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For years, Elijah Harris Jr. would be outside the Carrier Dome, the Landmark Theatre or Marshall Street greeting people with a smile and a serenade. Even on the coldest days, he would strum his guitar and sing.

Elijah, a Syracuse native, was killed in April while riding his bicycle in a double hit-and-run crash. In mourning his death, community members have also come together in reflecting on his life.

Many people remember his voice carrying over Marshall Street, as he would tell students, “You stay in school, get some college knowledge.” And now, his family is helping to fulfill this request by starting the Eli Harris Scholarship in his honor.

Beginning in fall 2021, the scholarship will support a part-time music student with $1,000 each fall for the next 10 years, said Lakisha Harris, Elijah’s daughter.

The Harris family is also planning a community event in April to honor his legacy. The free event will include music, food and a raffle for a portrait of Elijah and one of his guitars.

The scholarship, which will be awarded to part-time music students, is the Harris family’s way of memorializing their father and giving back to Syracuse University, which was like a second home to him, Lakisha said.

“He gave what he had inside of him, so he could teach everyone else how to love through music. He used music to communicate that,” Lakisha said. “They embraced my dad with open arms from day one.”

Elijah lived in Syracuse his whole life, Lakisha said, apart from the time he spent in the military when he was stationed in South Carolina. With a passion for music that dates back to his childhood, he grew up to pursue a career as a musician and played his guitar on the streets, eventually becoming well known by locals for his friendliness and love of storytelling, she added.

Syracuse Common Councilor and musician Jos Driscoll said Elijah would talk to people as they walked by, using lines like “‘Hey you, in the red dress.” He’d sing about what bars were having specials, what bands were playing and what was going on in the neighborhood.

Elijah Harris Jr. won the Founder’s Award at the 2019 Syracuse Music Area Awards. Courtesy of Lakisha Harris

“Yeah, he was a riot,” Driscoll said.

When Driscoll was 12, he would ride his bike down to Marshall Street, and Elijah was always on the corners. Driscoll liked to watch him play every day.

Driscoll and Elijah developed a friendship throughout the years. Elijah showed him guitar chords as well as tips and tricks he’d learned during his time playing music for the people of Syracuse. Driscoll ended up pursuing a career in music with Elijah’s guidance.

After Elijah’s death, Driscoll created a GoFundMe page for the Harris family that raised about $23,600.

“I saw the outpouring of love online for him, and my mind went there right away — that his family would have to pay for the funeral soon, and we should organize around this and make sure everyone’s chipping in while they’re showing love,” he said.

Everything Elijah did was based on love, said Lakisha, calling him a man of God.

Her fondest memory of him is when he visited her at work on her birthday. He came to the physician’s office where she worked and played her “Happy Birthday.”

Her father’s biggest accomplishment in music was winning the Founder’s Award at the 2019 Syracuse Area Music Awards. Lakisha still remembers how excited he was when he called and asked her to come with him to the awards.

“It was, for him, a piece of heaven,” she said. “It was like all his work had finally paid off and the world was acknowledging it.”

Lakisha wants the recipients of the Eli Harris Scholarship to know that her father had a very real passion for music and he had the ability to touch countless people with it, despite having had many obstacles in his life.

Out of all the qualities that made him so well-loved in the community, the quality that Lakisha admired most about him was his determination.

“Even in all the craziness he went through, he kept his spirit and kept a smile on his face,” she said. “The love he had and the passion he had for life was contagious.”

The Eli Harris scholarship will relieve a lot of financial burdens for part-time commuter students, according to Michael Frasciello, dean of University College. The most common expenses are daycare, travel and parking.

Part-time students regularly “stop out” for a semester if their finances will not permit them to cover additional expenses such as these. The scholarship, Frasciello said, will allow these students to persist and stay on track.

Although Frasciello did not know Elijah personally beyond seeing him perform, he said that Elijah always seemed to remember everyone. Every time he would see Elijah outside the university, Frasciello said he would give a knowing smile and nod.

Driscoll would often bring Elijah onstage with him during his own musical performances in venues such as The Westcott Theater and The Palace Theater. Although Elijah had a lot of challenges in his life, he spent every day just trying to make people smile and brighten their day with a melody, a joke and a laugh.

“He was a people person. He was someone who just had that open heart energy and was such a resource and treasure for the community,” Driscoll said. “It’s a life well lived.”

Published on September 9, 2020 at 10:52 pm