Sara Lou Harris

Sara Lou Harris Carter (July 4, 1923 – December 16, 2016) was an African-American model, entertainer, educator, and humanitarian born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Her father James worked as a house painter and her mother Esther was employed in a cotton mill. After completing her early education in segregated public schools, she graduated from Bennett College, a historically Black college in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1943 with a bachelor's degree in education. She subsequently taught third grade in North Carolina before pursuing graduate studies at Columbia University in New York, where she earned a master's degree.

To support herself during her time at Columbia, Harris worked as a model, actress, and dancer, including in radio and television. Her modeling career brought significant firsts: she was the first African-American model to appear in a national poster campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes and the first African-American model in the annual New York buyers' fashion show, a distinction that shifted the representation of Black women in that context from servant roles to glamour. She was also among the first twelve models signed to the Branford Agency, which was the first agency to represent African-American models. Alongside her modeling work, she performed as a singer and dancer with major orchestras of the era and appeared in films.

Her entertainment career extended to the Broadway stage, where she appeared in Shuffle Along in 1952. The production marked her credited Broadway debut and placed her within a performance tradition that had long connected African-American artists to that particular title.

In 1958, Harris traveled to British Guiana, then a British colony and now the independent nation of Guyana, to participate in a major fashion show. There she met barrister and politician John Carter, who was assigned as her escort during certain events. The two married in 1959 and had two sons together. Carter also became stepmother to his two daughters from a previous marriage.

John Carter was a prominent figure in Guyana's independence movement and became a Queen's Counsel in 1962. In 1966, the year Guyana achieved independence, he was knighted and appointed ambassador to the United States and the United Nations and high commissioner to Canada. Following his knighthood, Sara Lou Carter assumed the title Lady Sara Lou Carter and took on the role of official hostess at her husband's embassy postings. In 1970 Sir John was appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom, with accreditation extending to France, West Germany, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. When Guyana joined the non-aligned nations, he was posted to China with accreditation to Japan and North Korea as well. The couple returned to the Caribbean in 1981 when Sir John became high commissioner to Jamaica, and they retired together to Washington, DC in 1983. Throughout these postings, Carter lived in capitals including Washington, London, and Beijing.

Sir John Carter died in June 2005. In her later years, Sara Lou Carter suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died on December 16, 2016. She was survived by three children, Robin Carter Marston, John Carter Jr., and Brian Carter, along with several grandchildren, cousins, and close friends. In 2019, she was inducted into the Wilkes County Hall of Fame in North Carolina in recognition of her international career and philanthropy.