James Ferdinand Morton Jr. (October 18, 1870 – October 7, 1941) was an anarchist writer and political activist of the 1900s through the 1920s especially on the topics of the single tax system, racism, and advocacy for women. After about 1920 he was more known as a member of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

, a notable museum curator, an

esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

and a close friend of

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

Biography

Early years

Morton was born in Littleton, Massachusetts, lived in

Andover, New Hampshire Andover is a New England town, town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,406 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Andover includes the villages of Cilleyville, Potter ...

. His family reached back to the pilgrims landing in 1620, his grandfather was Rev. Samuel Francis Smith. A newspaper article from 1906 refers a little to his youth - that he worked as a "newsboy, bootblack, an organ blower, and an employe (sic) in a jelly factory". In 1892 he earned Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Arts degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

,Paterson NJ ''Morning Call'' of Oct 8, 1941 which was reprinted in simultaneously, in

Classical Philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

, earning a "Gorham Thomas" scholarship, graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

and was a member of the honors society

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. He was a classmate of W.E.B. Du Bois and carried on some correspondence with him. He gained skills in Greek, Latin and French. The Harvard ''Secretary's Report'' of 1896 noted by then he was in the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

Independent Order of Good Templars, animal rights oriented New England Anti-Vivisection Society and had campaigned under the People's Party. Even at this early period he was actively involved in the

amateur journalism Amateur journalism is a hobby for starting small newspapers established after the U.S. Civil War, using small and inexpensive printing presses. Local circulation and exchanges, sometimes among associations were done. Conventions were also held. T ...

movement, appearing in newspaper coverage of the developing practice in 1891, and elected President of the National Amateur Press Association (NAPA) in 1896. In his earlier days in New England he explored a number of alternatives to mainstream culture.

Anarchism and the tour to the West and back

He became a supporter of

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

- having a special affinity for

individualist anarchism Individualist anarchism or anarcho-individualism is a collection of anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hi ...

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

, and

freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

- and went on a cross-country speaking tour 1899-1900 to the West supporting these ideas. Several of these talks appeared in newspapers. By 1901 he was active on the West Coast. When living in the West Morton wrote for or edited various anarchist journals such as '' Free Society'', ''Discontent'', ''The Demonstrator'', and

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

's '' Mother Earth'' as well as the Freethought periodical Truth Seeker and lived at the Home, Washington anarchist commune which had been raided though Morton was not arrested, and was still present when the news of the assassination attempt against US President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

arrived. Morton's writings clarified that he favored a "non-retaliatory" anarchism. In 1904 he made his way back to the East coast and a talk of his on anarchism, free-thought, and morality was carried in several newspapers.

Initiatives

As early as 1903 Morton was visibly against racism in his writing for the anarchist ''Distcontent''. He campaigned actively for civil rights for blacks, challenged productions like Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, and in 1906 published ''The Curse of Race Prejudice'', which the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

's The Crisis listed among its suggested reading materials in many editions over the years. Morton served on various committees of the NAACP in the 1910s, and continued to speak on the issue across several years. In 1922 he contributed to a conference on the history of racism. Perhaps no other subject consumed Morton's energy and focus in the earlier half of his life than the subject of a single-tax as originated by

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

. It was one of the topics he spoke across several years about. In 1916-17 Morton totaling 68 lectures in 54 cities, with over 2000 in attendance. Many of these made the newspapers. He also advocated for taxing churches. A third topic was of lasting concern to Morton—the facets of advocacy for women, including

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, and conventions on limitations on

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and

contraception Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. In addition to particular topics that had his voice across the decades, and practicing law for some years in New York and Massachusetts, he wrote or gave talks on a wide range of topics: * racism against red-heads * then recent

antisemitism in Russia Antisemitism in Russia is expressed in acts of hostility against Jews in Russia and the promotion of antisemitic views in the Russian Federation. This article covers the events since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Previous time periods a ...

* conventionality in religion and politics, *

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

* tyranny in the postal system (which was echoed in more than one newspaper,) * work's rights and social reform * funerals in general and of Thaddeus B. Wakeman in particular * baseball games on Sunday * "Mob spirit" * contraception * radicalism

Literature and friendships

In addition to various individual topics he was also invested in several over a long term. From about 1915 he was a prominent member of the '' Blue Pencil Club of Brooklyn'' (founded 1908 Albertus Minton Adams (1878 – 1952) President of the Blue Pencil Club; Hazel Bosler Pratt (1888 – 1927), Secretary. * * :File:Francisco Collantes - Hagar and Ishmael - 18.096 - Rhode Island School of Design Museum.jpg ), publisher of '' The Brooklynite'', and named after the traditional Blue pencil editor's corrections, and supported appreciation of literature in a number of talks. His close friendship with the author

is today perhaps the feature of his biography which arouses the most interest. Morton promoted Lovecraft to be president of National Amateur Press Association in 1922. Blue Pencil Club of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

published ''Blue Pencil Magazine''.

Association with Lovecraft

Morton was a key member of the Kalem Club, the close circle of friends around Lovecraft in New York City in the mid 1920s. During the early part of that period he lived in Harlem, New York City, a predominantly black neighborhood.

Paterson Museum

Morton was an active student of

mineralogy Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

and a leading member of the Thomas Paine Natural History Association. In the mid 1920s he was offered and took the post of head museum curator at the new museum at

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.American Association of Museums, and a leading member of the New York Mineralogical Club. Locally he enjoyed walking with the radical Paterson Rambling Club. In the 1934 he was interested in his family history and wrote congratulating a local historian on research important to overcoming some limits in his own research. An avid walker, he died in 1941, due to being struck in the back by a moving car while walking to a meeting .

Religion

Beginning in 1907 Morton also published a series of articles under "Fragments of a Mental Autobiography" in a journal named ''Libra'' which outlines his religious background beginning with

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

family heritage, goes through Unitarian relatives, and

Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

exploration, (he was president of the Boston Theosophical Society in 1895) and placing Jesus and the Buddha among those on the highest level of his admiration even if he found fault with all scripture and organized religion. In this period Morton was an avid "evangelist" atheist and often spoke out against religion but he had already encountered the

which:

At first, I regarded it with amused interest, as one of many little cults; but gradually I found myself drawn into closer and closer relation with it. There was a wideness in its attitude which I had not found elsewhere. It held place for what was best in Christianity, Judaism, Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Freethought and all the rest, warring with none of these, but finding each of them definitely serviceable to the larger spiritual plan of the universe. It is the great reconciler and harmonizer. I have discovered in it an abiding-place which I had sought in vain for many restless years. It increases, rather than decreases, my eagerness to continue the investigation of truth without bias, and to labor energetically in all branches of human service. I have no fault to find with the differing conclusions of other truth-lovers, and am ready to work with them all as occasion offers. (near 1910)

He became a convert to the religion in later life. Morton is visibly in Baháʼí circles from 1915 on the program of presenters at Green Acre, a Baháʼí center of lectures and conferences from about 1912, and got into some debates with a critic of the religion circa 1916. He also served as an alternate delegate from New York to a national convention of the religion in 1918. He received two letters (aka "Tablets") from

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

, then head of the religion, in 1919 which were later published in the Baháʼí journal Star of the West. Morton increasingly gave public talks related to the religion from the late 1910s through the 20s and into the 30s and during the same period addressed the topic of

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

sometimes as a Baháʼí specifically. He was vice-president of the

Esperanto League for North America Esperanto-USA (E-USA) is the largest organization for speakers and supporters of Esperanto in the United States. It was founded in 1952 as the Esperanto League for North America (ELNA) in Sacramento, California. Headquartered in Portland, Maine, ...

, and was the lead teacher of that language at the Ferrer Center (a long-running anarchist school) in New York City.

Similarities, parallels and connections

It is worth noting perhaps that other Baháʼís were interested in the single tax movement originated around the ideas of

, and other ideas also in common with the young Morton. Among these were Paul Kingston Dealy and Marie Howland. Both had joined the religion some years earlier around 1897-8. Dealy and Howland had joined the religion in different cities - Chicago, the first national community of Baha'is in the US in the case of Dealy, and Howland in Enterpririse Kansas, the second such in the States. Dealy had also previously run for office under the People's Party circa 1895 but in Chicago. Howland and her husband had also been interested in the ideas of sexual freedom against the norms of the day and the cultural situation of women though Howland's husband soon died. Both Dealy (and his family) and Howland, independently, also moved to commune of sorts although this one was different, at Fairhope, Alabama, circa 1898-9. There Howland established the first library and worked on the first newspaper, another interest of Morton's, of the colony. Another Baháʼí couple - Honoré Jaxon and Aimée Montfort show similar interests as well. Jaxon had been an anarchist a decade before and been involved in another commune of sorts at Topolobampo Mexico, and then joined the religion about 1897 in Chicago shortly before Aimée. They had married and pursued worker's rights involvements though their long term interested turned to Canada. It is not known if Morton, Dealy, Howland, Jaxon or Montfort ever knew of each other. Additionally Thornton Chase, called the first Baháʼí in the West, was a student of Morton's grandfather, Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, in his youth.

Writings

* * (note Morton's part is just pages 44 to 47.) * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, James Ferdinand, Jr. 1870 births 1941 deaths 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century anarchists 20th-century Bahá'ís American anarchist writers American Bahá'ís American Esperantists American free speech activists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American mineralogists American political writers Converts to the Bahá'í Faith Free love advocates Freethought writers Georgists Harvard University alumni People from Andover, New Hampshire People from Littleton, Massachusetts