Dr. W.L. Harris

Dr. W.L. Harris. City of Fredericksburg, Virginia. , Dentist, entrepreneur, developer, community leader, and advocate., Dr. Harris's company, McGuire Inc., built more than 35 homes in Mayfield, a historically Black neighborhood in the city of Fredericksburg. Dr. Harris provided affordable housing for local African Americans unable to secure bank loans. In the 1940s, he purchased the property that previously housed the Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Institute, converting the building into apartments to house more than a dozen families., Born in Essex County, Virginia in 1889, Dr. Webster Lee Harris moved to Fredericksburg, where he practiced dentistry from 1918 until 1951. He built a traveling dental office and served people throughout the area. Dr. Harris opened the Hotel McGuire at 521 Princess Anne Street, which also housed the McGuire Hotel Dining Room and McGuire Beauty Shop., Dr. Harris was known for his leadership on the Fredericksburg Branch NAACP, the Walker-Grant School Parent-Teacher Association, and the City of Fredericksburg's Bi-Racial Commission. A lifelong member of Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site), he served on the church's board of trustees., The Mayfield Civic Association purchased this land in 1977. In honor of his committed service to the community, this site was dedicated as the Dr. W.L. Harris Playground in 1995., [Captions:] , Dr. Harris graduated from Virginia State University and Howard University's dental school. Photograph courtesy Dr. Marci Catlett., Dr. Harris (second row, far right) stands alongside other former Walker-Grant PTA presidents, including Dr. Phillip Wyatt (second row, second from left), with whom he served on many civic organizations., The Hotel McGuire was one of the largest Black hotels in Virginia and appeared in the Green Book. Photograph courtesy Willie Holmes.