{{short description|American writer and journalist}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Julia Collier Harris | other_names = | image = Julia Collier Harris (1885-1967) in 1919.jpg | caption = Harris in 1919 | birth_name = Julia Florida Collier | birth_date = {{birth date|1875|11|11}} | birth_place = [[Atlanta]], Georgia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1967|01|21|1875|11|11}} | death_place = | occupation = Writer and journalist | known_for = | years_active = 1911–1938 | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | political_party = | boards = | relatives = {{ubl|[[Charles A. Collier]] (father)|[[Joel Chandler Harris]] (father-in-law)|[[John Collier (sociologist)|John Collier Sr.]] (brother)}} | website = | footnotes = | employer = | height = }}
'''Julia Collier Harris''' (November 11, 1875{{spnd}}January 21, 1967) was an American writer and journalist. She wrote the earliest biography of [[Joel Chandler Harris]], her husband's father. As owners and publishers of the ''[[Columbus Enquirer Sun]]'' she and her husband won the [[1926 Pulitzer Prize]] for Public Service. She has been inducted into three Georgia halls of fame: [[Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame]], [[Georgia Writers Hall of Fame]], and [[Georgia Women of Achievement]].
==Early life== Julia Florida Collier was born in [[Atlanta]] on November 11, 1875, to Susan Rawson Collier and [[Charles A. Collier]], once Atlanta's mayor.{{r|Lisby}} She graduated from [[Washington Seminary (Atlanta)|Washington Seminary]] and then attended a finishing school.{{r|Lisby}} She studied art at [[Cowles Art School]] in [[Boston]]{{r|Lisby}} and planned to pursue it as a career.{{r|Smith}} The death of her mother in March 1897 forced her to abandon her art career plans and return home to care for her five{{r|DrewryJohnson}} younger brothers and sisters.{{r|Smith}} Her father died in 1900 under what she considered suspicious circumstances{{r|Lisby}} and left her legal guardianship of her brothers and sisters.{{sfn|Drewry|Johnson|1942|p=43}}
She married Julian LaRose Harris{{r|Lisby}} on October 26, 1897, in Atlanta.{{r|Blair}} The son of [[Joel Chandler Harris]], Julian was a journalist who had started with ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Constitution]]'' at age sixteen and later became their youngest managing editor.{{r|Lisby}} The couple had two sons, each of whom died in childhood in 1903 and 1904.{{r|Smith}}
==Career== She began her own journalism career in 1911 at ''The Atlanta Constitution'' as well, writing on literary topics, the arts and club news.{{r|Smith}} She was also state editor for the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs.{{r|Smith}}
Around this time her husband Julian was business manager for his father's ''Uncle Remus Magazine'',{{r|Lisby}} but his father died in 1908, and the magazine folded in 1913.{{r|Lisby}} The couple moved to New York City, where Julian wrote for the ''[[New York Herald]]'' and Julia wrote for their [[New York Herald Tribune Syndicate|Herald Syndicate]] under the pseudonym Constance Bine.{{r|Smith}} She wrote a series of features for the Herald from Paris,{{r|Smith}} and as a result she was one of only two women who were present at the signing of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] in June 1919.{{r|Sibley}} She wrote for the syndicate from 1916 to 1920.{{r|Blair}}
[[File:Mrs. Julian La Rose Harris & Marcel Lenoir circa 1917 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Harris with Marcel-Lenoir circa 1917]] While she was writing for Herald, she worked on two books. Her first was a translation of Romanian folk tales.{{sfn|Ispirescu|1917}}{{r|gwa}}. Her second was the first biography of [[Joel Chandler Harris]],{{sfn|Lisby|Harris|1991|p=787}} and that 1918 book{{sfn|Harris|1918}} remains a primary resource for scholars of his work.{{r|Sibley}} She was also later instrumental in establishing a collection of his papers at Emory University's [[Robert W. Woodruff Library]].{{r|Sibley}}
In 1920 the couple moved back to Georgia and pooled their money to purchase an interest in (and later, full ownership of) the [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]] newspaper ''[[Columbus Enquirer Sun|Enquirer-Sun]]''.{{r|Smith}} The newspaper broke ground by identifying politicians who were secretly members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]] and by publishing news of the black community.{{r|gwa}}
Harris wrote a series of articles that helped defeat anti-[[evolution]] bills in the [[Georgia General Assembly]]{{r|gwa}} in 1924 and 1925.{{r|writers}} She identified herself as a theistic evolutionist.{{r|Stephens}} Other topics she editorialized included campaigns against [[convict leasing]] and [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]].{{r|gwa}} Between 1922 and 1929 she wrote hundreds of editorials for the paper, many of which were reprinted in other newspapers.{{r|writers}}
As a result of this work, the ''Columbus Enquirer-Sun'' won the [[1926 Pulitzer Prize]] for [[Pulitzer Prize for Public Service|Public Service]].{{r|Smith}} It was the first [[Pulitzer Prize]] to be awarded to people from Georgia.{{r|Smith}} Julian accepted the honor for his wife and said of her, "She is not only vice president of the Enquirer Sun Company, but a fearless associate editor, unyielding in the face of injustice of any kind, and a constant inspiration."{{r|gwa}}
Harris, her husband, and [[Mildred Seydell]] were the only journalists from Georgia who reported in person from the [[Scopes Trial]] in 1925.{{r|LisbyHarris}} Harris' husband covered the daily progress of the trial, while she wrote in-depth pieces and editorials that explained evolution.{{r|writers}} Her husband said that "Julia is the better writer."{{r|writers}}
Their outspoken editorials made them many enemies in Columbus,{{r|Sibley}} which caused advertising revenue to plummet.{{r|writers}} This forced them to sell the newspaper in 1929.{{r|gwa}}
{{blockquote |text=A good newspaper woman must continue to study as well as to observe, and must prepare herself continuously against every emergency. My own all-round equipment as a writer has enabled me to take advantage of almost every opportunity that has come my way. |author=Julia Collier Harris |source=quoted in ''Concerning The Fourth Estate'', 1942 {{sfn|Drewry|Johnson|1942|p=44}} }}
Her husband returned to ''The Atlanta Constitution'', and she worked on her third book, a collection of her father-in-law's essays.{{r|writers}}{{sfn|Harris|1931}} In 1935 her husband became the executive editor of the ''[[Chattanooga Times Free Press|Chattanooga Times]]'', and she wrote features, editorials, book reviews. and a weekly column for that paper.{{r|writers}}
Poor health and bouts of depression forced her to retire in 1938, but she continued to mentor young journalists until her death.{{r|gwa}} In 1942 the Harrises returned to Atlanta, where Julian was a correspondent for ''[[The New York Times]]'' until he retired in 1945.{{r|writers}}
Outside of her career, Harris was active in the [[Association of Southern Women for the Prevention of Lynching]] and the [[League of Women Voters]].{{r|Smith}} She was also a member of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]] as well as the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, in which she held several offices.{{r|Blair}}
==Death and legacy== She spent her later years in a nursing home, where she continued to write.{{r|Sibley}} She died in 1967 and was buried in the Rawson family vault at Atlanta's historic [[Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta)|Oakland Cemetery]].{{r|Lisby}}
She has been posthumously inducted into three different Georgia halls of fame. In 1996 she was inducted into the [[Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame]].{{r|Sibley}} In 1998 she was inducted into the [[Georgia Women of Achievement]].{{r|gwa}} In 2019 she was inducted into the [[Georgia Writers Hall of Fame]].{{r|writers}}
Her papers are held at [[Smith College]],{{r|papers1}} and her husband's papers are held at [[Emory University]].{{r|papers2}}
==Books== * {{cite book|last=Ispirescu |first=Petre |author-link=Petre Ispirescu | title=The Foundling Prince & Other Tales | translator-last1=Harris |translator-first1=Julia Collier |translator-last2=Ipcar |translator-first2=Rea | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Co. |location=Boston & New York | year=1917 | oclc=560304297 | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015043595746&view=1up&seq=11 }} * {{cite book|last=Harris |first=Julia Collier|title=The Life and Letters of Joel Chandler Harris |location=Boston and New York | publisher=Houghton Mifflin company |year=1918 |oclc=1031594442 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=la4aAAAAYAAJ}} * {{cite book|editor-last=Harris |editor-first=Julia Collier|title=Joel Chandler Harris, Editor and Essayist |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=Univ. of North Carolina Press | year=1931 | oclc=272364 }}
==References== <references> <ref name=Lisby>{{cite web | author=Lisby, Gregory C. | title=Julian and Julia Collier Harris (1874–1963; 1875–1967) |website=[[New Georgia Encyclopedia]] | date=July 2, 2020 | url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/julian-and-julia-collier-harris-1874-1963-1875-1967 | access-date=July 31, 2020 }}</ref> <ref name=LisbyHarris>{{cite journal |last1=Lisby | first1=Gregory C. |first2=Linda L. |last2=Harris | title=Georgia Reporters at the Scopes Trial: A Comparison of Newspaper Coverage |journal=The Georgia Historical Quarterly |volume=75 | issue=4 | date=Winter 1991 | pages=784–803 | jstor=40582427 }}</ref> <ref name=Smith>{{cite news |author=Smith, Helen C.|title=Julia Harris, Husband Shared Pulitzer Prize | newspaper=[[Atlanta Constitution]] | date=February 15, 1976 | page=8G | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54545955/julia-harris-husband-shared-pulitzer/ | access-date=July 31, 2020 | via=[[newspapers.com]] }}</ref> <ref name=papers1>{{cite web|title=Julia Collier Harris Papers |website=Sophia Smith Collection |publisher=Smith College |location=Northampton, Mass. |url=https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/614 |access-date=July 31, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190909135940/https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/614|archive-date=September 9, 2019}}</ref> <ref name=papers2>{{cite web|title=Julian LaRose Harris papers, 1890–1968|url=https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/harrisjulianl6/|publisher=Emory Libraries|access-date=July 31, 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618020853/https://findingaids.library.emory.edu/documents/harrisjulianl6/|archive-date=June 18, 2018}}</ref> <ref name=writers>{{cite web|title=Hall of Fame Honorees – Julia Collier Harris | website=Georgia Writers Hall of Fame | publisher=[[University of Georgia]] | url=https://georgiawritershalloffame.org/honorees/juliacollier-harris | access-date=July 31, 2020 | url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801021210/https://georgiawritershalloffame.org/honorees/juliacollier-harris |archive-date=August 1, 2020}}</ref> <ref name=Sibley>{{cite news|title=Hall of Fame a fitting place for journalists | author=Sibley, Celestine | author-link=Celestine Sibley | newspaper=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|The Atlanta Constitution]] | date=October 14, 1996 | page=C1 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/54483567/hall-of-fame-a-fitting-place-for/ | access-date=June 30, 2020 | via=[[newspapers.com]] }}</ref> <ref name=gwa>{{cite web|title=Julia Collier Harris|website=[[Georgia Women of Achievement]]|date=March 1998 |url=https://www.georgiawomen.org/julia-collier-harris | access-date=July 31, 2020 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930231621/https://www.georgiawomen.org/julia-collier-harris |archive-date=September 30, 2017 }}</ref> <ref name=Blair>{{cite book |author=Blair, Ruth |author-link=Ruth Blair|title=Georgia Women of 1926 | publisher=Georgia Dept. of Archives and History | oclc=3831135 | page=28 | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000606997&view=1up&seq=35 | access-date=August 3, 2020 | via=[[HathiTrust]]}}</ref> <ref name=Stephens>{{cite web|author=Stephens, Lester D. |title=Evolution Controversy |website=[[New Georgia Encyclopedia]] |date=August 28, 2019 | url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/education/evolution-controversy |access-date=August 3, 2020 }}</ref> <ref name=DrewryJohnson>{{cite book|last1=Drewry |first1=John E | first2=Walter C. |last2=Johnson |title=Concerning the Fourth Estate |location=Athens, Ga |publisher=University of Georgia Press |year=1942 | pages=42–45 | oclc=1943789 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951000494575w&view=1up&seq=56&q1=Collier | via=HathiTrust | access-date=August 4, 2020 }}</ref> </references>
==External links== * {{Find a Grave|49047974}} {{Georgia Women of Achievement|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Julia Collier}} [[Category:1875 births]] [[Category:1967 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Atlanta]] [[Category:Journalists from Atlanta]] [[Category:American newspaper publishers (people)]] [[Category:Theistic evolutionists]] [[Category:The Westminster Schools alumni]] [[Category:20th-century American women writers]] [[Category:Science activists]] [[Category:Cowles Art School alumni]]