Dr. Mary Harper

Due to the Covid-19 there will be no visitation at the home.

Dr. Mary Turner Harper, was born in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina on December 2, 1935 and entered into eternal life on October 1, 2020. The only child of the late Reverend Wilbert James Walker Turner and Bessie O. Means Turner, she was educated in several schools in the Greensboro area. She attended two elementary schools – Lutheran Elementary and Washington St. Public, and then went on to Dudley High for the 9th grade.  From there, Mary attended Harbison Jr. College in Irmo, SC – graduating high school in 1951. Dr. Harper earned a B.A. in English from Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC (1955); an M. Ed from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC (1966); and a Ph.D. from The Union Institute, Cincinnati, OH (1975).

In June of 1956, Mary married Joseph Walter Harper, III. This union produced three daughters: Delcia Harper-Baxter, Lisa Y. Harper, and Jonette M. Harper. Mary and Joseph, a pairing of names Mary loved to allude to, brought their daughters up in First United Presbyterian Church, USA, where she maintained active membership.

Dr. Harper worked in various educational settings over the years, beginning her career teaching at Newbold High School in Lincolnton, NC (1955-1961). She then taught in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (1961-1967); Barber-Scotia College (1967-1968); and Johnson C. Smith University (1968-1971). In 1971, Mary joined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s (UNC-Charlotte) faculty where she integrated the University’s English department, and also taught in the Afro-American and African Studies department. She retired as Associate Professor of English Emerita in 1991. Today, UNC-Charlotte recognizes her service to the university with the Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad, a perpetual merit-based award to support students’ international educational experiences with preference given to self-identified first-generation college students from underrepresented populations.

Mary’s accomplishments were varied but perhaps the most visible legacy she leaves to the Charlotte community is the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Afro-American Cultural Center (now recognized as the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture). She co-founded the Center in 1974, alongside Dr. Bertha Maxwell-Roddey, after realizing that many of the contributions of African-Americans, particularly in North Carolina, were unrecognized. Her vision was to create a place where African-Americans could learn about their own heritage but also celebrate the contributions of others whose work, art, history and culture had heretofore gone unsung. To celebrate Drs. Harper and Roddey’s legacy, the Gantt Center established the Harper-Roddey Society in their honor.

Dr. Harper was also affiliated with several civic and service-oriented organizations.  She was a proud Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a member of several social and civic organizations including The Charlotte Chapter of The Links, Inc. and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She has been a guest columnist for The Charlotte News, and featured in Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review, CLA Journal, Children’s Literature Association Quarterly, A Gathering of Gaines, ed. Anne K. Simpson, and The Oxford Companion to Women’s Writing in the United States.

Throughout her career, she accumulated numerous honors and awards including the “1984 Achiever Award” by the Charlotte Post;  the 1986 Theophilus & Martha McKinney Memorial Award for Distinguished Service presented by friends of Johnson C. Smith University; the 1988 Kool Achiever Award for Outstanding Service in the Arts; the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor Pat McCrory (2014); and a Proclamation from the City of Charlotte declaring August 22, 2018 as “Harper Roddey Day”. She is also included in Who’s Who of American Women and World’s Who’s Who of Women in Education.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Walter Harper, III, and great grandchildren, Zoë-Paige and Richard S. Dunn.

She is survived by three daughters, Delcia Harper-Baxter of Sumter, SC; Lisa Y. Harper of Raleigh, NC; and Jonette M. Harper of Charlotte, NC; five grandchildren: Marlena Baxter-Dunn (Trent) of Wadesboro, NC; Timothy B. Graham, II of Alexandria, VA; Joseph B. Graham of Washington, DC; and Sydney Y. Stanley and Jocelyn Y. Stanley of Charlotte, NC; three great-grandchildren: Beckham E. Dunn and Luna C. Dunn of Wadesboro, NC and Ava N. Graham of Alexandria, VA; a niece, Dr. Pamela Z. Pearson of Portland, OR; and a nephew, Dr. Darryl H. Pearson, of Charlotte, NC. Also cherishing her memory are two foster daughters: Brenda R. Kemp, Lincolnton, NC and Dr. Sandra Y. Govan, Charlotte, NC; a foster granddaughter, Samantha D. Smith, Sumter, SC; and two foster sons: Gregory Massey (Robyn) of Charlotte, NC;and Rober Rowel (Berdell) of Charlotte, NC and a host of other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to: The Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad, UNCC , 9201 University City Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28223; The Harper-Roddey Society, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts, 551 S. Tryon St.Charlotte, NC 28206; The Links Foundation, Attn: Dr. Mary Harper Scholarship, The Charlotte (NC) Chapter of the Links, Inc., P.O. Box 36958, Charlotte, North Carolina 28236 or Livingstone College Office of Institutional Advancement, 701 W. Monroe St.Salisbury, NC 28144.