A house RESOLUTION

 

TO COMMEND DR. JANET HARRISON MASON ON THE OCCASION OF HER NINETIETH BIRTHDAY, CELEBRATED JUNE 14, 2026, AND TO RECOGNIZE HER EXTRAORDINARY CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, THE ARTS, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND BEYOND.

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to honor Dr. Janet Harrison Mason, whose distinguished career as an educator, scholar, arts advocate, and community leader has enriched countless lives over more than three decades; and

 

Whereas, in 1974, Dr. Mason began her teaching career at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, where she transformed a single dance class into a thriving multicourse program that has grown into one of the nation's largest dance programs at a nonperforming arts high school; and

 

Whereas, after returning to her native Fairfield County in 1993, Dr. Mason taught at the University of South Carolina from 1993 to 2007 and served as a consultant to Fairfield County Schools, where she identified the absence of dance and performing arts instruction. She successfully established a dance program at Fairfield Central High School, helping secure the arts as a permanent component of the district's curriculum; and

 

Whereas, in recognition of her lasting impact on education, Dr. Mason was inducted into the Fairfield County School District Hall of Fame in 2015; and

 

Whereas, upon her return to South Carolina, Dr. Mason was selected as a scholar in the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Holmes Scholars Program and, while teaching at the University of South Carolina, earned her Doctor of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction in 1996. She was also the recipient of the University of South Carolina's First-Place Dissertation Research Award; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Mason's commitment to service extends beyond education through her memberships in Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; The Links, Incorporated, where she served as president of the Harbor Area Chapter in Long Beach, California; and the Harrison Family Reunion, one of the nation's largest and longest continuously meeting African American family reunions, for which she has been a dedicated leader and planning committee member for decades; and

 

Whereas, in 2004, Woodrow Wilson High School established the Janet Mason Dance Scholarship in her honor, providing annual support to promising dance students and reflecting the enduring influence of her educational legacy; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Mason is the author of My Soul Looks Back and Wonder, a memoir chronicling her journey from a segregated and impoverished childhood in Fairfield County to earning a doctoral degree and becoming a respected educator and leader; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Mason and her late husband, Cephus Harold Mason, devoted themselves to White Oak Baptist Church in Winnsboro, a historic congregation founded in the nineteenth century by her great-grandfather, Peter Harrison, and four other formerly enslaved African Americans. Dr. Mason served faithfully as church clerk for many years, while her husband served eighteen years as chairman of the trustee board; and

 

Whereas, Dr. Mason's lifelong dedication to education, the arts, faith, family, and community service exemplify the highest ideals of leadership and public service and has left an enduring legacy for future generations. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, commend Dr. Janet Harrison Mason on the occasion of her ninetieth birthday, celebrated June 14, 2026, and recognize her extraordinary contributions to education, the arts, and community service in South Carolina and beyond.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Janet Harrison Mason.

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