Harris, Jesse
(born: 1942 - died: 2012)Jesse Harris was from New Castle, KY, the son of Irvin and Mattie L. Scott Harris. Jesse was a civil rights activists and a community leader in both Henry County and in Louisville, KY. He belonged to a number of organizations. In 1974, he was named secretary-treasurer of the African American men's group in Henry County called People for Progress. Three years later, he was appointed by the Henry County Judge-Executive to open the county's first Youth Service Bureau for African American teens. For more than 35 years, Jesse Harris was an employee of Fischer's Packing Company, and during which time he was an organizer of UFCW (United Food & Commercial Workers International Union) Local 227. He also served as the state labor chair for the NAACP. He was a broadcaster at WLOU 1350 radio station in Louisville. Jesse Harris is most noted as the founder and president of Faces of Our Children Sickle Cell Foundation, and as the founder of the first and only Sickle Cell Choir. The foundation raises awareness and provides support and funding for the fight against sickle cell disease worldwide. For more see Dr. Jesse Harris in the Louisville Courier-Journal, 09/26/2012, obituaries section.
