First black professor hired by UA dies at 88

Morgan’s devotion to students lauded

Gordon Morgan (left) and John Newman speak about their lives Saturday while participating in a program as a part of the “Let There Be Light, 100 Black Men” project by local photographer Andrew Kilgore at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville.
Gordon Morgan (left) and John Newman speak about their lives Saturday while participating in a program as a part of the “Let There Be Light, 100 Black Men” project by local photographer Andrew Kilgore at St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Gordon Morgan, a sociologist who was the first black professor to be hired by the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, died Tuesday. He was 88.

Morgan died at home in Fayetteville, said his son, Brian Morgan. He said Wednesday that he did not yet have specific information about the cause of his father's death.

Hired by UA as a tenure-track faculty member in 1969, Gordon Morgan conducted research that often delved into issues of race and education. Morgan worked hard as a scholar yet always found time to help students during a career at UA that extended more than four decades, said Dan Ferritor, a former UA chancellor and colleague of Morgan's in the university's sociology department.

"The thing about Gordon was his total commitment to helping students not just learn sociology, but to get an education and to get a perspective on life and to get a leg up on the next chapter in their lives," Ferritor said.

Ferritor introduced Morgan at a September event after the renaming of a UA residence hall in Morgan's honor. Ferritor praised Morgan's service, scholarship and work ethic.

"I don't ever remember a single day he didn't sit down at his desk and write," Ferritor told the crowd.

The event celebrated the legacy of Morgan and Margaret Clark, considered the first two black professors at UA. Clark began teaching in 1969 and later received a faculty appointment, while Morgan began in 1969 as a tenure-track faculty member.

John L Colbert, superintendent of the Fayetteville School District and the first black person to hold that position, said Morgan in the mid-1970s served as a role model for Colbert and other black students on the mostly white UA campus.

"It was nice to have someone that you could go and talk to, to open the doors for you in a sense and say, 'It's OK if you have a problem. Feel free to come and talk to me.' That was very important to us," said Colbert. "We did not have that many African American staff members or professors on campus, so the few that we did have, we ran to them and asked for advice."

Books written by Morgan include The Edge of Campus, co-written with his wife, Izola Preston, about the experiences of black students at UA.

Chancellor Joe Steinmetz, in a statement, said he was saddened to hear of Morgan's death.

"He was well known as one of the first African American professors at the University of Arkansas and as a sociologist who chronicled the first 40 years of campus life after desegregation began at the university in 1948, but his true legacy was his decades of nurturing, mentoring and teaching countless students," Steinmetz said. "While a small thing, we are grateful that we were able to recognize him earlier this year by naming a student residence hall in his honor."

Born in Mayflower, a small town near Conway in central Arkansas, Morgan earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from what's now known as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, then enlisted in the Army and served during the Korean War.

He went on to earn a doctorate at Washington State University and taught at Lincoln University, a historically black university in Missouri, before joining the faculty at UA.

Brian Morgan, 60, said his father spoke about early hardships and struggles. He also was open and engaging with others, often sharing that "we're all of the human race," Brian Morgan, a Virginia resident, said in a phone interview.

Along with his father's work as a scholar, there was also the way he reached out, Brian Morgan said.

"It sounds kind of strange, but I have a number of adopted brothers and sisters and cousins," Morgan said, describing how students would often be invited over to the Morgan home for dinner.

Colbert described his former professor as someone "you could always count on, and who was there to help us when we were in need."

Gordon Morgan's manner was "gentle," said Colbert, and his attitude was "very positive." Morgan was "always looking for the best in each individual and trying to encourage them to succeed," Colbert said.

Morgan officially retired and took emeritus status in 2012. But Ferritor said Morgan continued to teach for a time and also kept on writing.

Ferritor recalled as a sociology faculty member at UA being surprised at the number of students visiting Morgan's office for advice. Ferritor said Morgan continued to connect with students as time went by. At a retirement event for Morgan a few years ago, Ferritor said, a student described Morgan's appeal this way: "He's just a cool dude."

"He had a way. You liked him," Ferritor said.

In 1969 -- a year after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. -- Morgan met with students during a period of unrest after the nonfatal shooting of a black UA student. The violence took place before the Texas-Arkansas football came, often described as one of the most memorable games in college football history.

Morgan, in a 2006 interview published by the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, said he went to see UA President David Mullins "to see if he would make some kind of television or, you know, radio statement, to 'Everybody, cool it, and let's have some fun and get on with the game.'"

Morgan received several honors for his scholarship and service, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching Fellowship and a Ford Foundation Fellowship, according to UA.

In 2006, UA honored Morgan with its J. William Fulbright Distinguished Alumni Award.

A gift from Morgan and his wife also established the Gordon Morgan Family Scholarship for minority-group students at UA, and a fellowship in their name for graduate students was established at Washington State University.

photo

Gordon Morgan, former professor of sociology at the University of Arkansas, speaks in 2012 in his office in Old Main on the UA campus. Morgan died Tuesday at 88. (File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE )

Metro on 12/19/2019

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