Clyde Kenneth Harris (April 18, 1918 – March 2, 1958) was an American soldier and interior decorator. He served as one of the "Monuments Men" during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and later married a granddaughter of

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Emp ...

Early life

Harris was born on April 18, 1918 in

Maud, Oklahoma Maud is a town on the boundary between Pottawatomie and Seminole counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 1,048 at the 2010 census, a 7.8 percent decrease from the figure of 1,136 in 2000. The town was named for Maud Stearns, a ...

. He was the son of banker Van Buren Harris (1886–1974) and Aurora (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

'' Vandevere) Harris (1891–1969) and grew up in Konawa, Oklahoma. Harris graduated with a degree in

interior decoration Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coord ...

from the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

in 1939, where he was president of the

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national socia ...