The family of one of Leflore County’s greatest athletes wants her alma mater to recognize her legacy on its campus.
So far, however, the effort has not been able to make any progress.
Lusia “Lucy” Harris, a native of Minter City and a graduate of Amanda Elzy High School, became arguably the most famous athlete to come out of Delta State University.
In her four years playing basketball at DSU, she led the team as its only Black player to three national championships and was named the most valuable player each time.
At the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, she earned a silver medal with the U.S. women’s basketball team. She was the first woman ever drafted to play for an NBA team, the New Orleans Jazz, though she declined to try out for the team. She is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.She would spend the rest of her life as a coach and educator, including stints at Amanda Elzy and Greenwood high schools.
Harris, who later married and was named Lusia Harris-Stewart, died in January, but her story was popularized through “The Queen of Basketball,” a short documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot that won an Academy Award. Harris-Stewart narrated the film and talked about not only her basketball career but her struggles with mental health.
Relatives and others have proposed renaming the Delta State coliseum where she played — currently named Walter Sillers Coliseum — after her.
Despite her numerous accomplishments, even her family hadn’t realized how good a player she was.
“She was so modest,” said Eddie Stewart, her eldest child, who now lives in Houston. “She was so easygoing. She was just real humble about her accomplishments. We just didn’t know.”
Eddie Stewart was an athlete in high school and college, as were his sisters, Crystal and Christina, and his brother, Christopher. He said they were all inspired by their mother but were never pushed into becoming athletes.
“Just a very heartfelt, loving person,” he said of his mother. “She really loved her family. She sacrificed so much for us in so many different ways. We’re still finding out ways that she sacrificed for us with so many different things.”
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In filming “The Queen of Basketball,” Ben Proudfoot spent a lot of time going through Delta State’s archival footage and touring its campus. He and Harris-Stewart’s children got to see footage from her playing days.
“We were just astonished and amazed to be able to see what she did on the court and what she contributed to the university,” said Eddie Stewart.
Proudfoot, who hails from Canada, was struck by the lack of Lusia Harris memorials on campus.
“There was a disparity between how important I perceived Lucy to be in the history of sports and the history of Delta State and how present her image and name was on campus,” he said. “It didn’t make a lot of sense to me.”
By contrast, a statue of Margaret Wade, who was Harris’ coach during those championship seasons, stands in front of Walter Sillers Coliseum on Delta State’s campus.
Stewart said it stood out to him and his siblings as well, especially when Harris received an honorary doctorate from the university. “We were like, ‘Wow, there’s not much available as far as history or a statue or some memorial that would honor her,’” he said.
Proudfoot said that while getting to know the family, he learned that there had been an effort for years to have something on campus honoring Harris.
“The family said there had been discussions for many years about that very issue, but it never had really resulted in any action,” Proudfoot said, “and that their interest and desire was to name the coliseum in her name because she made that place famous. She put Delta State on the map. She put Cleveland on the map, and that seemed like the rightful place.”
He said that these efforts got nowhere with the university and the family’s desire to have something done was amplified after Harris-Stewart’s death.
Proudfoot said he was asked to take the organizational charge on doing something more. Having lost his father more than two years ago, he said he related to what Harris-Stewart’s family was experiencing.
“You’re in this weird situation after you lose a parent where you are fiercely wanting to make sure that their legacy is in place where it ought to be,” he said, “and you’re also grieving, and you may not have the time or energy to pursue all of these things right now.”
After conversations, the idea was posed to write a letter and create an online petition, which is found at friendsoflucyharris.com. The letter states it will “lay out the rationale for renaming the Coliseum on Delta State’s campus from the Walter Sillers Coliseum to the Lusia Harris Coliseum.”
Addressed to President William LaForge and the members of the Delta State executive committee, the letter states that Harris considered going to Alcorn State University “but decided to come to Delta State instead because they were progressive enough to have a women’s basketball team.”
According to DSU policy, the renaming of a building may be considered to honor an individual “for service or recognition brought to the university.” The university president, the executive council and the president’s cabinet must approve name changes.
Proudfoot said the petition has received more than 1,000 signatures. Signatories include DSU students, alumni, Cleveland Mayor Billy Nowell and former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. However, no progress has been made in convincing the administration, Proudfoot said.
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Walter Sillers Coliseum is located at 1006 Coliseum Drive in Cleveland.
Walter Sillers Jr., a native of Rosedale, was the longest-tenured speaker in the history of the Mississippi House of Representatives and served in that body for 50 years.
Benjamin O. Sperry, writing for Mississippi History Now in 2010, said Sillers was “Delta State’s key patron and longtime protector in the legislature.” Delta State’s website credits Sillers with sponsoring the legislation that founded the university, then known as Delta State College, in 1924, as well as being responsible for the institution being located in Cleveland.
However, in his book “Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites and Monuments Get Wrong,” James W. Loewen called Sillers one of the most racist politicians in Mississippi history. Sillers was a member of the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission, an organization that spied on civil rights workers and funneled money to pro-segregation causes, according to Sarah Rowe-Sims, who wrote about the organization for Mississippi History Now in 2002.
In an attempt to stall the integration of Delta State, Sillers helped develop Mississippi Vocational College to redirect the expected number of Black applicants to that school, Sperry wrote.
The college is now known as Mississippi Valley State University and also has a building named for Sillers on its campus.
Sillers proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow for the closure of schools to preserve segregation, Sperry wrote.
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In response to a query on the status of the petition, Brittany Davis, Delta State’s communications director, said that LaForge has been in contact with Harris-Stewart’s family and there is something in the works but that she could not comment on specific details.
Proudfoot said he and the family have not given up, calling Harris-Stewart “an inspiring figure” who “captured the imagination of the United States.”
“And yet, you could attend Delta State and not hear her name,” he said. “Walk through the campus and not see her name or her face. We just think that she’s a fantastic icon of the region. She’s a fantastic icon of the university. Delta State is the most diverse campus in Mississippi. She is just an emblem of the power of the Delta. I think it would be a great asset to the university to really not only commemorate her but to tell her story in a way that honors her dignity and legacy in a rightful way.”
Eddie Stewart said that renaming the coliseum in his mother’s memory will provide an opportunity for her legacy to be more well-known.
“Being a great athlete. Being a great educator. Being someone that had a great story,” he said. “A story that came from a family that didn’t have much to someone that rose above that and planted the seed for the next generation just to carry on and make that legacy more noticeable and greater.”
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
