If a person from Athens can quote “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe, it’s a safe bet that at some point, they were in the classroom of Ms. Ruth Gordon Harris. For more than four decades, Harris dedicated her life to teaching and helping children. From Miller Elementary to Athens Middle School, Harris touched the lives of thousands of students – making her a true Limestone Legend.

Ruth Gordon Harris was born in Athens and grew on Beaty Street near Athens State University. She was born June 27, 1933 and was the youngest of six children. Both of her parents were domestic workers and her mother would take in laundry for others.

“My elementary school days were right here at this old school, Miller Elementary, and that’s where I went for the first six years. Of course, all of this was before integration. Ms. Maggie Watkins was the principal at Miller Elementary,” Harris said. From Miller Elementary, she went to Trinity School in 1946 and graduated in 1952.

Harris was an excellent student and enjoyed several extra-curricular activities but she was uncomfortable playing sports.

“I played a little. I was always self conscious and, like basketball, I didn’t want to lift my arms and jump around in case somebody was looking. I was very active in school. I sang in the chorus for six years and I received the prize winning essay my 12th grade year. Every child in the class had to write an essay, memorize and recite. I received first prize. It was the importance of education in modern society and I still remember it,” Harris said.

The importance of an education was something Harris understood from an early age. She was inspired by her high school principal, the Rev. William Judson King, who suggested the topic of her prize winning essay. She was also inspired by her own family.

“I had a mother who was both mother and father because my father died when I was at the tender age of 9-years-old. She was a disciplinarian when it came to the education. There was no substitute. She only went through the sixth grade. Living on the farm, they would maybe be in school three months out of the year,” Harris said.

She described her mother as having a good head on her shoulders.

“She often said, ‘If I had had the opportunity that you children have, I would have gone places.’ She wanted better for us that what she had,” she said.

Harris knew she wanted to be a teacher when she saw two of her older siblings, Otis and Carrie, graduate from Trinity and Alabama A&M.

“I saw what they were doing and I liked that,” she said. “We all graduated from Alabama A&M with Social Studies majors and English minors. I saw what they were doing when they came out and said, ‘This is it.’”

After graduating from college, Harris returned to Miller Elementary – this time as a teacher. She taught at Miller for 12 years, nine as a second grade teacher.

“I had several who had already had me in second grade at Miller who had me later in eight grade in Athens,” Harris said.

“When Miller closed due to integration, we were asked to say where we would like to go because we had to be placed in the Athens City School System. I had asked to go to Cowart because it was closer but that summer, but Mr. Julian Newman asked me if I would go to Athens Junior High,” Harris said. Having a master’s degree, Harris was qualified to teach grades K-12.

At Athens Junior High/Athens Middle School, Harris taught social studies including, Alabama history, civics and American history. She also taught 8th grade Literature and was known for expecting students to memorize and recite poetry. In particular, students would recite Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost.

“I pulled all these extra things in to make sure my students were well on their way. ‘The Raven’ was just thrilling to me and I thought the man had to be out of his mind,” Harris said with a laugh. “The way those words just flowed, oh my goodness.”

“I used to have a lot of fun with the children, they had the opportunity with ‘The Raven’ to choose a verse that they wanted and I would listen to all they were saying. Over near the end of ‘The Raven’ there was a lot of excitement and I would scream that out. I think at one point they thought I was insane,” she said.

Harris had to change her way of doing things as she transitioned from the elementary to the junior high age children.

“I had to realize that there was a difference in the age gap. I started thinking about them being the 7 year old, but had to pull myself together and realize they were teenagers and so I had to do things differently. I had to know they were no longer my little babies, but you guys were still my babies,” she said.

Harris retired from teaching in 1999 after 42 years.

“I could have retired sooner but I loved it. I didn’t want to go when I went but I knew it was time for me to go. I never liked to be away from school. There were two years specifically that I didn’t miss a day. I wanted to be there. I didn’t want anybody else telling my babies what they needed to do. I was going to be right there to see that they do it,” she said. “I did not like to be absent.”

When she wasn’t at school, Harris enjoyed reading and crochet. To keep her mind sharp, she memorizes and recites.

“Everyday of my life, and this might sound silly to others, to keep my mind opened and to keep abreast, I will recite some of the longest pieces of material that I know. I make it a point, as often as I can, to choose something and learn something new,” she said.

Recently, Harris learned the entire Declaration of Independence and memorized every word. During a visit to Gettysburg, she was able to stand where President Abraham Lincoln stood and recite the Gettysburg Address.

“I walked right up to the spot and I stood on there. I began to recite ‘The Gettysburg Address.’ My son, Dana, said, ‘Ahhh, there she goes.’ When I got finished I was able to tell them that I did what I wanted to do and could go back to school and tell the children that when they recite the Gettysburg Address, I had the opportunity to stand where he actually spoke. It makes cold chills run over me right now.”

Harris loved teaching and misses one thing in particular.

“I miss the children,” she said. “When dealing with children, my recipe is real simple. Be for real because children will know if you are being a fake. They will pick up on it. Let them know that you care. Let them know that you love them. Let them know you will be their for them and all they have to do is come to you. Show them love and respect and earn their respect. You can’t force someone to respect you, you have to earn it.”

A 42-year career gave Harris the opportunity to teach alongside several of her former students.

“Being able to work side by side with those I had taught was a joy. Like, Valerie Hendrix and Cynthia Howell, they had been second graders at Miller. Persons I had taught 8th grade at Athens Middle that became teachers, Sharon Daniel Ham and Jerry Davis. I look around so much and I see in every walk of life, somebody I had my hand on in some kind of way – lawyers, doctors, nurses, receptionists, writers,” she said. “The class I had at Miller, second graders, even today, they have not forgotten me. They haven’t forgotten other teachers they had too.”

Harris married Charles Edward Harris Sr., a career service member and Korea and Vietnam veteran, in June of 1958 and they have two sons, Dana and Charles Jr., both Marines. Charles Sr. passed away in 1977.

“I raised my sons with the help of my mother and my sister, Carrie, and brother, Otis. We were still a unit and they helped me. I don’t know how well things would have gone had I been on my own. They really helped me,” she said. Harris attends Trinity Congregational Church and still lives in Athens today.