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.
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