Harrison, Marcia R., 1918-2001

Marcia R. Harrison was born April 6, 1918 in Rochester, NY. She graduated from Vassar in 1938. From 1939-1941, she worked as cataloger at Library of Congress. From 1941-Aug 1944, Harrison worked as an economist in the Office of Price Administration. Then, from 1944 - 1945, Harrison worked as an economist or foreign economic analyst at the Foreign Economic Administration. Later she worked as an economist for the U.S. State Department (1945–1951). On April 1951, Marcia was suspended from government service for loyalty reasons. On August 1951, Harrison was publicly named by Senator Joseph McCarthy in his list of 26 State Dept employees who were thought to be communists. By 1952, Harrison was deemed a security risk by the State Department’s Loyalty Board and was terminated from her position as of Dec. 31. Harrison then attended Harvard Law School (1952–1955) as part of the third class in which women were permitted to enroll; she was one of 13 women in a class of 520 upon entrance. Marcia obtained an LL.B. in 1955 from HLS, rank 107/444, and average B. On March 1956, Harrison was admitted to the NY bar. During the years 1955–1962, she worked at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York as an attorney. From 1962-1968, Harrison worked in the Department of Interior, Office of Territories, as an economist. She served as an attorney-advisor during the years 1968 - 1983 for the Department of Health and Human services, Office of General Counsel. In May 1983, Harrison was discharged for unacceptable performance from the Health, Education, and Welfare Department. Harrison sued the department for age discrimination, but was unsuccessful (1984–1987). Marcia Harrison died on December 4, 2001.