Donor honors Seattle legend with $1.3 million park

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Tuesday, November 12, 2002

Donor honors Seattle legend with $1.3 million park

By PHUONG CAT LE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Carver Gayton grew up hearing all about Dr. Homer Harris.

He'd walk the halls of Garfield High School years after Harris graduated and admire the football trophies Harris left behind.


		Renee C. Byer / P-I
	Dr. Homer Harris said, "I like the idea of my name being carried forward."

"He really was a legendary figure for me and a lot of young black guys growing up in this area," said Gayton, who formerly headed the state Employment Security Office. "He was the guy you pointed to and think, 'That's the kind of person I'd like to be.' "

Like Gayton, people in Seattle's Central District have been talking about Homer Harris for generations.

If they don't know him personally, they've heard stories -- from their parents or grandparents -- of the high school and college football star who broke down racial barriers, of the prominent dermatologist and of the role model for young people growing up in the neighborhood.

Now, the 86-year-old has inspired a new community park. An anonymous donor has given $1.3 million to create a half-acre park in Harris' honor. The gift is believed to be the largest single private donation made toward a park in the city's history and will be announced at a ceremony tomorrow morning.

"I like the idea of my name being carried forward," Harris said yesterday from his Queen Anne home, where he lives with Dorothy, his wife of 53 years. "It's very pleasing."

The donor "has known of Harris for many years," said Karen Daubert, executive director of the year-old Seattle Parks Foundation, which received the gift. "He admired (Harris') sense of humor in the face of tremendous adversity, coming through everything he's been through with a positive outlook on life."

The park will be built on a piece of what was once the 12-acre tract that William Grose, a black pioneer, bought from Henry Yesler in 1882 for $1,000 in gold.

It sits on the southeast corner of 24th Avenue East and East Howell Street, not far from Garfield High School, where Harris won all-city honors in football for three years.

The foundation will buy the land and turn it over to the city. It plans to create an endowment to pay for maintenance and operations costs, but the Parks and Recreation Department will design the park with public input and run it.


		P-I File
	In 1937, Homer Harris became the first African American to captain a Big Ten team. His teammates called him "the best man on Iowa's line."

As an only child who grew up near the Arboretum, Harris' back yard was his local park. When he came home from school, he headed to the park with friends to play football, soccer, baseball, you name it.

Harris doesn't like to talk much about his past. But others gladly boast about his accomplishments.

On the urging of his Garfield football coach, Leon Brigham, who played for University of Iowa, Harris headed to Iowa City to play ball.

In 1937, he became the first African American player to captain a Big Ten team. His teammates chose him because they called him "the greatest end" and "the best man on Iowa's line," according to an article in the Chicago Daily Tribune.

Harris also made front-page headlines in the Des Moines Register for winning the Most Valuable Player that same year.

"It was a big honor," Harris said, scanning a black-and-white Iowa team photograph. "Because some guys at that point had so much prejudice that they didn't even want you to come to the locker room."

Last August, Harris made a trip back to Iowa City with his grandson for the first time since graduation. During the half-time season opener, Harris was inducted into the University of Iowa Hall of Fame.

He had considered playing professional football after graduation, but the National Football League had banned black players.

Encouraged by his mother, he went into medicine instead.

"Anything he attempted to do, he did it very well," said Charlie Russell, who played on the gridiron with Harris at Garfield High and was the first black player to play for the University of Washington Huskies.

"His mother told him, 'If you don't go into medicine, she'd help some (other) young fellow,' " said Russell, who still chats with his friend daily about sports. "That was all it took for him to continue."

He finished medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, specializing in dermatology, and completed his residency at the University of Illinois Medical School. He returned to Seattle in 1955 and started his practice at the Medical Dental Building downtown.

Mary T. Henry wrote a book on public places in Seattle named for African Americans, said yesterday of the park: "It shows the history and the contributions of African Americans to this region."

"He's sort of a legend in athletics, but as far as his medical profession, he was very well-respected," said Henry, newsletter editor of the Black Historical Society.

She interviewed Harris for an oral history on black physicians between World War II and 1960. His dermatology practice became one of the biggest west of the Rockies.

"He was probably the only black physician in the building for a long time," Henry said. She added, "He was probably one of the handsomest men in the city."

"I'll admit to that," joked Harris, who retired about a year ago. .

Gayton remembers him for all of it -- the gridiron star, the wonderful student, the determined man who excelled.

"It's long overdue," he said.