She participated in the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, during which she collected biographies of people in the Southern United States.
Harris was born in Wake County, North Carolina on October 8, 1891, to farmers William Haywood and Rosa Poole Kelly.
[2][3] Harris briefly worked as a school principal in Beulaville, North Carolina before becoming a teacher at the South Fork Institute in Catwaba County.
[3] Purslane received critical acclaim and earned the Mayflower Cup of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association.
[8][9] Her 1946 novel Janey Jeems, which features an African American protagonist, was reportedly inspired by two black women whom she employed as domestic workers.
[10] Her 1948 novel Hearthstones tells the story of a Confederate Army deserter, his family, and their descendants in the Roanoke region of Virginia.
[2] During their marriage, Herbert reportedly controlled all of the profits Bernice earned through the sale of her books, leaving little to his wife after his death.
[2] On June 26, 1976, the Roanoke-Chowan Group established the Bernice Kelly Harris Memorial Scholarship in English and creative writing at Chowan College.