Valley 101

In 1964, at the age of 51, Richard E. Harris became the first Black reporter at The Arizona Republic.  His tenure came during a momentous and tumultuous period in our nation’s history. The year before, thousands were arrested while protesting segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. Among them was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who would deliver his famed “I Have A Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that same year.  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. The following year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Phoenix was segregated at the time. Years of redlining and restrictive covenants had left their mark on the city. Harris was assigned to cover poverty in the city, telling the story of some of its most vulnerable citizens.  Later in life, Harris wrote that he “detested some of the paper’s ultra-conservative editorials and stories slanted in favor of the Establishment.” Still, he was proud of his tenure there and what he accomplished. In his 2004 autobi