Dr. Harriet King Vivion
(Posthumous recognition and induction)
Harriet King Vivion was born and reared in Austin, Texas. She attended the Peabody Demonstration School and Vanderbilt University, where she earned her undergraduate degree. She earned her master’s degree from Wayne State University (Detroit, MI). Later in life, she returned to Vanderbilt and earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree in education.
Harriet loved teaching and taught special education at Granbery Elementary School for many years, turning down numerous opportunities to work with the Metro Davidson County school administration.
In addition to a lifetime love of learning, Harriet loved people. She was an active member of Calvary United Methodist Church (Nashville, TN) and learned about Africa University’s transforming ministry through her good friends, Tom and Charlotte McAnally.
When asked what advice she would give to a young person just starting out in life, Harriet replied: “I would advise him or her that what is worthwhile in life is not found in things, but rather in the relationships [we build] with God and other people; and how important it is to do all that it takes to give to those relationships all the care and attention which discipline and love require.”
Harriet’s favorite poem:
Are All the Children In?
I think oft times as night draws nigh
Of the old farmhouse on the hill,
Of a yard all wide and blossom-starred
Where the children played at will.
And when the night at last came down
Hushing the merry din,
Mother would look around and ask,
“Are all the children in?”
Tis many and many a year since then,
And the house on the hill
No longer echoes to children's feet
And the yard is still, so still.
But I see it all, the shadows creep,
And though many years have been
Since then, I can hear mother ask,
“Are all the children in?”
I wonder if when the shadows fall
On the last short, earthly day,
When we say good-by to the world outside
All tired with our childish play,
When we step out into that other land
Where mother so long has been,
Will we hear her ask, just as of old,
“Are all the children in?”