Former senator, UNM prof remembered as advocate for Native rights, liberal causes

Nov. 23—Fred Harris, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma who later moved to New Mexico and became a professor at the University of New Mexico, died on Saturday at age 94.

Born in 1930, Harris was a Democrat who was elected in 1964 to finish the term of Sen. Robert Kerr, who had died. He was elected to a full term in 1966 and served through 1972, when he didn’t run for reelection. He served in the Oklahoma state Senate before that, from 1956 to 1964.

A liberal from a state that was trending conservative in that era, Harris was a strong supporter of the civil rights legislation pushed by President Lyndon Johnson and of Johnson’s Great Society programs — Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, aid for housing and education and more — that were also passed during that time. He was also a noted opponent of the Vietnam War.

“Throughout his long, distinguished career, Senator Fred Harris was guided by a strong moral compass,” state House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said in a statement Saturday. “In the United States Senate, he was a fearless champion of civil rights, tribal sovereignty, and working people. Later, as a political science professor at the University of New Mexico and a prolific author, he continued to push for fairness, human rights, and equality.”

While Harris would later move to Corrales and become a political science professor at UNM, he did some good for the state even before that. As a “passionate champion of Native American rights,” as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham put it, Harris sponsored a bill signed into law by President Richard Nixon to return Blue Lake, a sacred site to the people of Taos Pueblo, to them. President Theodore Roosevelt had seized it in the early 20th century as part of the Carson National Forest.

“Later, though his work in academia, Sen. Harris shaped the lives of countless University of New Mexico students who learned firsthand from a political legend about the importance of democracy, good governance, and civil political discourse,” the governor said. “The Fred Harris Congressional Internship program provided UNM students with opportunities to work on Capitol Hill and learn about the inner workings of Congress and the federal government.”

New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján said Harris’ “life and career in public service was dedicated to lifting others up and working toward the greater good. He fought tirelessly for civil rights, working families, and Native communities.

“I am sending my love and prayers to Marg, Senator Harris’ children, and to all who had the privilege of knowing one of the last great statesmen,” Luján said.

Other career highlights include chairing the Democratic National Committee in 1969 and 1970 and running for president in 1972 and again in 1976 on an economic populist platform. He also wrote 23 books, including three novels, according to Lujan Grisham. His last, Report from a Last Survivor, came out in September. Published by the University of New Mexico Press, it was so named because he was the last surviving member of the 1964 class of freshman back-bench senators and of the Kerner Commission that Johnson created to investigate the cause of the many riots in 1967.

In a statement Saturday, U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury hailed Harris’ advocacy for Native Americans and civil rights and his support for the Great Society.

“As a dear friend, colleague, and hero, he will be deeply missed and leave a hole in our community that can never be replaced,” she said. “His legacy will live on in all of the young people that he inspired and mentored on their way to becoming leaders in the ongoing fight for justice.”

Martínez said Harris “became deeply involved in New Mexico politics, supporting many more champions of Democratic values to run for elected office themselves,” Martínez said. “He leaves behind a lasting legacy of service above self. My heart goes out to his entire family, and all who knew and loved Fred.”

He said Harris will be “sorely missed at Democratic Party functions and at the Barelas Athletic Club, of which he was a founding member.”

As well as for the books he wrote and the students he taught in his time as UNM, Harris will be remembered for establishing the Fred Harris Congressional Internship Program in 2006, giving students the chance to spend semester-long internships with New Mexico members of Congress.

“I cry with sadness and with gratitude for having known the great man that was Fred Harris,” U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández posted on X, formerly Twitter, Saturday afternoon. “His legacy will be felt in the laughter and radical optimism he left us.”

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