Gessner Harris

Lifelong Eustis resident Gessner Harris didn’t think of herself as a trailblazer when she walked into Eustis High School on a rainy day in September of 1965 with three classmates, the first Black students to integrate the all-white campus.  

She just wanted to learn.

“It’s a time that was very painful,” Gessner says, recalling a lonely year with students refusing to sit near or talk to her, teachers not wanting to teach them and anxious moments walking home. 

“I was just 12 years old and that was a lot to be put on what I feel is a child, but I believe from that, It has made me strong to the person I am today,” she adds, stating that the strength she and fellow classmates gained that year and throughout their lives attributed to their success. 

One of young men, Thomas McClary, went on to become a member of The Commodores, Ken Broomfield served as a Naval officer and Tyrone Ware became an architect for the state.

Her heart for service shows everywhere. She’s been a member of the Lake County Association of Educational Office Professionals (LCAEOP) and of the Silhouettes of Criterion, teaching teenage girls old-school basics—home, finances, etiquette, speaking, résumés, job and interview skills—before presenting them at a debutante ball that raises money for scholarships. She also spends time serving food to and calling bingo for the Eustis Golden Seniors, aiding the city with preparing gift boxes for troops overseas and working with veterans’ organizations alongside her husband of 54 years and in honor of her son—both veterans. 

Gessner also spoke up when the City of Eustis published a book on the history of its schools and failed to acknowledge the first black students who integrated Eustis High. 

Thanks to her persistence, the record was amended and today their names appear in “Through Schoolhouse Doors: A History of Lake County Schools.”

“I was given the proclamation from the city for working to correct history,” she says. 

Recognition has followed, but Harris stays humble and simply hopes she’s made a difference.

“One of my (white) classmates recently did a recap of that time period and apologized. The city’s Chamber of Commerce was touched, and from that I was the first black Grand Marshall for the GeorgeFest in Eustis, a full circle.”

And although Gessner didn’t set out to be extraordinary, her life, work and heart for uplifting and inspiring others to be the best they can be despite obstacles have made her exactly that. 

“I want to be remembered as a kind, giving person who worked to make the world better through service and compassion,” she says. “And if I can help someone along the way, then my life was not in vain.”