Hello fellow Wikipedians! The article I am editing is: Effie Lee Morris. The original article gives a fine overview, but the content is fragmented and mostly from the many obituaries written about Ms. Morris. I have attempted to draw attention to her pioneering work on behalf of visually-impaired children, as well as her leadership in library and children's literature advocacy organizations.
I also moved a bunch of stuff around from the original article because I thought this would tell a more complete story. It was difficult to show where/how things moved, but my edits are in bolded text and strikethroughs. Bullet-points reflect my in-progress notes-to-self. I would appreciate feedback on whether the additional sub-headings are effective.
When I moved the original text over, some of the citations got lost. I will replace all accordingly.
I apologize that the legacy section is incomplete: I intended to add descriptions here but ran out of time because I keep finding new sources!
Thanks in advance for your help!
Effie Lee Morris (April 20, 1921 – November 9, 2009) was an African American children's librarian, educator, and children's literature editor best known for pioneering library services for visually-impaired children and for minorities her work and advocacy for library services for minorities, underserved children, and the visually impaired. She worked at public libraries in Cleveland (1946-1955), the Bronx (1955-1963), and San Francisco (1963-1977), developing numerous programs for children, including Negro History Week.[1] Morris was an active leader in advocacy organizations and was the first African American president of the Public Library Association.[1] Several lecture series have been named in her honor, including the annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series at San Francisco Public Library.[2] She received numerous awards during her lifetime and posthumously, including the honorary membership in the American Library Association.
Effie Lee Morris was born April 20, 1921, in Richmond, Virginia. At the age of eight she moved with her family to Cleveland, Ohio, where her father was head chef with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company. She was high school valedictorian[4] and She earned three degrees from Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio (now called Case Western Reserve University). While working as a part-time library assistant at the Cleveland Public Library, Morris changed her major from American Studies to Library Science.[4] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1945), Bachelor of Library Science (1946), and Master of Library Science (1956).
In 1946 Morris began working at the Cleveland Public Library as a part-time library assistant.[5] During her years at Cleveland Public Library, she focused on literacy for African-American children and children in low-income urban areas. During her tenure, she established a Negro History Week celebration for children.[6][7]
She moved to New York City in 1955, working at New York Public Library as a children's branch librarian in the Bronx. There she began her advocacy work for the visually impaired, and became a children's specialist at NYPL's Library for the Blind from 1958 to 1963.[Missing citation(s)] She was the only librarian in the country working with blind children and advocated for new books to be written for this population. Blind children throughout the country wrote to her for books, and she worked with the Library of Congress to fulfill these requests.[8]
Morris moved to San Francisco in 1963, where she and worked as the San Francisco Public Library's first coordinator of children's services, a position she held until 1977. Just a year later, In 1964, she established the library's Children's Historical and Research Collection, featuring out-of-print books for young people that depicted ethnic stereotypes and the changing portrayals of ethnic and minority groups over the twentieth century. The collection was renamed the Effie Lee Morris Historical and Research Collection in 1981. She left her position at San Francisco Public Library in 1977.
Morris She worked as an editor of children's books for Harcourt Brace Jovanovich from 1978 to 1979. After her retirement, she taught courses on children's literature the University of San Francisco, Mills College,[9] Case-Western Reserve University, and Clark-Atlanta University.[10]
Morris was an active leader in numerous advocacy groups. She was a member of the American Library Association from 1949. She was a founding member of the ALA's Social Responsibilities Round Table, which presents the Coretta Scott King Award. In 1970, Morris wrote the original selection criteria for the award, which honorsing African-American authors of books for young people. She became chair of the Coretta Scott King Award Task Force in 1981 and, during her time as chair, the award met the criteria of the American Library Association (ALA) to became an official ALA award beginning in 1982. She was also one of the three founding members of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award selection committee.[10]
In 1971 Morris was elected president of the Public Library Association, the first African-American and first children's librarian to serve as president. ; she was also the first children's librarian to hold that position. She was also an early member of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) and in 2005 received the seventh BCALA Trailblazer Award, which is presented every five years to one individual.[11]
Morris served as on the advisory board for the Library of Congress's Center for the Book in 1983 and in 1968 founded the San Francisco chapter of the Women's National Book Association in 1968.
From 1961 to 1963 to she served as the president of the National Braille Club (later known as the National Braille Association).
The American Library Association conferred their highest honor, honorary membership, on Morris in January 2008, recognizing "her vision, advocacy and legacy to children's services in public libraries." Morris was selected by the California Library Association as a member of the California Library Hall of Fame in 2017.[7]
After Morris's death in 2009, In June 2010 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi read a tribute to Morris into the congressional record in June 2010, calling Morris her "a visionary who recognized the power of literacy and education in overcoming racism, inequality and poverty." In 2010, Morris received the Silver SPUR Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association for lifetime civic achievement in San Francisco.
An annual lecture series at the San Francisco Public Library honors Morris "by celebrating the work of writers and illustrators for children whose work exemplifies the causes she championed: inclusivity, diversity, and the rights of all children to read, learn, and create."
https://butlerspantry.org/about-the-butler-center/
Morris participated in The HistoryMakers[12], a collection of video oral histories of African Americans.
