Morrill Act See Land-Grant College Act of 1862
Morris, Gouverneur (b. Jan. 31, 1752, Morrisania house, Manhattan—d. Nov. 6, 1816, Morrisania house) American statesman and financial expert. He was admitted to the bar (1771) and served in the New York Provincial Congress (1775-77) and the Continental Congress (1778-79). He distrusted the democratic tendencies of colonists who wanted to break with England, but his belief in independence led him to join their ranks. As assistant superintendent of finance (1781-85), he pro¬ posed the decimal coinage system that became the basis for U.S. currency. A delegate to the Constitutional Convention, he helped write the final draft of the Constitution of the United States. He served as minister to France (1792-94) and as a U.S. Senator (1800-03), and he was the first chair¬ man of the Erie Canal commission (1810-16).
Morris, Mark (b. Aug. 29, 1956, Seattle, Wash., U.S.) U.S. dancer and choreographer. He formed the Mark Morris Dance Group in 1980. It was the resident company at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels (1988-91), returned to the U.S. in 1991, and made its permanent home in Brooklyn in 2001. Known for his daring style, he has choreographed many works for his own company as well as for opera productions and television performances, including The Hard Nut (1991), his modernized version of The Nutcracker.
Morris, Robert (b. Jan. 31, 1734, Liverpool, Merseyside, Eng.—d. May 8, 1806, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) British-born American financier and politician. He immigrated to join his father in Maryland in 1747 and entered a Philadelphia mercantile firm the following year. As a member of the Continental Congress in the American Revolution, he practically controlled the financial operations of the war from 1776 to 1778, bor¬ rowing money from the French, requisitioning from the states, and even advancing money from his own pocket. He established the Bank of North
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America (1781) and served as U.S. superintendent of finance (1781-84) under the Articles of Confederation. He was a delegate to the Annapolis Convention and the Constitutional Convention and served in the U.S. Senate (1789-95). After investing heavily in land speculation, he went bankrupt and spent more than three years in a debtors’ prison before his release in 1801.
Morris, Robert (b. Feb. 9, 1931, Kansas City, Mo., U.S.) U.S. artist. His first one-man exhibition of paintings was held in San Francisco in 1957. In 1960, while living in New York City, he began producing large, monochromatic geometric sculptures, groups of which he exhibited in specific spatial relationships. His work of this period greatly affected the Minimalist movement, which sought to reduce art to its essence by elimi¬ nating personal expression and historical allusion. From the late 1960s, however, Morris moved toward a more spontaneous, if anonymous, expressiveness. He experimented in a wide variety of forms, including the “happening”; “dispersal pieces,” in which materials were strewn in apparent randomness on the gallery floor; and environmental projects. His work of the 1970s showed a preoccupation with paradoxes of mental and physical imprisonment.
Morris, William (b. March 24, 1834, Walthamstow, near London, Eng.—d. Oct. 3, 1896, Hammer¬ smith) British painter, designer, craftsman, poet, and social reformer, founder of the Arts and Crafts Move¬ ment. Born into a wealthy family, he studied medieval architecture at Oxford. He was apprenticed to an architect, but visits to Europe turned him toward painting. In 1861, with Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne- Jones, Ford Madox Brown, and oth¬ ers, he founded Morris, Marshall,
Faulkner & Co., an association of “fine art workmen” based on the medieval guild. They produced fur¬ niture, tapestry, stained glass, fab¬ rics, carpets, and most notably wallpaper designs. In 1891 Morris founded the Kelmscott Press, and over the next seven years it produced 53 titles in 66 volumes; its Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the great¬ est examples of the art of the printed book. Though he sought to produce fine art objects for the masses, only the rich could afford his expensive handmade products. A utopian socialist, he did much to develop British socialism; in 1884 he formed the Socialist League. In 1877 he founded the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, one of the world’s first preservationist groups. He wrote several volumes of poetry and many prose romances, as well as the four-volume epic Sigurd the Volsung (1876). His works and writings revolutionized Victorian taste, and he ranks as one of the largest cultural figures of 19th-century Britain.
Morris dance Ritual folk dance mainly danced in rural England from about the 15th century. The name, a variant of “Moorish,” possibly arose in reference to the dancers’ blacking their faces as part of the ritual dis¬ guise. It is principally a fertility dance, performed especially in the spring. Danced by groups of men often dressed in white and wearing bells on their legs, the steps are varied and intricate and are maintained in a jog¬ trot while handkerchiefs are waved in both hands. It calls for individual characters such as a hobbyhorse and a fool.
Morris Jesup, Cape Cape, in the Peary Land region, northern Green¬ land, on the Arctic Ocean. Situated 440 mi (710 km) from the North Pole, it is one of the world’s most northerly points of land. Robert E. Peary was the first explorer to reach it in 1900; it was named for Morris K. Jesup, a merchant-banker who financed polar expeditions.
Morrison, Jim orig. James Douglas Morrison (b. Dec. 8, 1943, Melbourne, Fla., U.S.—d. July 3, 1971, Paris, France) U.S. rock singer and songwriter. He studied film at the University of California in Los Angeles, where he met Ray Manzarek (b. 1935); with Robbie Krieger (b. 1946) and John Densmore (b. 1945), they formed the psychedelic rock group the Doors, taking their name from Aldous Huxley’s book on mes¬ caline, The Doors of Perception. The dark-edged eroticism of Morrison’s baritone voice and pseudo-poetic lyrics helped make the band one of
rock’s most potent, controversial, and theatrical acts. Their popular hits of the 1960s included “Light My Fire” and “Hello I Love You.” Morri¬ son was known for his drinking and drug use and outrageous stage behav¬ iour. In 1971 he left the Doors to write poetry and moved to Paris, where he died of heart failure.
Morrison, Toni orig. Chloe Anthony Wofford (b. Feb. 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, U.S.) U.S. writer. She studied at Howard and Cornell uni¬ versities, taught at various universities, and worked as an editor before publishing The Bluest Eye (1970), a novel dealing with some of the shock¬ ing realities of the lives of poor blacks, and Sula (1973). The brilliant Song of Solomon (1977) brought her national attention. Her later novels include Tar Baby (1981), Beloved (1987, Pulitzer Prize), Jazz (1992), and Paradise (1998). The African American experience, particularly that of women, is the principal theme of her fiction. Her use of fantasy, her sinu¬ ous poetic style, and her interweaving of mythic elements give her sto¬ ries texture and great power. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993.
Morristown National Historical Park Historical park, Morris¬ town, N.J., U.S. In the American Revolution the Continental army under George Washington had its main winter campsite there in 1776-77 and 1779-80. Established in 1933, the park covers 1,684 acres (682 hectares). It includes the house that served as Washington’s headquarters and other artifacts of the Revolution.
Morrow, Dwight W(hitney) (b. Jan. 11, 1873, Huntington, W.Va., U.S.—d. Oct. 5, 1931, Englewood, N.J.) U.S. lawyer and diplomat. He practiced law in New York City (1905-14), helping draft a workers’ com¬ pensation law (1911). He became a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co. (1914— 27) and organized the Kennecott Copper Corp. During World War I he was an adviser to the Allied Maritime Transport Council, and after the war he helped devise a national aviation policy. He served as ambassa¬ dor to Mexico (1927-30). He briefly served in the U.S. Senate (1931) before his death. His daughter Anne married Charles A. Lindbergh.