Wofford, Harris, 1926-2019

<p>Harris Llewellyn Wofford Jr. (April 9, 1926 – January 21, 2019) was an American attorney, civil rights activist, and Democratic Party politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate from 1991 to 1995. A noted advocate of national service and volunteering, Wofford was also the fifth president of Bryn Mawr College from 1970 to 1978, served as chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party in 1986 and as Pennsylvania Secretary of Labor and Industry in the cabinet of Governor Robert P. Casey from 1987 to 1991, and was a surrogate for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. He introduced Obama in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center before Obama's speech on race in America, "A More Perfect Union".</p>

<p>Wofford was born in 1926 in Manhattan, New York City, the son of Estelle Allison (née Gardner) and Harris Llewellyn Wofford. He was born to a wealthy and prominent Southern family.</p>

<p>At age 11 he accompanied his widowed grandmother on a six-month world tour. They spent Christmas Eve in Bethlehem, visited Shanghai shortly after the Imperial Japanese Army captured it, spent time in India where Wofford became "fascinated" by Mahatma Gandhi and visited Rome, where they saw Benito Mussolini announce Italy's withdrawal from the League of Nations and a subsequent fascist parade. While attending Scarsdale High School, he was inspired by Clarence Streit's plea for a world government to found the Student Federalists. By the time he was 18, the organization had grown so large that Newsweek predicted he would become President.</p>

<p>He served in the United States Army Air Forces during the Second World War and was a 1948 graduate of the University of Chicago. After eight months on a fellowship in India, conducting a study of the recently assassinated Gandhi, he and his wife Clare returned to America. He subsequently enrolled at historically black Howard Law School, the first white male student to do so. After one year, he concluded his studies at Yale Law School, where he received his law degree in June 1954.[8] He began his public service career as a legal assistant for Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, serving from 1957 to 1959. In 1959, he became a law professor at University of Notre Dame. He was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the South in the 1950s, accompanying Indian activist Ram Manohar Lohia on a tour of the South in 1951 and becoming a friend and unofficial advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.</p>

<p>As a former United States Senator from Pennsylvania, chair of America's Promise, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and Special Assistant to President John F. Kennedy, Harris Wofford dedicated much of his career and personal life to advocating for public service.</p>

<p>Born in New York City on April 9, 1926, Harris Llewellyn Wofford grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee and Scarsdale, New York. From 1944 to 1945 he served in the United States Air Force, and then attended the University of Chicago where he received his A.B. degree in 1948. In 1949 he and his late wife, Clare, traveled to India on a fellowship before moving to Israel in 1950 to work and study for a year. He studied law at both Yale University and Howard University and was awarded an LL.B. degree from each institution. He served as Special Assistant to Chester Bowles from 1953 to 1954. From 1954 to 1958 he practiced law in Washington, D.C. before teaching as an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School.</p>

<p>Wofford played a key role in the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and later served as trustee to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violet Social Change. Under President Eisenhower, he was counsel to the Reverend Theodore Hesburgh of the University of Notre Dame on the first United States Commission on Civil Rights. During the John F. Kennedy administration, he was a Special Assistant to the President and chaired the subcabinet group on civil rights. While on the White House staff, Wofford helped Sargent Shriver plan and organize the Peace Corps; in 1962, he became the Peace Corps’ Special Representative to Africa and director of its large Ethiopia program. He later earned the role of Peace Corps Associate Director under President Lyndon B. Johnson.</p>

<p><b>RACES</b>
<ul>
<li> 11/08/1994 PA US Senate Lost 46.92% (-2.48%)</li>
<li> 05/10/1994 PA US Senate- D Primary Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
<li> 07/16/1992 US Vice President - D Convention Lost 0.00% (-100.00%)</li>
<li> 11/05/1991 PA US Senate Special Won 55.01% (+10.01%)</li>
<li> 05/08/1991 PA US Senate Appointment Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>
</p>

WOFFORD, Harris, a Senator from Pennsylvania; born in New York City, April 9, 1926; graduated from University of Chicago, 1948; graduated from Yale and Howard University Law Schools, 1954; admitted to the District of Columbia bar in 1954 and commenced the practice of law; legal assistant, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 1954-1958; associate professor of law, Notre Dame Law School 1959-1960; coordinator of civil rights section of John F. Kennedy's 1960 presidential campaign; special assistant to President Kennedy and chairman of the Subcabinet Group on Civil Rights 1960-1962; assisted in the formation of the Peace Corps, serving as special representative to Africa and subsequently as associate director 1962-1966; president of the College at Old Westbury (State University of New York) 1966-1970, and Bryn Mawr College 1970-1978; practiced law in Philadelphia 1980-1986; chairman, Pennsylvania State Democratic Party 1986; Pennsylvania secretary of labor and industry 1987-1991; appointed on May 8, 1991, to the United States Senate as a Democrat to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry John Heinz, III; elected in a special election to the remainder of the term on November 5, 1991, and served from May 8, 1991, to January 3, 1995; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1994; CEO, Corporation for National Service (Americorps), 1995-2001; chairman and then co-chairman of America's Promise: The Alliance for Youth 2001-2004; was a resident of Washington, D.C., until his death on January 21, 2019.