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FOCUS ON PHILANTHROPY
Estate of Rubie Monroe Harris
In October 2015 The Collection lost a friend and longtime member with the passing of Rubie Monroe Harris.
The 83-year-old native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, had been living in the Gulf Coast region for decades—most recently in Metairie—and she was fiercely proud of her family tree’s connection to New Orleans. Harris was the great-granddaughter of John T. Monroe, mayor of New Orleans at the time of the Civil War, and she was a passionate champion of his.
As a final gesture toward her family’s legacy, Harris made a bequest to The Historic New Orleans Collection that will serve to continue THNOC’s work in the realm of Civil War history. Harris’s generous tribute gift will go toward the purchase of artifacts and other memorabilia related to the history of New Orleans and the Civil War, as well as related programs, displays, exhibitions, publications, and educational materials. “The Collection is deeply grateful to Rubie Harris for her dedication to New Orleans history, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to her friends and family for their loss,” said Jack Pruitt, director of development and community relations.
Versatility was a defining trait of Harris’s long life. Following an idyllic childhood Harris went from the delta region of Mississippi to New Orleans, where she studied to be a nurse anesthetist at Charity Hospital. After earning a bachelor of arts degree from Ottowa University, in Ottowa,
Kansas, Harris served in the United States Air Force. A voracious genealogist, Harris held memberships in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, the Order of the First Families of Mississippi, Friends of the Cabildo, and The Collection’s Williams Society.
“I love the family I was born into,” she said in a 2013 interview. “We are salt of the earth people, and I think they’d all be proud of me, because I’m proud of them.”
Harris was retired and living in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, when Hurricane Katrina made its approach across the Gulf of Mexico. She planned on riding out the storm, but was convinced to leave the day before the hurricane struck on August 29, 2005.
“I lost everything,” she said. “My house was a half-block from the beach. All I had left was a suitcase and a change of underwear and a radio.”
After staying in several places around Lafayette, Louisiana, she settled back in New Orleans and undertook a renewed interest in genealogy. Over the course of
her research, she learned that she was descended from the Munro clan of Scotland; her ancestor Daniel Munro fought in the Revolutionary War, and botl he and his son, Daniel Munro Jr., fought in the War of 1812. And, above all, she loved learning about her ancestor John T. Monroe, whom she credited with preventii scores of civilian deaths at the moment of the city’s occupation during the Civil War, “He is the reason the French Quarter is sti standing today,” she said. —MOLLY REID
THE WILLIAMS SOCIETY
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Because Rubie Harris included The Collection in her estate plan, she is recognized as a member of the Williams Society. Named for the founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection, Leila and Kemper Williams, the Williams Society honors those individuals who have thoughtfully included The Collection in their estate plans. Like the Williamses, members of the Society create a lasting legacy of helping documen and promote the unique history and culture of New Orleans and Louisiana for a local, national, and international audience. Members may elect to remain anonymous, though The Collection would be honored tc recognize benefactors. For additional information regarding the Williams Society and other planned-giving; opportunities, please contact Jack Pruitt at (504) 598-7173 or jackp@hnoc.org or visit www.hnoc.org /support/planned-giving.html. All inquiries are confidential and without obligation.
18 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly