罗伯特·莫里斯(1823-1882)一直被认为是美国第二位非裔美国律师. 他在19世纪40年代和50年代深入参与并领导了非洲裔美国人的民权运动, however, has been underestimated. 这次展览揭示了莫里斯在马萨诸塞州反奴隶制和民权运动中的重要作用.
这次展览展出了莫里斯个人图书馆的书籍，这些书籍是由约翰·J·莫里斯基金会慷慨借出的. Burns Library at Boston College. Along with a sampling of his papers from the Boston Athenaeum, 这些书帮助我们看到罗伯特·莫里斯的许多方面——他热情的废奴主义, his leadership in the fight against segregated schools and militias, his devotion to his wife, his struggles with his faith, and his relationship with a young Boston College.
The exhibit was curated by Laurel Davis, Curator of Rare Books, and Mary Sarah Bilder, Founders Professor of Law. It will remain on view into July 2017. Please come in and take a look! The exhibit catalog is also available to download.
For more, see the curators' article "The Library of Robert Morris, Antebellum Civil Rights Lawyer & Activist," Law Library Journal 111, no. 4 (2019): 461-508.
-
Business card, Robert Morris & Son, Attorneys and Counsellors at Law
Through his childhood employer, John G. 莫里斯遇到了埃利斯·格雷·洛林，一位波士顿律师和废奴主义者. Loring brought young Morris to Boston, 雇用他做抄写员和书记员，并鼓励他阅读法律. 莫里斯于1847年获准进入普通上诉法院，成为马萨诸塞州律师协会的一员.
这张名片宣传莫里斯和他儿子小罗伯特的律师事务所. They practiced together until the elder Morris’s death. Sadly, Robert Jr. died two weeks later, also in 1882.
On generous loan from the Boston Athenaeum
-
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay, The Federalist: On the New Constitution, Written in the Year 1788. Washington, 1845.
虽然伯恩斯的收藏中不包括法律书籍，但我们知道莫里斯有. His will left his law books to his son, Robert Jr. Perhaps some of Morris’s law books will one day be found. Even without them, 莫里斯对宪法和美国政治的兴趣从他的图书馆现存的部分可以看出. In The Federalist在美国，汉密尔顿和麦迪逊一直是捍卫新联邦宪法的合作者. By 1793, 汉密尔顿(Pacificus)为乔治·华盛顿的中立立场辩护，麦迪逊(Helvidius)则批评总统的行政权力.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College -
R. B. Lewis, Light and Truth...Boston, 1844.
In the early 1840s, 非裔美国人社区领袖开始努力整合波士顿的公立学校. Morris represented Sarah Roberts and her father in Roberts v. the City of Boston 因为小莎拉被波士顿一所离家不远的学校拒之门外. Although the SJC, led by Lemuel Shaw, decided against Sarah, 莫里斯和其他人成功地游说立法机关修改了法律.
Sarah’s father, Benjamin F. Roberts, was a Boston activist and printer. 他专注于黑人社区成员的作品和关于黑人社区成员的作品，比如这幅. 罗伯茨还为警惕性委员会和其他民权组织印制了海报.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
-
David Walker, Walker's Appeal in Four Articles...
Boston, 1830.莫里斯对废奴主义的坚定承诺体现在他对书籍的选择上. 伯恩斯图书馆大约三分之一的藏书与反奴隶制和废奴主义有关.
沃克著名的废除奴隶制的呼吁与其他16份文件一起被捆绑在这里. This volume features a table of contents in Morris’ hand. 据我们所知，没有其他库支持这种特定的编译. Perhaps Morris had them bound together. Interestingly, Morris was a mentor to David Walker’s son, Edwin, 后来成为一名律师，并在莫里斯的追悼会上发表了强有力的演讲.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
-
Petition to strike “white” from the militia law.
Boston, c. 1853-1856.莫里斯是马萨诸塞州整合民兵组织的领导者. This petition, written by Morris, 是波士顿雅典娜博物馆罗伯特·莫里斯论文中几个类似的例子之一吗. 它由他的两个兄弟和波士顿非裔美国人社区的其他几位领导人签署, including George Ruffin, the first black graduate of Harvard Law School.
与此同时，他还努力将“白人”一词从该州的民兵法中删除, 莫里斯为一个叫做“马萨索伊特近卫军”的黑人士兵连寻求特许状。. One of these petitions is also in the exhibit.
On generous loan from the Boston Athenaeum
-
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass...Boston, 1845.
Morris’s library shows his strong interest in Africa, African-American writers, and the history of African Americans in the United States. 这些兴趣表明他的自我认同是一个更大的非洲社区的一部分, anticipating the pan-African movement of writers such as W.E.B. DuBois.
道格拉斯的第一部自传使他成为废奴运动中的全国人物. He and Morris undoubtedly crossed paths many times; Stephen Kantrowitz notes that Morris sided with Douglass in an argument about racial tokenism at the Liberator.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College -
Poems of Felicia Hemans. Philadelphia, 1845.
In March 1846, Robert Morris married Catharine H. Mason, the daughter of a Boston businessman. 在研读莫里斯图书馆的过程中，我们最喜欢的发现之一是罗伯特和凯瑟琳在特殊场合交换书籍的习惯. 最终是凯瑟琳的遗嘱把莫里斯的书送到了伯恩斯图书馆, by way of the Church of the Immaculate Conception and B.C. High.
这个铭文表明罗伯特在他们结婚的前一年把这本诗集作为新年礼物送给了凯瑟琳. 这本书的装帧精美华丽，罗伯特愿意为此付出高昂的代价. Catharine’s reciprocal gift to Robert is also in the exhibit.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
-
J. R. Beard, The Life of Toussaint L'Ouverture: The Negro Patriot of Hayti. London, 1853.
Catharine gave this book to Robert on June 8, 1853, his 30th birthday. 在扉页上，他抄写了华兹华斯关于海地革命者的十四行诗. He copied it again in Martineau’s The Hour and the Man, a historical novel that features Toussaint as the hero.
1853年的伦敦版是第一本，所以当凯瑟琳购买礼物时，它是新出版的. It was printed again in Boston ten years later during the Civil War. Beard, an English Unitarian minister, 将杜桑描绘成一个无与伦比的将军——比乔治·华盛顿更强大，比拿破仑更优秀.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College -
The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope...Philadelphia, 1836.
This book has the earliest publication date in Morris’s library. 因为他的签名和日期符号被后来的书签遮住了, it is hard to know if he had this book as a boy or obtained it later. We do know he was involved in a local literary society by 1842. In an 1860 letter to his former co-counsel Charles Sumner, Morris quotes the line “An honest man’s the noblest work of God”, from Pope’s Essay on Man, Epistle IV.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College -
Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp. Boston, 1856.
Dred was Stowe's second anti-slavery novel, appearing four years after Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The fictional hero, Dred, is depicted as the son of Denmark Vesey, 因为在查尔斯顿策划奴隶起义而被绞死的被释放的奴隶, South Carolina in the 1820s. 废奴主义者威廉·威尔斯·布朗报道说，莫里斯称维西和纳特·特纳为“无畏的英雄”...他们的名字对压迫者来说是恐怖的”，这是他在波士顿王子大厅大酒店发表的演讲.
This is one of four works by Stowe in Morris’s library. Along with Ralph Waldo Emerson and John Greenleaf Whittier, she is one of the most represented writers in his collection.
On generous loan from the John J. Burns Library, Boston College
-
Life membership to the Boston College YMCA
Rev. Robert Fulton, S.J. 1875年成立了电子游戏软件天主教青年协会，为年轻的天主教男子提供教育和娱乐的机会. Fulton, the first dean and an early president of Boston College, rewarded Morris with a life membership.
据推测，莫里斯是在富尔顿离开自己的卫理公会教徒，改信天主教之后认识他的, 加入了位于南端的耶稣会无原罪教堂. 莫里斯当时与波士顿的爱尔兰人社区有着不同寻常的联系, 经常代表爱尔兰客户，并雇佣了一个年轻的爱尔兰移民作为办公室勤杂工(他后来成为波士顿市长)。.
On generous loan from the Boston Athenaeum
Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room
Visit
Come take a look at the latest exhibit. The Rare Book Room is open Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm
News
Follow the Rare Book Room Blog to keep up with the latest additions and new exhibits
Past Exhibits
View past exhibit catalogs and online exhibits