 Picture Courtesy of Garry Thompson
 Picture Courtesy of Garry Thompson
Between May 20-24, 1961, Dr. Harris opened this home to a group of 33 students from Nashville, Tennessee, who were challenging interstate bus segregation. Known as the Freedom Riders, the group upon arrival and harassed by rioters. In the days following the attack, martial law was declared and Harris’ home served as a haven for the Freedom Riders. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy, James Farmer, John Lewis, Diane Nash, and others met at the Harris House to develop plans and strategy for continuing were escorted by National Guard to the Greyhound Bus Station and continued their mission to Jackson, Mississippi. In March 1965, Dr. Harris assisted local black doctors on the grounds of St. Judes Hospital with medical care of the participants of the historic Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. In 1992, the house was listed to the Alabama Register of Historic Places as a contributing property of the Centennial Hill Historic District.
This house, originally constructed at the turn of the century, was the home of Dr. Richard H. Harris, Jr. (1918-1976), the grand son of John W. Jones, an Alabama State Senator during Reconstruction. Harris was a captain with the famed 99th Squadron Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. A registered pharmacist, he operated Dean Drug Store, Montgomery’s oldest black drug store, established by his father in 1907. The store was located at 147 Monroe Street in the historically black business district listed to the National Register of Historic Places before being demolished in the 1980’s. During the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dean Drug Store served as a command center where Dr. Harris played critical roles in communication and transportation. Wearing a headset, he simultaneously dispatcher vehicles while filling prescriptions. Dean Drug Store served as a secure meeting place during that turbulent time.
Alabama Historic Commission
South Jackson Street near Key Street Montgomery County Alabama
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Alabama 
