Content area
Full Text
Colleagues called her "Little Bit" when she began her nursing career at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama caring for Dr. George Washington Carver. Today many call her a "Living Legend." What path led this determined woman from standing on a stool to see over the counter and serve customers at her father's store in Phoenix City (South Gerard), Alabama to advising United States presidents and shaping health care policy around the world?
At an early age, she set as her goals to insist that each patient receive the best care available and to be a leader in the field of nursing. Dr. Harper has never wavered from those goals. Within minutes of meeting her, one becomes aware of Dr. Harper's interest and compassion for each human being. She values for the unique things individuals bring to the world, but will constantly push them to achieve more than they thought possible. She readily includes others in the abundant love of all those she broadly includes in her family. At the age of 81 she continues the fight for quality through policy development and teaching younger health care professionals. Dr. Harper consistently emphasizes that there are many more miles on her chosen path and much yet to be done to assure quality services are available for all those in need, especially older adults and individuals who are mentally ill.
After more than 50 years working for the Federal government around the country, she now lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Her new home is only a few miles from the 126-bed geriatric psychiatry hospital that the State of Alabama named in her honor. This energetic woman still commutes to Washington regularly and travels throughout the country to advocate for improved health care for America's older citizens- Whether sitting in her kitchen surrounded by her life's treasures or tending to her lush garden, Dr. Harper enthusiastically discusses current and future projects. Only when specifically asked will she discuss her past accomplishments and the struggles she, the grandchild of a slave, encountered to help bring diversity to health services in this country. Dr. Harper prioritizes her family as the first commitment in her life, followed closely by her profession. Following the death of her husband, her only child, and her sissister,...