Cameron A. Morrison


Cameron A. Morrison was the 55th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1921 to 1925.

Early life and career

He was born in 1869 in Richmond County, North Carolina.
In 1898, Morrison participated in the Wilmington insurrection of 1898, a violent coup d'état by a group of white supremacists. They expelled opposition black and white political leaders from the city, destroyed the property and businesses of black citizens built up since the Civil War, including the only black newspaper in the city, and killed an estimated 60 to more than 300 people. In 1900, he was elected to the North Carolina Senate for one term.

Governorship

With the backing of Sen. Furnifold Simmons and the help of race-baiting tactics employed by A. D. Watts, Morrison defeated O. Max Gardner in the 1920 Democratic primary for governor. In the general election, he defeated Republican nominee John J. Parker.
He came to be called "the Good Roads governor" for his support of a modern highway system. Morrison also pushed for increased funds for public education, while also battling the teaching of the theory of evolution.

Later career

He was later appointed to serve as a United States Senator for the state of North Carolina between 1930 and 1932, but lost his seat in the Democratic primary runoff to Robert R. Reynolds.
Morrison was later elected to one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1943 to 1945. He again lost a Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 1944, to Clyde R. Hoey. He died in Quebec City in 1953. A ten-story residence hall on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill is named in his honor.
His home at Charlotte, Morrocroft, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.