Samuel S. Morris, Jr.

Samuel S. Morris, Jr. was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Wilberforce University in 1937 with a degree in sociology and subsequently received his master’s of divinity at the Yale Divinity School in 1940. That same year he began working as a minister throughout Tennessee, Arkansas, Michigan, and Indiana before ultimately landing at the Coppin Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Church in Chicago, where he ministered for fifteen years. He also worked for a period of time as the president of Shorter College in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as in social services at the Human Resources Fund in Chicago and as the president of the South Side branch of the NAACP from 1960-62. He served as bishop for various districts of the AME Church, including those representing Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma, and Illinois, taking up his final role as bishop in the 4th district (Illinois) in 1984. Morris died in Chicago in 1989.

"Peace Of Mind Valued Over Wealth, Beauty," The Chicago Defender, July 28, 1951.