HARRIS, CORRA, 1868-1935.
Corra Harris collection, 1899-1968

Restrictions on Access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Related Materials in Other Repositories

Corra Harris papers, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.

Source

Gift, 1965, with subsequent additions

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Corra Harris collection, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

SSS, December 1970.

Biographical Note

Corra May (White) Harris (March 17, 1869-February 9, 1935), journalist and author, was born in Elbert County, Georgia, the oldest child of Tinsley Rucker White and Mary (Mathews) White. Corra grew up at the family home, "Farm Hill." She was educated at home by her mother, at a local field school, and at the Elberton Female Academy. At the age of fifteen, Corra went to live with her uncle, who was then principal of Old Salem School in Banks County, Georgia. There she met Lundy Harris, a Methodist clergyman and educator. Lundy, the descendant of a long line of Methodist preachers and circuit riders, was born in McDonough, Georgia in 1858, and had received both his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Emory College in 1876. Corra and Lundy became engaged, and, after Corra completed her education and taught school briefly, she and Lundy were married on February 8, 1887. Their honeymoon was spent journeying to the Redwine Circuit in Hart County, Georgia, where Lundy was to be circuit rider. On December 24, 1887, their first child, a daughter named Faith, was born; Faith was the only one of the Harris children to survive beyond infancy.

Lundy Harris served in a Methodist church in Decatur, Georgia with Bishop Atticus Greene Haygood during the year following the baby's birth. In 1888, President Warren Candler appointed Lundy professor of Greek at Emory College in Oxford, Georgia. The Harris family remained at Oxford for ten years. Corra devoted most of her time during this period to her home and family. Two sons were born, but both died shortly after birth. In 1898 Lundy, suffering from nervous illness and, subsequently, a complete breakdown, left Emory. The family finally settled with close relatives in Rockmart, Georgia, and Lundy taught at the Rockmart Institute.

An editorial in the New York Independent Magazine drew Corra's reply in May, 1899. At the request of the editors, she became a regular contributor of articles, editorials, and book reviews, sometimes dealing with controversial topics. Meanwhile, Lundy was appointed assistant secretary of his church's Board of Education, and the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1902. Corra continued to write, collaborating with Paul Elmer More to publish The Jessica Letters, first as a serial in 1903 and then as a book in 1904; this was followed in 1909 by A Circuit Rider's Wife, a novel partially based on Corra Harris's own life.

Having never fully recovered from his earlier illness at Oxford, Lundy Harris died in 1910 in Georgia. Corra bought a farm near Rydal, Georgia, close to the place where her husband had died. She named her new home "In the Valley," and there her literary career began in earnest. She wrote serials, novels, articles, short stories, newspaper columns, autobiographies, and a travelogue; she served as a war correspondent in 1914 for The Saturday Evening Post; she also contributed to Ladies' Home Journal, Harper's, Pictorial Review, and many other periodicals. In the 1930's, she wrote a tri-weekly "Candlelit Column" for the Atlanta Journal.

In 1931, Corra's health began to fail and her literary career to wane. She continued to travel and to write with the help of her two young local companions, Bettie and Trannie Raines. Corra Harris died at Emory Hospital on Saturday, February 9, 1935 following a heart attack. Biographical information about Corra Harris was found in Who Was Who in America (volume 2); in Corra Harris, Lady of Purpose by John E. Talmadge (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1968.

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of materials relating to Corra Harris from 1899-1968. The materials include correspondence (1925-1939), photographs, writings, and printed materials.

Arrangement Note

Unprocessed collection.