In 1971, Adele Harris was hired by the then St. Louis Cardinals as an assistant in the PR department. This made Harris the NFL’s first Black female front-office employee. 50 years later the team honored her memory by establishing the “Adele Harris Scholarship.”
Harris briefly left the Cardinals to pursue a degree in business management, returning in 1978 as a publicity assistant. Two years later, Harris became the Director of Community Relations. In this role she played a key part in the team’s move to Arizona in 1988.
Harris spent over two decades with the team in public and community relations roles. In 1990, she helped create Cardinals Charities. It was launched to help improve the lives and opportunities for children, women and minorities in Arizona.
In 2001 Harris retired from the Cardinals. Six years later, in 2007, she passed away at the age of 65.
But her time and efforts with the team were not forgotten and this scholarship is proof of that.
Per the Arizona Cardinals website: “The $10,000 ‘Adele Harris Scholarship’ will be awarded annually to assist a graduating high school student in the state of Arizona who is pursuing a career in sports.
It’s an honor benefitting someone who was first to and over the wall in a male dominated industry.
“This scholarship serves two main purposes,” said Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill. “It recognizes the valuable role that Adele played within our organization for more than a quarter of a century and also connects her to future generations who aspire to follow in her footsteps. We are grateful for the opportunity to do both of those things.”
You can read more about the scholarship here.
