multiple civil rights initiatives, including the March on Washington and the Selma to Montgomery marches and considers King as one of his mentors in the Civil Rights Movement. He served as president of the Virginia State Unit of SCLC from 1963–1998, and was elected the National SCLC Vice President in 2005.

In 1987, he led a march against discrimination in Colonial Heights, Virginia. In 1996, he filed a discrimination complaint against a Fort Lee, Virginia military unit. In 2007, Harris marched against a proposed ethanol plant being built in Hopewell with support from the national SCLC.