Cameron A. Morrison

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"Senator Morrison" redirects here. For other uses, see Senator Morrison (disambiguation).
Cameron A. Morrison
Cameron A. Morrison.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 10th district
In office
January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1945
Preceded by New Constituency (Redistricting)
Succeeded by Joseph W. Ervin
United States Senator
from North Carolina
In office
December 13, 1930 – December 4, 1932
Appointed by Oliver Max Gardner
Preceded by Lee S. Overman
Succeeded by Robert R. Reynolds
55th Governor of North Carolina
In office
January 12, 1921 – January 14, 1925
Lieutenant William B. Cooper
Preceded by Thomas Walter Bickett
Succeeded by Angus Wilton McLean
Personal details
Born (1869-10-05)October 5, 1869
Rockingham, North Carolina, U.S.
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Political party Democratic

Cameron A. Morrison (5 October 1869 – 20 August 1953) was an American politician and the 55th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1921 to 1925.

Early life and career

He was born in 1869 in Richmond County, North Carolina.

In 1898, Morrison participated in the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, a violent coup d'état by a group of white supremacists. They expelled opposition black and white political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the Civil War, including the only black newspaper in the city, and killed an estimated 60 to more than 300 people.[1] The governor of North Carolina, Daniel Lindsay Russell, was forced to flee from Wilmington to Raleigh. Morrison boarded Russell's train in Maxton, North Carolina in the company of a small band of Red Shirts and warned Russell that a more hostile band of Red Shirts were waiting at a later stop. He advised Russell to hide in the baggage car to avoid being lynched, which he did.[2]

In 1900, he was elected to the North Carolina Senate for one term.[3]

Governorship

With the backing of Sen. Furnifold Simmons and the help of race-baiting tactics employed by A. D. Watts, Morrison defeated O. Max Gardner in the 1920 Democratic primary for governor.[4] In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee John J. Parker.

He came to be called "the Good Roads governor" for his support of a modern highway system. Morrison embraced the practice of imprisoning black males for vagrancy to supply a free labor force to build the modern highway system in North Carolina. If a black man could not show proof of employment or residence, he was designated as a vagrant and became a part of the Department of Corrections free highway work force in North Carolina. Morrison also pushed for increased funds for public education, while also battling the teaching of the theory of evolution.[5]

Later career

He was later appointed to serve as a United States senator for the state of North Carolina (after the death of Lee S. Overman) between 1930 and 1932, but lost his seat in the Democratic primary runoff to Robert R. Reynolds.[6]

Morrison was later elected to one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1945.[7] He again lost a Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 1944, to Clyde R. Hoey.[8] He died in Quebec City in 1953.

Legacy

A ten-story residence hall on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill is named in Morrison's honor. His home at Charlotte, Morrocroft, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[9]

A library in Charlotte was named after Morrison, but was renamed in 2020 due to Morrison's ties with the Red Shirts.[10] A residence hall at North Carolina A&T State University was also named after Morrison, but the name was removed in 2020.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., pp. 172-173
  3. ↑ NCpedia biography of Cameron Morrison
  4. ↑ News & Observer: "What the obituary didn't say" by Rob Christensen Archived 2008-07-18 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of North Carolina
1920		 Succeeded by
Angus Wilton McLean
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of North Carolina
1921–1925		 Succeeded by
Angus Wilton McLean
United States Senate
Preceded by U.S. Senator (Class 3) from North Carolina
1930–1932
Served alongside: Furnifold McLendel Simmons, Josiah William Bailey		 Succeeded by
Robert Rice Reynolds
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from North Carolina's 10th congressional district
1943–1945		 Succeeded by
Joseph Wilson Ervin
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