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Editor's note: The articles
about Robert Morgan linked
below were published in 2007
in that year's edition of
Bonesville The Magazine and
on this site, respectively. |
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The Battle
for East Carolina: Leo’s Field
General Tells All |
 Football
coaches sometimes say, “It’s not
the size of the dog in the
fight, but the size of the fight
in the dog,” when describing the
value of heart and perseverance
in adverse circumstances.
“I was always too small to play
any ball,” said former United
States Senator Robert Morgan,
who graduated from East Carolina
when it was a vastly different
center of higher learning.
Despite limited stature, Morgan
emerged victorious from many a
political dogfight, some of
which were essential
cornerstones in East Carolina’s
progression from its origins as
a training ground for teachers.
...
More
from Al Myatt (from the 2007
edition of Bonesville the
Magazine)... |
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Don't take
the 'chip' lightly |
 Did
you ever wonder about the
genuine origin of that
collective chip on the shoulder
that is associated with East
Carolina partisans?
Even among those of us who
matriculated at ECU in the
'sixties and 'seventies, there
are many who misguidedly think
of the chip's history in
relation to athletics. ...
More
from Danny Whitford (from
Bonesville.net in 2007)... |
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By
Al Myatt
©2016 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View mobile alpha version of this page
Robert Morgan confided
in a 2007 interview that he went
to East Carolina because his family couldn't afford for him to go to
nearby Campbell.
Morgan, who succumbed
Saturday at age 90 after a lengthy career in political service and
private law practice, was one of six children who grew up in house
that didn't have running water or electricity.
Despite those
circumstances, education was valued in the Morgan family. An older
sister, Ester, enrolled at East Carolina Teachers College before
Morgan arrived at the Greenville institution in 1942.
Morgan recalled that
annual tuition at ECTC at that time was $300.
He met his wife-to-be,
Katie, after supper one night on campus when she broke in as he was
jitterbugging with another coed.
After a wartime hitch in
the Navy, Morgan graduated in 1947. His political career began the
following year while he was in his first year of law school at Wake
Forest — on the old campus. A group of Harnett County power brokers
asked him to run for Clerk of Court and Morgan emerged triumphant
after a grassroots campaign.
Morgan won election to
the State Senate after one term as Clerk of Court and teamed with
former East Carolina College President, Dr. Leo Jenkins, in
legislative battles that resulted in university status for his alma
mater as well as a much-needed medical school for the region.
Morgan's effective style
in dealing with the entrenched status quo resulted in political
momentum that helped him become North Carolina Attorney General and
subsequently a United States Senator from 1975 to 1981.
He served one term in
Washington as health issues prevented him from campaigning full
scale for a second term.
Morgan served nine terms
as chairman of the board of trustees at ECU.
He also served as
Director of the State Bureau of Investigation before returning to
his hometown of Lillington to practice law. His office on Front
Street showed Morgan in photographs with five Presidents, a
testimony to his status as a well-connected mover and shaker on the
national scene during that portion of his professional life.
Morgan was surrounded by
family as he passed away at his home in Harnett County.
Funeral arrangements are
to be announced today by the O'Quinn-Peebles Funeral Home of
Lillington.
