Azie Taylor Morton (February 1, 1936 – December 7, 2003) served as

Treasurer of the United States The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage produc ...

during the

Carter administration Jimmy Carter's tenure as the 39th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. A Democrat from Georgia, Carter took office after defeating incumbent Republican President ...

from September 12, 1977, to January 20, 1981. She remains the only

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to hold that office. Her signature was printed on

US currency The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

during her tenure.

Early life

Morton was born to Fleta Hazel Taylor in a rural African-American enclave called the St. John Colony in the farming community

Dale, Texas Dale is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, Texas, United States. The settlement had a population of 500 in 2000. It is located within the Greater Austin metropolitan area. History Dale was named for the valley in which it is located ...

. Taylor worked as a teacher at the Crocker School for Girls, a state-sponsored school for delinquents. Taylor was not deterred by these setbacks and began to work for change.

Career

Before becoming treasurer, she served on President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. From 1972 to 1976, she was a special assistant to

Robert Schwarz Strauss Robert Schwarz Strauss (October 19, 1918 – March 19, 2014) was an influential figure in American politics, diplomacy, and law whose service dated back to future President Lyndon Johnson's first congressional campaign in 1937. By the 1950s, he ...

, the chair of the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

. She was a member of

Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at the historically black Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of sixteen stud ...

sorority.

Personal life

Azie Taylor married James Homer Morton on May 29, 1965. The couple had two daughters, Virgie Floyd and Stacey Terry, who later brought them two granddaughters and four great-grandchildren. James Homer Morton died in January 2003.

Death and legacy

On December 6, 2003, Morton suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

at her home in

Bastrop County, Texas Bastrop County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in Central Texas and its county seat is Bastrop. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,216. Bastrop County is included in the Austin–Round Rock, Texas, metropolitan ...

, and she died of complications the next day. In April 2018, Robert E. Lee Road in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

was renamed Azie Morton Road in her honor. Audrey McGlinchy, April 25, 2018
Austin City Council Votes to Rename Two Streets Named for Confederate Figures
Accessed 2018-09-10.

References

External links

Soulciti.com: Azie Taylor Morton 1936-2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Azie Taylor 1936 births 2003 deaths Treasurers of the United States African-American people People from Caldwell County, Texas Texas Democrats Carter administration personnel Huston–Tillotson University alumni