Tim Pruitt of St. Augustine Church in North Little Rock was the master of ceremonies for the Martin Luther King Jr. Mass Jan. 19. (Malea Hargett photo)

Steven Sullivan serves as a lector for the annual Mass at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. (Malea Hargett photo)

Father Warren Harvey, the bishop’s liaison for the Diocesan Council for Black Catholic, delivers the Gospel. (Malea Hargett photo)

During the offertory Bishop Anthony B. Taylor sprinkles holy water on fruits and vegetables presented by the Nigerian community. (Malea Hargett photo)

The diocesan choir from St. Augustine Church in North Little Rock, St. Peter Church in Pine Bluff and St. Bartholomew Church in Little Rock lead the congregation in music. (Malea Hargett photo)

Junior Daughters of St. Peter Claver pray the Our Father during the MLK Mass Jan. 19. (Malea Hargett photo)

Tereze Harris was honored with the Daniel Rudd Award from the Diocesan Council of Black Catholics. Harris is shown in her home church, St. Mary in McGehee, in this 2013 file photo. She was unable to attend the Jan. 19 Martin Luther King Jr. Mass in Little Rock to receive the award in person. (Arkansas Catholic file photo by Dwain Hebda)

Tereze Harris honored with Daniel Rudd Award at MLK Mass

Scholarship foundations Harris launched have awarded 160 scholarships

Published: January 28, 2019

Malea Hargett

Deena Robinson of Jefferson accepts the Daniel Rudd Award in honor of her aunt Tereze Harris, a member of. St. Mary Church in McGehee, Jan. 19 during the annual Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Mass in Little Rock.

Malea Hargett

Tereze Harris, a member of St. Mary Church in McGehee, was honored with the Daniel Rudd Award from the Diocesan Council for Black Catholics during the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mass Jan. 19 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Harris, 84, was not able to attend but her niece Deena Robinson accepted the award in her name.

Born Frankye Harris, she was raised Baptist and converted to Catholicism and later joined St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith. She was the only black member in the convent at that time. She worked as a teacher at St. Boniface School in Fort Smith as well as in the Delta. She left the religious order in 1984, but remained active in her faith.

She launched the Tereze Harris Scholarship Foundation in 1985, followed in 1998 by the Andrew Gregory Memorial Scholarship Foundation. The two foundations have awarded more than 160 scholarships to graduating seniors in Desha and Chicot counties who demonstrate excellence in math.

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