Born in Mississippi, Bobby Harrison (1941-2006) came to Erie in 1964. After working at General Electric and GECAC for several years, in 1968 Harrison became the founding executive director of the John F. Kennedy Center. He moved the organization from a staff of two in an old storefront to an organization of twenty employees, a $1 million budget, and reach that extended throughout Erie’s east side and beyond. Harrison’s legacy includes a wide array of after-school programs, music and arts initiatives, computer literacy and sports programming, and sponsorship of programs to celebrate African American History. Bobby Harrison Field on Buffalo Road is named in his honor.