User:Ggillette/James B. Morris

James B. Morris was an Iowa attorney, publisher and civil rights leader.

Life and career
Morris was a leader and a role model for a generation of African Americans living in Iowa and beyond. A graduate of Hampton Institute in Virginia, Morris became one of the first African American officers during World War I through the Colored Officers Training Program at Fort Des Moines. After the war, attorney Morris settled in Des Moines and emerged as one of the city's most influential leaders.

He was the editor and publisher of Iowa's oldest black newspaper, The Iowa Bystander, from 1922-1972. In 1925 he helped found the Negro Bar Association (Iowa National Bar Association), now known as the National Bar Association. Morris and his wife, Georgine, were staunch supporters of civil rights. Georgine founded the Iowa State Conference of the NAACP in 1939. Morris was a charter member, as well as serving as president of the Iowa Conference of the NAACP.