The Will to Adorn: African American Dress and the Aesthetics of Identity was a multi-year collaborative research and public presentation project initiated by the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. It explored the diversity of African American identities as expressed through the cultural aesthetics and traditional arts of the body, dress, and adornment through the work and perspectives of museum, academic, and community scholars, as well as cultural practitioners like artisans and designers from across the nation.

Dr. Harris participated as a lead researcher, offering a critical voice to the project at the place where self-image intersects with health and heritage. Like a folklorist, Dr. Harris collected oral histories from his patients. He used the well-honed performance skills of a preacher to educate about health care, and he incorporated the research techniques of a genealogist to draw the connection between health and heritage.

In his practice, he worked with patients to address the consequences of the overuse of chemical straighteners, too-tight braiding, skin bleaching, and the stress and poor diets that can lead to obesity in the African American population. His Do Good H.A.I.R. Project linked awareness of cultural identity to beauty and artistic practice, as well as to health and restoration.