Editor’s note: In honor of Black History Month, this is the second in a series of features highlighting the impact of individuals and organizations in the Upstate’s Black community. For more, visit greenvillejournal.com/black-history-month.
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Felsie Harris began each meeting of the Haynie-Sirrine Neighborhood Association with a prayer, asking God to make her neighborhood the best community in Greenville.
Haynie-Sirrine is known as one of the first Black communities in the city, established in the late 19th century. The neighborhood sits south of downtown Greenville, intersected by Church Street and bordered by University Ridge to the north and Augusta Street to the west.
The historic neighborhood has been Harris’s lifelong home since her birth in 1947. Harris grew up on Dixon Avenue with her parents, grandparents and five younger siblings. She attended Sullivan Street Elementary and graduated from Sterling High School in 1965.
Harris lived in Haynie-Sirrine during the neighborhood’s period of decline in the mid-20th century. Rising crime rates and substandard housing negatively impacted the neighborhood. Harris said her family was poor growing up, but she didn’t know it at the time.
“I thought we had everything we needed,” Harris said. “We had food. We had good times, had loving parents.”
After graduating from high school, Harris continued to live in Haynie-Sirrine as a wife and mother of five children. Her family moved a few times over the years but always returned to Haynie-Sirrine. In 1998, Harris was encouraged to join the neighborhood association by her neighbor, Lula Mae Lewis.
“She told me if I was going to move back, I needed to be part of making sure the community grew and progressed, more than just yard cleanups,” Harris said.
Felsie Harris becomes president of Haynie-Sirrine Neighborhood Association
Harris was elected president of the Haynie-Sirrine Neighborhood Association at the first meeting she attended. She has held this position for the past 28 years, serving as the leading voice for the community.
She helped improve Haynie-Sirrine by advocating for new affordable housing, creating a community garden and working with the Greenville Police Department to reduce crime. Harris has also strived to protect the neighborhood as development and growth pressures have continued to alter the community.
Harris said that for many years she worked alone as the neighborhood’s sole advocate. She also received pushback from some of her neighbors who were wary of change in Haynie-Sirrine.
“It didn’t stop me, and it helps when you are nice to people,” Harris said. “You know the old saying, ‘You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.’”
Harris believes there’s still more work to do for Haynie-Sirrine, such as building more affordable housing in the neighborhood. In recent years, Harris was involved in creating a new master plan for Haynie-Sirrine, which informed the neighborhood’s recent rezoning. Both the master plan and new zoning offer more protections for the neighborhood and will help guide future development.
In 2023, the city of Greenville honored Harris for her years of service to Haynie-Sirrine by dedicating a street in her name within the neighborhood. Harris said she was overwhelmed to receive the recognition.
“I’m always going to be remembered in Haynie-Sirrine,” Harris said.
Community involvement
Felsie Harris has served as the president of the Haynie-Sirrine Neighborhood Association since 1998. She also served as the chairman of the Greenville Housing Authority.
Childhood memories
Felsie Harris grew up at 11 Dixon Ave. in the Haynie-Sirrine neighborhood. As a child, she enjoyed playing outside with her siblings and other little girls in her neighborhood.
“We played playhouse in the neighborhood at a big old oak tree across the street from where we lived,” Harris said.
Family tree
Felsie Harris is the oldest child of Artis Hardaman Jr. and Hazel Mae Singleton Hardaman. She has two brothers and three sisters. Harris married her second and current husband, Lark Harris, in 1982. She has five children.
