"Juanita Harrison" (December 28,1891-?)

World traveler and writer,was born in Mississippi.Little is known of her early childhood except that her formal education ended at age ten.Like many African American girls of her generation,Juanita found employment as a domestic in the homes of white families.At age sixteen she left the South,traveling as far north as Canada and even making her way deeper south to Cuba,where she learned Spanish and French.Sometime during these years of work and travel, Juanita saw a magazine article depicting temple spires in a foreign land.That image fueled her lifelong desire to travel around the world.
While working in Denver,Colorado,she managed to save $800 toward fulfilling her dream.Unfortunately the bank holding her savings failed.She was left with just enough money to travel to California.Ther she secured a position with the family of George Dickinson,a real estate broker who invested Juanita's monthly salary.His efforts established for her an income of $200 a year.That income would enable her to make her dreams of world travel a reality.On June 25,1927 Juanita boarded the SS Sierra Vebtana in New York with two suitcases. The largest held two blue dresses, rwo white dresses,and appropriate accessories for working as a domestic overseas.A smaller suitcase held, among other things, two jars of sour cucumber pickles to ward off seasickness.She was thirty-seven years old.Juanita chose a momentous decade in which to begin her journey.For African Americans it was a time of cultural awakening, of the New Negro.Many people migrated from the South to northern communities like Harlem in New York City.With church support,academic scholarships,and in some cases independent wealthy,African Americans were also traveling overseas to explore life in other countries. Juanita stands apart from most other African American travelers of the period for traveling without a sponsor, without significant financing,and without a planned itinerary.