Joseph W. Morris (August 26, 1850 - September 13, 1913) was a lawyer and professor in South Carolina. He was principal of

Allen University Allen University is a private historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as All ...

in the 1880s and 1890s.

Biography and career

Joseph W. Morris was born in Charleston, South Carolina of free parents, John B. Morris and Grace Morris. He attended private school in Charleston taught by Simeon Beard, and after the

US Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, attended public schools there. As a student, he worked in printing in the afternoons for R. Bruce Elliot at the ''Charleston Leader'', and then with Richard H. Cain at the ''Missionary Record''. At the Normal school of Charleston, one of his teachers was

Francis Lewis Cardozo Francis Lewis Cardozo (February 1, 1836 – July 22, 1903) was an American clergyman, politician, and educator. When elected in South Carolina as Secretary of State in 1868, he was the first African American to hold a statewide office in the Uni ...

. In 1868, he enrolled at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

and graduated in June 1875. That fall he returned to South Carolina, enrolling in the law school at South Carolina University in Columbia, South Carolina.Simmons, William J., and Henry McNeal Turner. Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising. GM Rewell & Company, 1887. pages 162-164 Franklin J. Moses, Sr., then chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, gave Morris financial support and was one of his teachers and mentors in law school.Smith Jr, J. Clay. Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999. p 223 In 1876, he was elected commissioner of public schools in Charleston and was nominated for state legislature, but declined both to finish his studies. Morris graduated with distinction in December 1876. He passed the South Carolina bar and began practicing law. He worked in law for a very short time before becoming principal of Payne Institute. He held this position for four years until it was merged into

in 1880. At Allen University, he served as professor of mathematics and ancient language, instructor of the Normal and Preparatory department, and secretary and instructor of the law department. February 14, 1884, Morris married Lizzy Perry at the AME Church in Georgetown, South Carolina. In 1885 he was elected president of Allen University. In the 1890 gubernatorial election, Morris led a group of black Republicans who endorsed Democrat

Alexander Cheves Haskell Alexander Cheves Haskell (September 22, 1839 – April 13, 1910) was a Colonel in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War and a Democratic politician in postbellum South Carolina. Early life Haskell was born in Abbeville Coun ...

for governor in a campaign that did not include a Republican. Haskell's opponent, Ben Tillman, sought to disenfranchise blacks in the state, and many white Republicans supported Haskell, but other black Republicans disagreed with Morris and opposed both Tillman and Haskell because Haskell had been involved in suppressing black votes in the 1876 gubernatorial election. In 1893 he was appointed honorary vice president of the educational department of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago by the United States Commission of Education. He held the position of president of the University at least until 1895 and was vice president in the 1900s. Morris died Saturday, September 13, 1913 in Columbia, South Carolina.Negro Educator Dies in Columbia, State (Columbia, South Carolina), Sunday, September 14, 1913 Issue: 7996 Section: Part I Page: 3 Williams was a member of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Joseph W. Lawyers from Charleston, South Carolina Lawyers from Columbia, South Carolina 1850 births 1913 deaths 19th-century African-American academics 19th-century American academics American educators African-American journalists Howard University alumni University of South Carolina alumni 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century African-American people 19th-century African-American lawyers