Curtis West Harris (July 1, 1924 – December 10, 2017) was an African-American minister, civil rights activist, and politician in Virginia. He moved to Hopewell, Virginia with his family in 1928 where he grew into manhood. Harris married Ruth Jones of Hopewell on February 20, 1946, and they had six children. His loving wife of 65 years, died on May 22, 2011 and his son, Kenneth, died on March 2, 2019. The "Harris Connection," as the family fondly calls itself, includes Harris' five children---Curtis Jr., Michael, Joanne, Karen, and Michelle as well as two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, 19 grandchildren, 28 great grandchildren, and six great-great grandchildren. Civil rights work Harris' civil rights work began in 1950 with his stint as president of the Hopewell chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1960, he was arrested and sentenced to 60 days in jail for his role in a sit-in staged at segregated Georges' Drugstore in Hopewell. Later that year, he initiated a protest against the city's segregated swimming pool that culminated in the closure of the pool. In 1966, Harris led a peaceful demonstration to dissuade the city from building a landfill in Rosedale, a Hopewell African American community; and was confronted by the Ku Klux Klan on the steps of city hall. Harris was arrested 13 times for civil disobedience during his years of involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and received death threats, as well as an effort to firebomb his home. In 1960, Harris helped to organize the Hopewell Improvement Association, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and was elected Vice President. He was named to the Board of Directors of the National SCLC in 1961 while Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was president. Also in 1961, Harris was cited for contempt by the Boatwright Committee of the Virginia General Assembly for not revealing the names of individuals associated with SCLC and not responding to the questions asked by the committee. On March 29, 1962, Dr. King along with more than 100 Virginia ministers and laymen accompanied Harris to his contempt trial (Boatwright Committee) in Hopewell. He worked with Dr. King on multiple civil rights initiatives, including the March on Washington in 1963 and the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965; and considered him one of his mentors in the Civil Rights Movement. Harris served as president of the