Harper-Eichacker Family Named UI Family Spirit Award Recipients

Submitted photo Front row, from left: Julie Flack Eichacker, Lois Harper Eichacker, George Eichacker, and Kenton Eichacker. Back row: Milton Eichacker, Lois Eichacker Jr., and Virginia Eichacker.

Virginia Harper played an instrumental role in advancing social change during Iowa’s civil rights movement.

Years after she refused to sit in the segregated section of the Fort Madison, Iowa, movie theater at 11 years old, Harper incurred harsh discrimination while she and four other young Black women integrated the University of Iowa’s residence halls in 1946. There were only 20 Black women enrolled at Iowa that year, and Harper was one of five who lived on campus in Currier Hall.

Photo courtesy of 1947 UI Yearbook Pictured are the five African American women who integrated Currier Hall in 1946. From left: Leanne Howard, Esther Walls, Nancy Henry, Gwen Davis, guest Pat Smith, and Virginia Harper.

“We knew that we got extra attention because we were Black,” said Harper, in a 1992 Daily Iowan interview recalling her time as part of what is now known as the Currier Five. These experiences propelled her into a lengthy career fighting racial injustice and prejudice with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

She wasn’t alone.

Many individuals in the Harper-Eichacker Family dedicated their lives to ensure equity and justice for all Iowans, and their efforts are one reason why they have been named the 2024 University of Iowa Family Spirit Award recipients.

“It’s an incredible honor for our family,” says Lois Eichacker Jr. (85BBA), a fifth-generation Iowan and Harper’s niece. “The university and the state have meant so much to so many. We’re filled with such gratitude and appreciation.”

First awarded in 2018, the Family Spirit Award recognizes a family—spanning at least three generations of UI graduates—that has substantially benefited from and continues to advocate for the university, as well as contributes toward bettering the state of Iowa and its communities. The Eichacker-Harper Family will be honored at the Iowa football game on Sept. 14.

Submitted photo Lillie Grinage Harper and Harry Dandridge Harper

An Iowa History Spanning Nearly 160 Years

The family’s Iowa story begins in 1866 when Rufus and Matilda Dandridge left the Kentucky and Tennessee cotton and tobacco plantations, where they had been enslaved, and migrated to Keokuk, Iowa.

By the late 1910s, two of the Dandridges’ grandchildren—Naomi Harper Jordan (1922BA) and Harry Dandridge Harper—were the first in their family to go to college and studied at Iowa. Serving as a doctor for more than 50 years in Fort Madison, Harry—who was a classmate and friend of Iowa football icon Duke Slater (28LLB)—played a central role in shaping Iowa’s civil rights movement as president of the Fort Madison NAACP and chair of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

“He was a civil rights pioneer in Iowa,” says Milton Eichacker (85BGS, 89JD), Harry’s grandson. “He instilled in all of us the belief that everyone—regardless of race—deserves respect, and that advocating for racial justice is essential. He did so much for Fort Madison and the state of Iowa.”

Harry and wife Lillie Grinage Harper had five children. Three of them studied at Iowa—Virginia Harper, Harry Harper Jr. (65R), and Lois Harper Eichacker.

Lois Harper Eichacker—whose husband, George Eichacker (51BA, 52MA), and brother-in-law, Otto Eichacker (50BSC), were Iowa graduates—extended the family’s legacy of advocating for Iowans. She led the Southeast Iowa Community Action Organization and served on various committees and organizations at the local and state level—all in an effort to advance public policies to support disadvantaged individuals.

Lois Harper Eichacker also wrote about the family’s experiences in a chapter of Invisible Hawkeyes—a book that examines influential African Americans at Iowa during the Civil Rights era. She also was the first African American president of the UI Alumni Association’s Board of Directors, an organization that has since merged with the UI Foundation to become the UI Center for Advancement.

Her decades of volunteerism were honored in 1999 with a University of Iowa Distinguished Alumni Award for Service. Her three children—Milton, Lois Jr., and Virginia Eichacker (87BS, 92JD)—are now charting their own paths.

Submitted photo From left: Virginia Eichacker, George Eichacker, Lois Harper Eichacker, Milton Eichacker, and Lois Eichacker Jr.

Fifth-Generation Iowans Blazing Their Own Trails

Growing up on a farm outside of Fort Madison was an idyllic experience for the family. They made frequent trips to Iowa City to cheer on the Iowa football team.

“My first was Oct. 16, 1965, against Minnesota,” says Milton, who calls Gilbert, Arizona, home. “Our mother saved the programs and wrote our names and ages on them. I was four years old. Fall Iowa football games were some of our first recollections.”

While Iowa City is where Milton met wife Julie Flack Eichacker (86BBA), it’s also where he discovered his professional interests.

“I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my grandfather and various aunts and uncles—all who were doctors. I took Introduction to Business Law, and it was a better fit,” says Milton, a successful lawyer who now works in school assessments with Pearson. “Iowa played an important part in my life and career.”

Milton and Julie stay connected to their alma mater and now support numerous areas at the UI College of Law—including diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in a continuing effort to assist others in obtaining a top-tier legal education.

Much like her brother, Virginia gravitated toward a legal career. Her coursework—as well as volunteering with the student legal services—prepared her to work now as head of the Clark County Special Public Defender’s Office in Las Vegas.

“Iowa taught me the importance of a good education,” says Virginia. “It also taught me the importance of giving back to the community—using what I have learned and paying it forward.”

“When we were kids, Iowa City was a central gathering place for us to meet and get to know so many successful Black professionals and role models.” —Lois Eichacker Jr.

Virginia has supported the University of Iowa Libraries and the Iowa Women’s Archives, and she volunteers on the Libraries Advancement Council.

“The libraries are so important to students while they’re at Iowa, and it takes a lot of resources to provide all the services at such a high level,” says Virginia. “It’s also so important to have a place that provides access to historical documents and information—such as my grandfather’s, aunt’s, and mother’s papers—so that others can learn about the history of great Iowans.”

Lois Jr. has remained connected to Iowa since graduation, as well, by serving on the UI Henry B. Tippie College of Business Advisory Board and the UI Center for Advancement Board of Directors. She feels compelled to be involved, in part, because of her roots.

“After five generations, we no longer have any immediate family in Iowa,” says Lois Jr., who lives in Chicago and is a vice president for a software and data company. “Maintaining the connection to the state is important since we all grew up there. It was such a transformative time in all our lives.”

She’s proud to support the Tippie Gateway Program, which provides opportunities for students—including those from underrepresented backgrounds or who would be the first in their family to attend college—to learn about the business school and gain the confidence needed to succeed in a collegiate academic environment.

“When we were kids, Iowa City was a central gathering place for us to meet and get to know so many successful Black professionals and role models, and those experiences really tie into why I support the Tippie Gateway Program,” says Lois Jr. “So many individuals do not have role models or mentors in their lives, and the Tippie Gateway Program really helps put these young students on a completely different trajectory.”

While many members of the Harper-Eichacker Family are now succeeding beyond the Hawkeye state, they know that prior generations would be grateful to know their legacies continue to live on through tributes like the UI Family Spirit Award.

“This award is such an honor for the entire family, and I know that there are a lot of Hawkeyes above smiling down on us right now,” says Virginia.