79R10077 KO-D

By:  Jones of Dallas                                              H.R. No. 951



R E S O L U T I O N
	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 House of Representatives of the 79th Texas 
Legislature 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.