Finding and developing confidence in the power of her remarkable voice at an early age opened the door for a decades long journey of public performances, teaching music to others, and being recognized for her service to the Civil Rights movement.
While her father, the Rev. Isaiah Harris, had provided literacy classes and encouraged members of his congregation to register to vote since the1940’s, he sheltered his eight children from the impact of segregation by not allowing them to go to restaurants, hotels or movie theatres where they would have been barred from entry due to the color of their skin. Instead, he and his wife, a schoolteacher, created a haven in their own home.
After she returned from her first year of college at Florida A & M University during the summer of 1961, Rutha discovered Civil Rights protests had been erupting in Albany. She decided to become involved in the movement by learning nonviolent tactics and participating in demonstrations – pledging to her parents she would complete her education later.
“When I started working in a movement, I realized I was not free. I got involved in the civil rights movement to get my freedom for myself. I didn’t want anyone else getting it for me,” she recalled. She was arrested three times and spent a total of 14 days in jail. While in jail, she and other protesters sang songs and prayed. The protesters who had grown up in church drew power from the songs of the movement which were developed by slightly changing the lyrics of spirituals or gospel songs and utilizing a call and response style. The protesters found the songs gave them courage.
“We needed these songs to help us not to be fearful during marches or picket lines,” Harris would later recall. “The Albany Movement allowed us to name the people who were using jail against us, like Mayor Asa Kelley and Chief of Police Laurie Pritchett. Not only could we call their names and say what we wanted to say, but, they could not stop our sound.”
The Freedom Singers were organized by SNCC Field Secretary Cordell Reagon (tenor) and in addition to Harris included Charles Neblett (bass) and Bernice Johnson (alto.) Johnson and Reagon were married and later, Johnson founded the group Sweet Honey in the Rock. Together, the group traveled 50,000 miles in a Buick station wagon on a 46-state journey their first year. The group was in Los Angeles when they were asked to join a group of Hollywood celebrities and travel to the March on Washington in a plane chartered by Harry Belafonte. Others who would perform that day included Bob Dylan, Peter Paul & Mary and Mahalia Jackson. Of course, the day is most remembered by Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
“Rutha Mae Harris has never been afraid to sing in front of a crowd. Even as a 22-year-old facing the 250,000 people who had gathered at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963 for the historic march on Washington, she felt excited rather than scared. After all, at earlier protests, she had faced police pointing batons, fire hoses and even guns, and each time, when she sang, her terror faded away.
“That day, when she began to sing, her voice flew out across the march as she belted out the opening words: ‘We shall not …’ Immediately, the other Freedom Singers, as her group were known, joined in for their rendition of We Shall Not Be Moved. Footage of the day shows Harris in her element, looking ahead, determined, as the crowd clapped along and burst into applause at the end,” read an account published in September 2020 by The Guardian.
Following her Civil Rights movement activities as a Freedom Singer, Rutha Harris completed college and became a teacher at Monroe High School for 30 years. Over the years, she became a featured singer at many area churches. Her frequent speaking engagements told the story of the Freedom Singers and taught a new generation about the importance of the music in the movement.
She and other surviving Freedom Singers performed at the White House for President Barak Obama in 2010 during a celebration of music from the Civil Rights Movement.
Additional Resources:
- Listen to a Freedom Singers recording of “I Woke Up This Morning With My Mind Set on Freedom” here.
- Watch an excerpt from a PBS interview of Rutha Harris conducted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. here.
- Read a September 2020 article about Rutha Harris here.
- Watch a Georgia Public Broadcasting April 1994 “Georgia Stories” video featuring Rutha Harris here.