Agnes L. Thomas Morris (March 8, 1865 – June 25, 1949), known professionally as Mrs. Robert Carlton Morris, was an American writer and clubwoman, the national president of the War Mothers of America in 1918. As president of the Ohio Shakespeare Association, she lectured and wrote about William Shakespeare.

Early life

Agnes L. Thomas was born in

London, Ohio London is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Ohio, United States. Located about southwest of the Ohio capital of Columbus, London was established in 1811 to serve as the county seat. The population was 10,279 at the 2020 census. ...

, the daughter of the John Morgan Thomas and Sara Phillips James Thomas. Both parents were born in Wales. Her father was a Congregationalist pastor who had served churches in Pennsylvania before accepting a position in

Alliance, Ohio Alliance is a city in eastern Stark County, Ohio, United States. With a small district lying in adjacent Mahoning County, the city is approximately northeast of Canton, southwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 21 ...

. She was educated at

Mount Union College The University of Mount Union is a private university in Alliance, Ohio. Founded in 1846, the university was affiliated with the Methodist Church until the spring of 2019. In the fall of 2020, Mount Union had an enrollment of 1,958 undergraduate ...

, graduating in the class of 1887, with further training at the National School of Oratory in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

.John William Leonard, ed.
''Woman's Who's Who of America''
(American Commonwealth Publishing 1914): 577. Agnes L. Thomas was partly deaf from childhood, with enough hearing loss that she was barred from teacher training programs.

Career

Agnes Thomas Morris served on the board of the Toledo Woman's Association, on the Committee on Literature of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs, and In 1918, she was elected president of the War Mothers of America, and of the umbrella organization the Service Star Legion, at their national conference in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. After completing her term as national president, she served as associate editor of the organization's magazine, ''The Service Star''. Morris was president of the Ohio Shakespeare Association, and a vice president of the Shakespeare Association of America. She wrote a textbook, ''Every Day with Shakespeare''. She was a columnist and contributing editor of the ''Shakespeare Association Bulletin'', a national publication. She also wrote several one-act plays, including ''Under the Blossom'' (1935), ''Friendly Will Revisits Stratford'' (1935) and ''William Shakespeare Discovers New Worlds'' (1935).

Personal life

Agnes L. Thomas married Robert Carlton Morris in 1891. They had two children, Vivian Anna Morris (1892-1918) and Robert Thomas Morris (1895-1972). Her son Robert fought in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

."Military Record of Relatives of National Officers"
''The Service Star'' (January 1920): 5. She was widowed when Robert Carlton Morris died in 1942, and she died in 1949, aged 84 years, in Toledo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Agnes Thomas 1865 births 1949 deaths American women writers People from Toledo, Ohio University of Mount Union alumni American women in World War I Clubwomen Shakespearean scholars