Newspapers / Chowan University Student Newspaper / July 1, 1979, edition 1 / Page 9
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Honoring Dr. Bernice Kelly Harris Memorial Scholarship Established in English Chowan College in co-operaUon with the fund the memorial scholarship which will be Roanoke-Chowan Group of artists and aAninistered by Chowan College, writers announces the establishment of the Wor to the Group’s decision to establish ^mice Kelly Ha^ Memorial Scholarship the Harris Scholarship at Chowan, the in Creative Writing and English. The Group had endowed a scholarship in per- memorial scholarship honors one of North forming arts at the North Carolina School of Carolina’s great literary figures of all time Performing Arts in Winston-Salem. In — the late Dr. Bernice KeUy Harris of addition, the Group sponsors the Roanoke- Seaboard. The first recipient of the Chowan Poetry Cup Award which is scholarship will be selected by the presented annually during Culture Week in Scholarship Committee beginning with the Raleigh. 1979-80 academic year. Chowan President Dr. Bruce E. Whitaker, The scholarship originated within the in announcing the establishment of the Roanoke-Chowan Group which represents scholarship said that it was very difficult to artists and writers who either live or come describe adequately the contributions of the from the Roanoke-Chowan region of North late Dr. Harris who was affectionately Carolina. Dr. Harris was a member of this known and addressed by all who knew her organization which was founded in the early as “Miss Kelly” or “Dr. Kelly.” Many of her 1950’s by the late Dr. Gilbert T. Stephenson literary critics placed her in the company of of Pendleton. In July 1976. the Roanoke- Thomas Wolfe, Whitaker noted. Chowan Group voted to establish the Harris Winner of the Mayflower Cup for Fiction Memorial Scholarship in Creative Writing and the North Carolina Award for and English at Chowan College. The group Uterature, Dr. Harris wrote always of the appointed a special scholarship committee simple people of her eastern North Carolina, to direct a fund raising drive of $5,000 to Whitaker said. Her short stories were Refinishing Historic Columns The eight columns on the porches of McDowell Columns Building were stripped during the past weeks, and a fresh coat of paint was applied to keep the building in a good state of repair. Torches were used to burn the many, many layers of paint from the columns, ofterwhich all breaks in the wood were repaired and sealed. Workers indicated that paint on several of the columns measured over one-eighth of an inch thick. published in national magazines and her novels were published in this country and abroad. Her first novel, Purslane, was the first novel ever published by the University of North Carolina Press. Her second novel, Portnlaca, was published by Doubleday after the publisher sent a representative to fte small eastern North Carolina town of Seaboard, near Roanoke Rapids, to find her. Her other novels include Sweet Beulah Land, Sage Quarter, Janey Jeems, and Heartstones. Many readers and critics considered her moving autobiography, Southern Savoury, to be her best work. She also wrote two chUdren’s novels; The Santa On The Mantel and The Very Real Trust About Christmas. Whitaker said plays were a favorite of “Miss Kelly.” She wrote a group of one-act plays, Folk Plays of Eastern Carolina. Dr. Harris also organized the Northampton Players, a drama group that became well known and won numerous awards. During the last ten years of her life, she was associated with Chowan College where she taught creative writing. Under her guidance and tutelage, the Chowan College Creative Writing Class launched a nuipber of writing careers for eastern North Carolina residents. Her Creative Writing Class pupils came from many walks of life including teachers, housewives, college students, civic leaders, insurance agents and physicians. Mrs. Walter Elsee To Chowan Board A Smithfield woman, Mrs. Walter Brand Elsee, has been appointed to the Board of Advisors at Chowan CoUege, according to Chowan President Bruce E. Whitaker. A Winston-Salem native, Mrs. Elsee holds the A.B. degree from Hollins College and M.S.W. degree from the University of Denver. She has served as a caseworker at the Denver Biu'eau of Public Welfare in Denver, Col.; child welfare worker at the Wake County Welfare Dept, in Raleigh; family care worker at the Family Service Society in Raleigh; and caseworker for the Baptist Children’s Home in Thomasville. Mrs. Elsee is a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church where she has served as president of the Episcopal Churchwomen, chairman of the Community and World Ministries Committee, Sunday school teacher, and member of the Vestry. She also held a diocesan position for three years as secretary of Christian Social Relations. The new Chowan advisor is active in Six Students Serving In Summer Missions Six Chowan CoUege students are serving in some phase of summer missions this summer. The students, their assignment and sponsoring agency, are: Joseph G. Austin, New Hope Baptist Church, Whiteville (Baptist Youth Corps); Michael Gosnell, chaplain’s assistant, Samarcand Manor, Samarcand (BSU Missions); Sidney Gray Uttle, Bambi Lake, Mich. (BSU Work Team); Kathy McEachem, counselor. Camp Mundo Vista; Connie Towns, coun selor, Camp Mundo Vista; Eric Del Santo, American Heritage Camp Grounds, Lit tleton (Resort Area Ministry). For her contributions to the literary world and to her native state of North Carolina, Dr. Harris received many honors including: 1. First Mayflower Cup Award in 1939 for her first book. Purslane. 2.First woman to serve as I*resident of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. 3. Convencn- of the Roanoke-Chowan Group of artists and writers. 4. Honorary Doctorate by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and by Wake Forest University. She was called by many as North Carolina’s “first lady of letters.” 5. Master Playwright Award, North Carolina Drama Association 6. North Carolina Award for Literature Dr. Harris was bom in the Mount Moriah community in Wake County and received a degree from Meredith College. She went to Seaboard in the northeastern part of the state near the Virginia line as a school teacher, and there she met her husband, the late Herbert Kavanaugh Harris. She died on September 13, 1973, and is survived by a number of nieces and nephews. Dr. Whitaker stated, “The cultural and literary life of North Carolina for generations to come has been greatly enriched by the writings of this very dear person. The Bernice Kelly Harris Memorial Scholarhsip in Creative Writing and English at Chowan CoUege is a most appropriate way to remember a truly great North Carolinian who gave so much to aU of us. ” Appointed of Advisors . ■ -M MRS. WALTER ELSEE community affairs as a member of the Boards of the United Fund, Salvation Army, and Contact Teleministry. She is a senior worker at Contact Teleministry. One of her main interests is mental health. She has served as treasurer and president and is presently vice president in charge of membership for the Mental Health Assoc, of Johnson County. She is also a member of the PubUc Affairs Committee of the Mental Health Assoc, of North Carolina. Mrs. Elsee is a member of the Symphony Council for the North Carolina Symphony. Mrs. Elsee and her husband are parents of three children: Margaret, 29, a cattle far mer in Chatham County; Allison, 20, a senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Jeff, 19, a third-class cadet at the Air Force Academy. For July, 1979 PAGE NINE
Chowan University Student Newspaper
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July 1, 1979, edition 1
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