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Earlham Notable Alumni

Homer and Edna (Wright) Morris - Classes of 1911 & 1914

Human Rights Activists

A black and white photograph of Edna Morris, a white woman in her sixties. She is wearing a fleece pullover, a pearl necklace, and glasses with mother of pearl frames. She is smiling at the photographer, and her hair is short and white.

Edna Morris, photographed at Fisk University, date unknown

"Edna Morris: Edna Morris Portrait", EC 16.3, Earlham Photograph Collection: Subjects, Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, Richmond, IN

A formal black and white photograph of Homer Morris as a senior at Earlham College. He is a young white man with short brown hair, wearing a black pinstripe suit and looking into the distance.

Homer Morris photographed as a senior at Earlham College, 1910

"Homer Morris: Homer Morris Portrait", EC 16.3, Earlham Photograph Collection: Subjects, Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, Richmond, IN

Homer Morris, a middle-aged white man in a plaid suit and brimmed hat standing on the side of a mountain, photographed as he walks through a fence gate.

Homer Morris on assignment with AFSC in Pinerville, KY, c. 1934

"Photographs of Miners and Their Dwellings: Homer Morris in Pinerville", FMS 6, Homer and Edna Morris Collection: Subjects, Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, Richmond, IN

A black and white photograph of the Morris family on Commencement Day 1951, at Jim Morris' graduation. From left to right, Jim Morris, a young man in a white suit and glasses, Marion Morris, a middle aged woman in a long dress and sunhat, Edna Morris, an older woman in a suit skirt, and Homer Morris, an older man in a light colored suit. Between Edna and Homer are their young grandchildren, Micheal and Little Larry, in matching striped shirts and dark shorts. All are standing and looking at the camera on the Earlham lawn.

The Morris family on Commencement Day in 1951. Left to right: Jim, Marion, Edna and Homer Morris, with Edna and Homer's grandchildren Micheal and Little Larry in the front

"Morris: Jim Morris Commencement Day", EC 16.3, Earlham Photograph Collection: Subjects, Earlham Friends Collection and College Archives, Richmond, IN

If one is unwilling to serve in the cause of peace when service is offered, what right has he to speak at other times? - Edna Morris, c. 1939

Overview

  • Homer Morris was born in 1886; Edna Morris (née Wright) was born in 1884.
  • Homer died in 1955; Edna died in 1966.
  • Together, the couple were early volunteers with the American Friends Service Committee.

Biography

Education and Work

Homer L. Morris and his wife Edna Morris, née Edna Wright (classes of 1911 and 1914) met while studying at Earlham College in the 1910s. Homer had been his class president, a member of the Affirmative Debating Team, and a member of the Ionian Literary Society's Literary Committee, while Edna was president of the Young Women's Christian Association, class secretary, a member of the Phoenix Literary Society, and a member of the science club.

The two joined the American Friends Service Committee soon after its founding in 1917 in response to World War I, both as a response to a need for aid and as an alternative to military service for conscientious objectors; the Quaker Peace Testimony calls for a refusal of violence, including involvement in war. The Morrises were both Quaker.

After the end of WWI, the AFSC continued its involvement in the area, providing aid, often in the form of food relief, to children in Austria, Poland, and Germany. As tensions continued rising in reconstruction-era Europe, Homer and Edna traveled to the Volga region of Russia, to help during one of the most vicious famines in recent history. Many artifacts from the Morris's time in the AFSC have been donated to the Earlham College Archives, as well as the Morris family papers.

After returning to the US, Homer Morris became a professor, teaching at Penn and Hunter Colleges before returning to Earlham, his Alma Mater, to teach Economics from 1918-1928. He joined the Earlham College Board in 1930 and would remain on the board until his death over two decades later. The Morrises also remained active in aid projects during this time, traveling across the US with AFSC. They worked with Japanese Americans in US internment camps during WWII, as well as with Appalachian coal miners, helping to build homesteads and farms and instruct families in subsistence farming.