Reuben Harpole, 91, will be the grand marshal of Milwaukee’s annual Juneteenth Jubilee Parade this year, leading the procession down King Drive in celebration of Freedom Day.
Each year, the Juneteenth Planning Committee selects an influential figure in the community to lead the parade. That honor will now go to Harpole, who has spent decades working to make Milwaukee the city that it is today.
“He has been the heartbeat of Milwaukee, and he should have been a grand marshal long ago,” said Tony Kearney, executive director of Northcott Neighborhood House.
A longtime community advocate, Harpole is responsible for the development of dozens of community centers, a staunch supporter of America’s Black Holocaust Museum on West North Avenue, and he helped funnel millions of dollars into Milwaukee neighborhoods.
Harpole’s legacy of engaging Milwaukee residents and inspiring them to create change is what has truly cemented him as a pillar of the city.
“He was the glue that held it all together,” said Clayborn Benson, founder of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society, who will be introducing Harpole at the parade.
“He made things happen,” Benson said.
How Reuben Harpole made things happen for Milwaukee
Over time, Harpole became known to many as the unofficial mayor of Milwaukee.
During the 1964 boycotts in protest of racial segregation in Milwaukee Public Schools, Harpole was instrumental in creating Freedom Schools − temporary schools run by parents and community members to educate students of color during the demonstrations.
A few years later, Harpole worked to improve the education of Black Milwaukee students by joining forces with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Extension to create summer literacy programs.
In 1970, when he heard that parents wanted to improve literacy among students, Harpole, his wife, Mildred Harpole, who is another Milwaukee legend in her own right, and his friend, Belden Paulson, created a neighborhood newspaper run by students called the Harambee Shopper.
“How many kids have gone to college or gone on to do great things because of the Harpoles,” Benson said.
Later, he was hired by Bader Philanthropies as a program officer for youth development and helped invest millions of dollars in community initiatives and real estate developments across the city.
Harpole held a core belief that all people have talent and value, and he brought that philosophy to his job at Bader Philanthropies, according to Dan Bader, president of the foundation.
“There is no bigger people person than Reuben Harpole,” Bader said.
In 2009, the City of Milwaukee recognized Harpole’s impact by naming a street in his honor on North 2nd Street by West North Avenue.
More on the Juneteenth Jubilee Parade
In addition to Harpole as the grand marshal, the two-hour parade will feature Miss Black America, marching bands, floats and local dance teams. If you can’t be there in person, it will be broadcast live by TMJ4.
Start: North 9th Street and West Atkinson Ave. at 9 a.m.
End: North King Drive and West Burleigh Street at about 11 a.m.
Parking: Available on side streets. It is first-come first-serve and regular traffic rules apply.
Additional details about the celebration can be found in previous Journal Sentinel reporting.
Everett Eaton covers Harambee for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: eeaton@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Bader Philanthropies, Zilber Foundation, Journal Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Reuben Harpole named grand marshal of 55th annual Juneteenth Parade
Reporting by Everett Eaton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Everett Eaton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
