George Harris

Background

George Harris was born on April 1, 1844, in East Machias, Maine, United States, the son of George and Mary A. (Palmer) Harris, and the nephew of Samuel Harris.

Education

George graduated from Amherst College in 1866, and from Andover Theological Seminary in 1869.

Career

George Harris was minister of the High Street Congregational Church, Auburn, Maine, until 1872, and of the Central Congregational Church, Providence, Rhode Island, until 1883. As minister of the Central Congregational Church, Harris maintained its high standard of preaching and exerted large influence upon the community and denomination. The movement in the direction of modem thought which he represented was making itself felt in Andover Seminary, and about the time of his arrival, the faculty was largely reconstituted. There was resistance by a part of the denomination, by one of the governing boards of the Seminary, the Visitors, and, incidentally, on the part of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The professors established in 1884 a monthly periodical, the Andover Review. Several careful articles, notably those on “Christianity and its Modem Competitors” (November 1886-May 1887), with many unsigned editorials, were written by Harris. In two small volumes, Progressive Orthodoxy and The Divinity of Jesus Christ (1893) published by the professors, Harris probably had part.

In 1886, charges of heresy were preferred by certain individuals before the Board of Visitors against five professors, of whom Harris was one, but the complaint against Harris and three others was dismissed. In 1896 Harris published Moral Evolution, displaying the bent of his mind as somewhat more ethical and practical than strictly theological. This work was followed by Inequality and Progress (1897), inspired by his interest in social theory and endeavor. With characteristic common sense and humor, he spoke against the leveling tendency which social enthusiasts sometimes represented. The opportunity opened before the Seminary was not followed up. Students were choosing seminaries with university connection and urban advantages.

Harris accepted, in 1899, the presidency of Amherst College. After his retirement he published A Century’s Change in Religion (1914), in which, with charming deference and humor, he described the surroundings of his own youth. With equal tolerance and sometimes with a sense of wonder he surveyed the theological hostilities which beset his maturer years. He trusted the future of religion in the midst of changes which no one was more quick to recognize than he.

Achievements

• George Harris was famous as president of Amherst College, which position he held from 1899 to 1911. During his service the number of students increased; large additions to endowment were made; he displayed administrative ability and a gift for dealing with men; and he chose teachers with insight. He made courageous modifications of the curriculum and to the end had the united support of students, faculty and alumni.

Connections

Harris married Jane A. Viall of Providence in 1873.

Father:

George Harris

Mother:

Mary A. (Palmer) Harris

Spouse:

Jane A. (Viall) Harris

Uncle:

Samuel Harris