Virginia Harper

Virginia Harper (December 23, 1929 – September 3, 1997) was a civil rights activist known for her work against the rerouting of U.S. Highway 61 (US 61) through the Mexican-American and Black neighborhoods of Fort Madison, Iowa.

Early life and education Harper was born in Fort Madison, Iowa, a descendant of George Stevens, a freed slave who bought land nearby and was an area farmer. She was the oldest of five children of Lillie (Grinage) Harper, a science teacher, and Harry Harper Sr., a medical doctor who ran his own medical clinic. Black students were refused service at campus facilities such as the Iowa Memorial Union. Harper and four other women moved into Currier Hall on campus. Known as the Currier Five, their story is told on a campus mural installed in 2021. She completed her education at the College of Medical Technology in Minneapolis. She was employed as an x-ray technician and medical assistant at her father's medical clinic from 1952 until 1977.

Activism Harper's father was the longtime president of the local chapter of the NAACP. As a pre-teen she and her siblings would go to the movies, but would have to sit in the segregated areas in the balcony or at the back of the theater. She filed a legal complaint against the project, saying that it violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act since the majority of those who would be displaced were members of minority populations. She belonged to the Fort Madison Human Rights Commission and was president of the Library Board of Trustees in the 1970s and 1980s. She was on the steering committee of the Iowa Black Network which lobbied politicians and area leaders about issues facing the Black community and to work for better jobs and committee positions for Black Iowans.

In the late 90s just before her death she was writing letters to the editor and speaking to the city council about discrimination within the Fort Madison Police Department.

Death and legacy Harper died on September 3, 1997, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1992.