116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Book honors Percy Harris, first black physician in Cedar Rapids
Alison Gowans
Jan. 24, 2016 8:00 am
When Ted Townsend, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital, first heard Dr. Percy Harris' story, he knew he was hearing something special.
Harris came to Cedar Rapids with his family in 1957 to complete an internship as the first black physician at St. Luke's Hospital. He went on to open his own practice, served as Linn County medical examiner for decades and helped break down not just professional barriers for physicians of color, but housing barriers as well.
His story is one of a family building a life in a small Midwestern city, of a community doctor beloved by thousands of patients over a long career and a Civil Rights story set during a pivotal period in American history.
Townsend spearheaded the effort to write the Harris story down. 'A Healing Presence in Our Community: The Percy G. Harris Family,' was released in September by UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital in partnership with Mercy Medical Center.
Local author Lennox Randon edited the book with help from Harris's daughter Lileah Harris and other family members.
The book is available to read free online at http://issuu.com/stlukescr/docs/percyharris-online-11-24_lores. Copies were printed for family members and local institutions including the Cedar Rapids Public Library, the Cedar Rapids History Center and the African American Museum of Iowa.
'I had the realization one day when talking to Dr. Harris that he was such a unique part of St. Luke's and Cedar Rapids' history. I wanted to capture some of that history while he still is with us,' Townsend said. 'This is a story that's too important to lose.'
When Harris and his family moved to Cedar Rapids for the St. Luke's internship, they lived in a home owned by the hospital, because racial discrimination kept them out of the neighborhoods they wanted to live in.
In 1961, businessman Robert Armstrong stepped in to help. Chair of the St. Luke's Board of Trustees and member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church, where Harris also was a member, he and his wife, Esther, recently had donated property on Bever Avenue to the church. They asked one of the lots be sold to Harris family.
The request was controversial. Hundreds of church members attended a meeting at St. Paul's to vote on the sale and spoke for and against it, with Harris listening. Of 751 church members present that evening, 460 voted to approve the sale, while 291 voted against it.
After building their seven-bedroom home, the couple became very active in public life. arris served as president of the Cedar Rapids chapter of the NAACP, chaired the board of directors of the Jane Boyd Community House, was a member of the Mayor's Committee on Low-Cost Housing, served on the Black Culture Advisory Board at Coe College and was the first black member of the Iowa Board of Regents, among a long list of other roles and accolades. At St. Luke's, he helped bring open heart surgery to Cedar Rapids.
The book also honors Harris's wife Lileah Harris. She served on the board of the NAACP, on the Cedar Rapids Human Rights Commission, on the advisory board for the Jane Boyd Community House and as a member of the Mental Health Association board of directors, among many other things. She died in 2014, at age 83. Together, the couple raised 12 children.
Harris, who is now 88, declined to be interviewed for this article, but his daughter, Lileah Harris, who practices with Cedar Valley Pathology at UnityPoint/St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids, answered questions via email.
'Being involved energized mom and dad, and made their lives extremely rewarding. Their actions said, 'Dream large, do what you can to realize your dreams, and help others around you thrive,'' she said. 'Mom and Dad formed lasting friendships as they worked with neighbors, colleagues and various organizations to improve Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities. Growing up, I admired their friends, and I believe my 11 siblings did too. Many of those friends became very dear to me, and they continue to serve as role models.'
She said she's glad her parent's story has been documented and preserved in the book.
'As my mother's sister Betty Jean Furgerson told me, the story can 'Help us understand how worthy it is to help other people and emulate those you admire, in order to be a good person and human being,'' she said.
The Gazette Dr. Percy Harris listens to Richard Lewis' heart on his last day of work in 1999. Lewis was a patient of Harris' for 42 years.
UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital Dr. Percy Harris signs copies of 'A Healing Presence in Our Community,' on Dec. 15, 2015. The book about his life was commissioned by UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital.
The Gazette Lileah and Percy Harris outside of their home on Bever Ave. SE. Cedar Rapids.
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