The University of Chicago Library > The Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center > Finding Aids > Guide to the Henry Clinton Morrison Papers 1926-1940
© 2006 University of Chicago Library
| Title: | Morrison, Henry Clinton. Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1926-1940 |
| Size: | .5 linear ft. (1 box) |
| Repository: |
Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center |
| Abstract: | Henry Clinton Morrison was a Professor of Education and the Superintendent of Laboratory Schools. Contains correspondence with Charles Hubbard Judd, Dean of the School of Education, and other individuals. Also includes Xerox copies of Morrison's writings, biographical material and letters concerning a Ph.D. dissertation on Morrison by Hugo Beck. |
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When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: Morrison, Henry Clinton. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library
Henry Clinton Morrison, (7 Oct. 1871-19 Mar. 1945), educator, was born in Oldtown, Maine.
Morrison's father John Morrison married Mary Louise Ham and ran a general merchandise store. Morrison grew up in area characterized by the lumber and fishing industries on the east coast. He proved himself as a rugged axe man and canoeist. However, Morrison's success in his academic work so impressed a local banker that he settled the tuition for Morrison's years at Dartmouth. Morrison earned his graduate degrees during his working years; getting his MS from New Hampshire College in 1906 and his LL.D. University of Maine in 1914.
Graduated from Dartmouth in 1885, Morrison entered Milford High School, NH as a "teaching principal"; where he passed on his classical education in Latin, mathematics, history and science. Milford High was notorious for the rough behavior of the boys. Morrison's staunch demeanor made him a person more feared and respected than loved or admired and this attitude assisted him in taming the school. His success there led to the offer to be the superintendent of schools for Portsmouth, NH, from 1899 to 1904. Morrison married Marion Locke in 1902; she mothered three children.
In 1904, Morrison moved into the position of New Hampshire State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He stayed there until 1917 when he suddenly took the position of the Assistant Secretary of the Connecticut Board of Education. After two years on the Board Morrison moved to Chicago to assume the Professorship of Education and the Superintendencey of the Laboratory Schools at the University of Chicago. In 1928 Morrison left the position of superintendent to assume the position of Professor of School Administration until 1937. The Laboratory school was John Dewey's experimental program. Morrison was not interested in experimenting as much as he was discipline and comprehension.
Morrison is best remembered for the work he did at the University of Chicago. He formulated the "Morrison plan" which reorganized the traditional style of teaching. He focused on student comprehension and developed "unit teaching". Morrison aimed to cultivate the students. His standard education involved the three part method of "stimulus, assimilation, and reaction." Morrison best articulated this style, which emphasizes the role of the teacher, in The Practice of Teaching in the Secondary School (1926). His style of teaching dominated the education system in the US and in many international countries until World War II.
In 1937 Morrison retired from the University of Chicago. In March, 1945 he suffered a fatal heart attack while working in his Hyde Park garden.
The major portion of this collection of about 400 pieces is Morrison's correspondence from 1925-1937 with Charles Hubbard Judd, Dean of the School of Education and head of the Department of Education. There is also some correspondence of both Morrison and Judd with other individuals; Xerox copies of documents written by Morrison and of unidentified documents; biographical material; and letters concerning a Ph.D. dissertation on Morrison by Hugo Beck.
The correspondence with Judd concerns appointments to teaching positions in the Department, students' records, the financial situation and building facilities of the Laboratory Schools, and other affairs of the Laboratory Schools and the Department of Education. For example, there are the following items: "Memorandum on the Matter of Junior College Romance" (December 23, 1926); a letter outlining principles to govern recommendations as to the professional standing of members of the faculties of the schools (June 3, 1927); "The Unit Organization of the Geography Course" (June 5, 1929); and a letter concerning the organization of teacher training schools (April 3, 1936). Some items concern Morrison more personally-e.g., letters about books he wrote (March 27, 1926) and letters concerning his request to be relieved of the duties of Superintendent of the Laboratory Schools (May and June, 1928).
| Box 1 Folder 1 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd, December1925 April 1926 |
| Box 1 Folder 2 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd May 1926-October 1926 |
| Box 1 Folder 3 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd November 1926-December 1926 |
| Box 1 Folder 4 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd January 1927-May 1927 |
| Box 1 Folder 5 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd June 1927-July 1927 |
| Box 1 Folder 6 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd August 1927-December 1927 |
| Box 1 Folder 7 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd January 1928-April 1928 |
| Box 1 Folder 8 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd May 1928 |
| Box 1 Folder 9 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd June 1928 |
| Box 1 Folder 10 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd July 1928-November 1928 |
| Box 1 Folder 11 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd 1928 |
| Box 1 Folder 12 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd January 1929-June 1929 |
| Box 1 Folder 13 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd July 1929-December 1929 |
| Box 1 Folder 14 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd January 1930-December 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 15 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd March 1935 |
| Box 1 Folder 16 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd March 1936-July 1937 |
| Box 1 Folder 17 | Correspondence, H.C. Morrison and C.H. Judd undated |
| Box 1 Folder 18 | H.C. Morrison and Dean W. S. Gray May 1929-June 1930 |
| Box 1 Folder 19 | Correspondence between H. C. Morrison and others
|
| Box 1 Folder 20 | Correspondence between C. H. Judd and others
|
| Box 1 Folder 21 | Documents by Morrison
|
| Box 1 Folder 22 | Xerox copies of documents by Morrison
|
| Box 1 Folder 23 | Xerox copies of documents by Morrison
|
| Box 1 Folder 24 | Xerox copies of unidentified documents
|
| Box 1 Folder 25 | Unidentified manuscript
|
| Box 1 Folder 26 | Biographical material
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| Box 1 Folder 27 | Hugo E. Beck correspondence. Letters concerning his thesis on Morrison |