John Howard Harris

John Howard Harris
Harris pictured in L'Agenda 1913, Bucknell yearbook
President of Bucknell University
In office 1889–1919
Preceded by	David Jayne Hill
Succeeded by	Emory William Hunt
Personal details
Born	(1847-04-24)April 24, 1847 Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Died	April 4, 1925(1925-04-04) (aged 77) Scranton, Pennsylvania
Education	University at Lewisburg
Signature

John Howard Harris (April 24, 1847 – April 4, 1925) was president of Bucknell University from 1889 to 1919.

Formative years

John Howard Harris was born in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, on April 24, 1847.^[1]

Harris began teaching when he was 15 years old; however, he soon left to serve in the American Civil War as a member of Company F of the 2nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment. His regiment was sent to guard the B. and O. Railroad in West Virginia, which had been partly destroyed by the Confederates at the time of Lee’s invasion of the North, and was an important artery of traffic. When his term of service ended, he returned to teaching, but because of an urgent appeal for more troops by President Lincoln in August 1864, he returned to the service and became a sergeant in Company H, 206th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which was sent to Richmond, Virginia to hold the Confederates, while Grant worked along the left flank and cut off the city. ^[2]

Following the war, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University at Lewisburg in 1869.^[1] While at Bucknell, he was a member of the Theta Alpha honor society and the Sigma Chi fraternity. He received the degree Master of Arts from Bucknell in 1872, and in later years Lafayette College awarded him a Doctor of Philosophy degree. Dickinson and Colgate then each conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., while Bucknell made him a Doctor of Civil Law in 1924. ^[3]

Academic career

In 1889, Harris was inaugurated as president of Bucknell University, a post he held for thirty years, the longest tenure in the school's history. His presidency saw a large growth in enrollment and expansion of academic buildings and departments. ^[4]

Death and legacy

Harris died at his home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1925.^[5]

Harris Hall, a dormitory on Bucknell's campus, was named in his honor two years after his death. ^[6]

References

1. Johnson, Rossiter; Brown, John Howard, eds. (1904). The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans. Vol. V. Boston: American Biographical Society. Retrieved April 8, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
2. Bucknell Lose Great Educator, The Bucknellian, April 7, 1925
3. Bucknell Lose Great Educator, The Bucknellian, April 7, 1925
4. "1895: President Harris". Bucknell University. Retrieved April 8, 2022.
5. "Dr. John Howard Harris Dies at Scranton Home". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Scranton, Pennsylvania. April 5, 1925. p. 2. Retrieved April 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Harris Hall, Bucknell University

External links

• Harris, John Howard, Inaugural address as president of Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa: June 27, 1889: with salutary address by C.B. Ripley (1889)
• Harris, John Howard, and Harris, Mary Belle, Thirty years as president of Bucknell: with baccalaureate and other addresses, Press of W. F. Roberts Company (1926)