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Abbie Dorcas (Kennedy) Harris (March 30, 1873 - May 22, 1966) was one of nearly 7,000 World War I Gold Star Mothers who made the pilgrimage to from the United States to Europe to visit the final resting places of their sons who served in the war. Departing on March 7, 1930, Harris was in Party A, the first group of pilgrims under the 1929 Pilgrimage Legislation. Roughly 234 women from fifteen different states embarked on the symbolic German-seized vessel, S.S. America, from New York to France.

Many elements of this pilgrimage made both American and French officials uneasy; because many mothers were born prior to the Civil War, it was uncertain how these women would interact during their pilgrimage. Additionally, many German war cemeteries were in close proximity to American war cemeteries and French officials were wary of Gold Star Mothers encountering German visitors while travelling in France. As a result, Party A's movements were followed closely by the American and European press. As the only Gold Star Mother from Box Butte County, Nebraska, Harris was encouraged to write letters and keep memorabilia of her pilgrimage to France.

Dean Harris was the third oldest among eleven children born to Abbie and her husband Oscar Luke Harris (February 26, 1866 - April 16, 1940). He most likely hid his actual age in order to enlist and eventually died as a result of meningitis and a fractured skull a month before his eighteenth birthday on November 24, 1918. He was initially interred at the American cemetery in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-De-Dome, France on November 26, 1919, then re-interred on December 21, 1922, at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, Belleau, France.

Sources: Public Law 70-952, Harris, Dean WWI Burial Card, File No. 65638, "Pilgrimage of World War I mothers and widows" US War Department