CATAWBA POTTER GEORGIA HARRIS BORN
Georgia, born in Lancaster County, South Carolina, near the Catawba Indian Reservation, attended the Catawba School on the Reservation. She learned pottery at age 9 from her mother and grandmother, both skilled potters. Their pottery trade grew in importance when Georgia’s father passed in 1912. Over the course of her life, Harris worked to preserve the Catawba pottery tradition and is largely responsible for the revival of the pipe-making tradition. She introduced important shapes to the Catawba repertoire, such as the graceful snake pitcher, derived from the traditional “snake pot” effigy vessel, the long-necked pitcher, and the “wedding jug.” In 1952, a vessel by Georgia won 1st prize at the York County Fair. In 1979, Georgia exhibited and demonstrated at the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery. In 1997, Georgia was selected to receive the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts. Sadly, she passed on January 30, 1997, in Dallas, Georgia, before the fellowship could be awarded.
Sources: “Georgia Harris,” National Endowment for the Arts. Retrieved 1/13/2022, Georgia Harris | National Endowment for the Arts “Georgia Harris Photograph,” Catawba Indian Nation Archives. Retrieved 1/13/2022, Georgia Harris Photograph | Catawba Archives (wsu.edu) Wikipedia Photo: National Endowment for the Arts, undated. Public Domain.
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