Joseph P. Harris
Joseph P. Harris, 1896-1985
A Personal Profile by Eugene C. Lee
Until the day of his retirement from the classroom Joseph Harris was a dedicated teacher. As is true of his life, his courses bridged the world of politics and administration. Drawing on a wealth of scholarship and experience, his undergraduate lectures and graduate seminars similarly bridged theory and practice. Students were urged — indeed required — to go into the field to interview and to observe, but only after they had mastered the relevant literature.
Joseph Harris himself was as much at home in city hall, the state capitol, and Washington, as in the research library and the classroom. He imparted this zeal for experience, and the empirical evidence drawn from experience, to his students. Equally important, he and his gracious wife Polly befriended scores of graduate students — hundreds and thousands of miles away from their own homes, offering them the warmth of their frequent hospitality at the Harris residence, then on Terrace Walk in North Berkeley.
As a teacher, Joseph Harris drew from his own experience with such great figures as Charles Merriam and Leonard White, and acknowledged his debt to them. Having benefited from wise and friendly professors when he was a student, he demonstrated the same attributes when he became a professor.
As a scholar, what best distinguished Joseph Harris' writing was its range. In a time of increased specialization, it is almost breathtaking to recall that his work covers political parties, public administration at local, state, and national levels, the electoral process, comparisons with the parliamentary system, and a host of other topics. His scope was worldwide, his standards rigorous. Free from dogma, his methodology was always experimental, his findings based on evidence, his conclusions carefully drawn. Again, as in the classroom, his work exhibited the marriage of scholarship and practice that marked his career. The wisdom of hands-on experience in the highest reaches of the national government enriched already valuable theoretical insights, presented with humility, humor, humaneness, and conviction. Joseph Harris' belief in young people and in education did not end with his retirement. Benefactions to the Universities of Kansas and Chicago, which played such a major role in his life, are examples. Closer to home, his generosity to the Institute of Governmental Studies demonstrated his commitment to the study and practice of democratic institutions. It is also typical of Professor Harris that he did not attempt to press his own priorities and views as to program. Instead, his gift is in support of research, public service, and educational programs " ... for the general purpose of promoting knowledge and understanding of government, politics, and various issues of public policy at local, state, and national levels ... [and in] post-secondary education."
No better standard for academic quality could exist than the life of Joseph Harris. His record of teaching, research, and public service serves as a goal of achievement to which students, faculty, and staff can aspire.
Harris Trust Awards
As a graduate student, Joseph P. Harris became interested in voting machines while he did research into voter registration and election administration. Harris' early ideas focused on the use of a punched paper roll, similar to that used on a player piano. More than three decades later, when computer technology had caught up with his ideas, they were perfected in the punch-card balloting machine, the "Votomatic," now used by millions of Americans. Harris obtained a number of patents for his inventions, and the skillful investment of the financial returns from the sale of the machine made possible his most generous gift to the University of California of some $2.7 million.
The resulting Joseph P. and Polly Harris Trust provides support for research, seminars, workshops and conferences, and graduate student assistance.
Related Links of Interest
"Original Votomatic on way to the Smithsonian" [Oakland Tribune, November 27, 2001]
Bancroft Library Regional Oral History Office interview of Joseph Harris [1980]: "Joseph P. Harris, Professor and Practitioner: Government, Election Reform, and the Votomatic"
December 2000 Berkeleyan article on Harris oral history interview
"The major contribution of the mechanical vitong machines was to take over the counting job, formerly conducted by the precinct elections officers, whom I had discovered, to my disapproval, were not only highly political in corrupt cities and areas, but also inefficient." -- Joseph Harris