The look on nine year-old Carter Blount’s face was pensive and inspired as he prepared to hear Dr. Bernard Harris give an account of being the first African-American to walk in space.
As a part of the PBS “HistoryMakers” series, which features living legends in the Black community, Harris told an audience March 16 at Howard University a story of triumph and dedication. The airdate for the program has not yet been announced.
Harris spoke of the influences which led a young man from Texas to becoming a history maker.
“I considered myself one of the earliest space cadets when I was young,” said Harris. “It’s always been apart of my life.”
Although it was a goal already set in his mind, his hope wasn’t something he shared with everyone. “At that time in the 1960’s, African-Americans weren’t going to space so rather than having people tell me I couldn’t do it, I kept it a secret,” said Harris.
Throughout his undergraduate experience at the University of Houston, Harris kept his aspirations a secret. He went on to finish his medical degree at Texas Tech University School of Medicine, but it was during his residency at the Mayo Clinic where he realized his lifelong dream.
“A rheumatologist at the clinic, Dr. Joseph Combs, told me of his experience with NASA as a doctor for astronauts and I knew that this was something I wanted to be apart of,” said Harris.
After years of waiting and research, Harris applied to the astronaut corps in 1987, but was not accepted. Harris returned to Texas to work as a clinical researcher for the Johnson Space Center. Over the next three years, he went from heading his own research lab with NASA to working in a special division with the Air Force.
In 1990, Harris was selected for a mission to space as part of an astronaut class of 23, selected out of 6,000 applicants. After two years of training he went to space for the first time. Harris then went on to do a second mission where he was a payload commander and walked in space.
After two missions, he retired to become a venture capitalist focused on telemedicine and the efforts to make technology more accessible.
He currently serves young people around the country, through summer camps put on by the Harris Foundation, his science, technology engineering and math, or STEM, non-profit that serves underrepresented youth.
He began 16 years ago with two camps and now has expanded to 25 at universities across the country. The two-week-long camps focus on middle school students who do not get the opportunity to actively participate in science programs.
A camp at Howard University serves students in Washington, D.C. and will expose students to rocket science this summer.
“This year’s camp is called “Going for the Launch” and it’s going to be hands-on where the kids can learn to shoot rockets,” said Dr. LaWanda Peace, Assistant Dean of the College of Engineering at Howard University.
Harris plans on introducing a virtual summer science program to his current camps, and also introducing college students to careers in health through summer programs as well.
“We have to go into these fields, we have no choice,” said Harris. “To remain competitive and get the country back on the right track, it’s not just disadvantaged youth that need to go into these field, but all kids.”
Photos from A Night with Bernard Harris (Courtesy Photos/Amy Billingsley):
 Julieanna Richardson, The HistoryMakers’ Founder/Executive Director; Toni Cook Bush, THM Board Chair; Dr. Bernard Harris, Honoree, entrepreneur, educator, former astronaut; Corey Dade, Journalist, NPR Correspondent; Judith Batty, General Counsel, ExxonMobil |
 Amy Billingsley, The HistoryMakers Mid Atlantic Coordinator; Dr. Aprille Ericcson, NASA; Honoree Bernard Harris, Dr. Harriett Jenkins, NASA administrator (Retired); Ayana Dawkins, NJ High School Senior. | |
|
| ||
 The HistoryMakers’ A Night with Bernard Harris |
 Thanks to ExxonMobil | |
|
| ||
 Michael Crutchfield, Afro, Howard University Senior Journalism Major |
