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A former journalist and radio executive, Morrison
has been named Woman of the Year and won Lifetime Achievement Awards more than
a dozen times.
Born in 1920 on an Oklahoma farm, Morrison
hit on the idea of becoming a newspaper reporter at age 17. She began writing
for the local paper and was thrilled when her “all-time hero” Eleanor Roosevelt
gave her an interview. She graduated from Oklahoma A&M College, later known
as Oklahoma State University with a degree in Journalism.After a stint as a reporter for the local
newspaper, she went on to work for five years at the Associated Press bureau in
Kansas City.
In 1947 she met Jack Morrison,
a dashing Navy officer, and decided to marry him after a week. They moved to
Northern California, where he worked as the political and government writer for
The San Francisco Chronicle was later elected to the Board of Supervisors in
1961, where he served two terms and established a reputation as a pioneer urban
environmentalist. A life-long career woman, Morrison turned to community
affairs at radio station KNBR, where she worked for more than 30 years while
fueling her passion for political action.
Morrison has spent a lifetime pushing boundaries and breaking
barriers. A longtime champion for a
cleaner environment, working families and public transportation, she represents
the best of grassroots politics. Over
the decades, she’s never stopped learning and never stopped compiling a
time-tested playbook for grassroots action that younger activists would be
well-advised to use.
Morrison’s resume has an astonishingly
lengthy list of activities, titles and causes. Among them:
- Delegate to the Democratic National
Convention in 1960 and 1964.
- Past President of the San Francisco Human
Rights Commission.
- Past President and current board member of
the urban environmental group San Francisco Tomorrow.
- Past President and board
member of the city’s Democratic Women’s Forum.
- Women’s Chair of the California Democratic Party
Even in her 10th decade, Morrison is an
activist for food banks, and an active member of the TransBay Joint Powers
Authority, the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee, and the city’s
Chinese Newcomers Service Center. Among causes close to her heart: services for the homeless, poor and destitute;
education; health care; environmental protection; immigrant rights and minimum wage.
Morrison
told the elected officials: “I just get credit for what all of you have done. I’m
not a feminist or a senior citizen. I’m a people-ist. … I’m pretty ordinary,
but persistent.” “I decided if we elect
the right people … then you can get done a lot of the things that matter to you!”
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