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

Allen University Allen University is a private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. It has more than 600 students and still serves a predominantly Black constituency. The campus ...

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, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), which was formed in 1861 by states that had seceded f ...

, 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. In 1868, he enrolled at

Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...

and graduated in June 1875. That fall he returned to South Carolina, enrolling in the law school at

South Carolina University The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Carolina System and th ...

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 Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...

. 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 for governor in a campaign that did not include a Republican. Haskell's opponent,

Ben Tillman Benjamin Ryan Tillman (August 11, 1847 – July 3, 1918) was a politician of the Democratic Party who served as governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894, and as a United States Senator from 1895 until his death in 1918. A white suprema ...

, 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 The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

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 Methodist denomination based in the United States. It adheres to Wesleyan theology, Wesleyan–Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, connexional polity. It ...

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 educators 20th-century African-American lawyers 19th-century African-American lawyers Presidents of Allen University