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79S10983 KO-D
By: Jones of Dallas H.C.R. No. 25
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Texas Historical Commission is honoring the life
of Henry Miller Morgan on July 25, 2005, with the dedication of an
official historical marker at the site in Tyler of the first African
American barber college, which Mr. Morgan founded; and
WHEREAS, Born in 1895, Mr. Morgan grew up in Tyler's St. Louis
community and completed his education at East Texas Academy, which
later became Butler College; he is listed as a barber in the Tyler
city directory as early as 1918, but in the 1920s, Texas enacted
laws requiring licenses for barbers and African Americans were
excluded from pursuing the required education; in response, Mr.
Morgan began developing ideas for a barber college for African
Americans, and in 1933 he opened a school on Erwin Street; and
WHEREAS, The college proved so successful that this
progressive leader opened branches in Houston in 1937, Jackson,
Mississippi, in 1945, Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1946, Manhattan in
1948, and Dallas in 1949; the college's Tyler headquarters grew to
accommodate the expanding enterprise, and at one time the school
reportedly was training a majority of the nation's African American
barbers; and
WHEREAS, In addition to his work with the school, Mr. Morgan
helped found the Texas Association of Tonsorial Artists, a
professional barbers' organization that has since grown to
encompass 13 chapters in 15 cities, as well as the Democratic
Progressive Voters League, one of the oldest African American
political organizations in the state; he also served as vice
president of the Texas Association of Barber Schools and as a
trustee of Butler College; and
WHEREAS, Henry Miller Morgan died in 1961, but more than 40
years after his death, this greatly admired civic and political
activist is being duly honored for the remarkable contributions he
made to his profession and to the African American community, and
the placement of a historical marker at the original location of the
school he founded ensures that his remarkable story will be
preserved for many years to come; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas,
1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the dedication of the Texas
State Historical Marker at the site in Tyler of the first African
American barber school and pay tribute to the life and legacy of
Henry Miller Morgan by proclaiming July 25, 2005, as Henry Miller
Morgan Day in Texas.