User:Morristipton

Morris Tipton

Early Life Morris Tipton was a outspoken philanthropist best remembered for his strong support of Ohio’s fledgling Appalachian educational system and his controversial viewpoints. Born in 1926 he was the son of Timothy Tipton a wealthy Industrialist who had made his fortune in the then booming Kentucky steel and West Virginia coal mining industries. Raised on his father’s sprawling state outside of Portsmouth Ohio his early years were consumed with his private education and as a result of that he would become enamored with education and the educational condition of Southeastern Ohio’s citizenry. His father was fortunate in that he suffered none of the major ill effects that befell most of America’s corporate elite, in fact he prospered somewhat as he was able to buy out a lot of his bankrupt competitors’ steel mills for ridiculously low prices.

At the age of 11 while America was in the throes of the Great Depression, young Morris Tipton convinced his father to offer exceptional education to the children of his employees at no cost. While this move was seen as extremely controversial by many of America’s other Tycoons it proved to be a smart move for Tipton as he was able to retain his entire work force for the duration of the Depression, a feat unmatched by any of America’s other coal mining operations.

Midlife and World War II Growing up in this atmosphere of level-headed optimism Morris became something of an oddity amongst the young “rich kids” that he encountered while attending Harvard in 1944. His inability to relate to his peers, that he would later refer to in his memoirs as “snobbish boors who exhibited not the faintest traces of humanity”, frustrated him so much that he ended up dropping out after only 3 months. He enrolled in the United States Marine Corps finishing boot camp just in time to be shipped out to the Pacific Theater. He participated in the retaking of the Philippines and the subsequent occupation by the allied task force. He was highly praised for his bravery in the invasion and received the Silver Star for his gallantry in rescuing his company’s CO from a Japanese Tank, carrying him nearly a half-mile on his back, nearly all of it while he was while exposed to heavy Japanese fire.

Latter Years and Contributions to Appalachian Education After three years in the military Morris returned to America, where he took an active role in the running of his father’s far-flung business enterprises. In 1959 his father died and Morris took his father’s vast industrial and manufacturing empire, and recreated it according to his own admirable if somewhat eccentric views on business management. His employees were some of the highest paid in the country while, his continual philanthropic contributions to America’s Appalachian School Districts made him somewhat of a local celebrity and even garnered him some national attention as a revolutionary thinker in the areas of big business and labor.

His eventual lessening in popularity and plummet into obscurity began when he was accused by the McCarthy Commission of being a communist in 1961. That coupled with the death of most of Middle-America’s coal industry caused him to for the most part abandon public life. He became something of a recluse rarely leaving his Portsmouth Ohio home until his death on May 28th, 1989. He was survived by one son, John Tipton who became a teacher and continued his father’s philanthropic contributions to Southern Ohio and Northern West Virginia’s schools. John honored his father by having a section of Ohio Route 35 named after him in 1978.