Newbold Morris
Augustus Newbold Morris or Newbold Morris (February 2, 1902 – March 30, 1966) was an American politician, lawyer, president of the New York City Council, and two-time candidate for mayor of New York City. Early life Morris, who never used his first name, was born in New York City. His parents were Augustus Newbold Morris (1868–1928) and Helen Schermerhorn Kingsland (1876–1956), who were married in 1896. He had two younger brothers, George Lovett Kingsland Morris (1905–1975), a painter, and Stephen Van Cortlandt Morris (1909–1984), a diplomat. His father, a cousin of the author Edith Wharton, and mother built Brookhurst in Lenox, Massachusetts, on land bought in 1906. In 1986, when the home was sold by his relatives, "it was the first single-family home in town to be sold for $1 million and it was one of the last Gilded Age cottages still occupied by the family that built it." His paternal grandfather was Augustus Newbold Morris (1838–1906) and Eleanor Colford Jones (1841–1906). His grandmother's parents were General James I. Jones (1786–1858) and Elizabeth (née Schermerhorn) Jones (1817–1874), the older sister of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1830–1908), also known as "The Mrs. Astor." He was descended from the prominent Colonial-era Morris family of the Morrisania section of the Bronx. He was educated at Groton School and at Yale, where he was a member of the Scroll and Key Society. Career Morris was a member of the New York City Planning Commission and served as President of the New York City Council from 1938 to 1945 under Mayor Fiorello La Guardia. In September, 1938 he served as acting mayor of New York City, while La Guardia was out on a 3 week trip through the east & west coast. During which the 1938 New York City truckers strike started. Morris ran for New York City Mayor in 1945 and in 1949. He was instrumental in founding City Center Theater in 1943 and the New York City Opera in 1944. He served as board chairman of the New York City Center until his death. Special prosecutor On February 1, 1952, Morris was appointed special assistant to the Attorney General by Attorney General J. Howard McGrath to investigate possible corruption in the Department of Justice. After Morris distributed a questionnaire to senior justice officials and called for unlimited access to all of McGrath's personal records, McGrath fired Morris on April 3, 1952. Morris had spent a mere 63 days in the job. A few days later Howard McGrath was forced to resign his position by President Harry Truman. Park Commissioner Morris was appointed Parks Commissioner of New York City by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr. on May 24, 1960, succeeding Robert Moses, who had served as Commissioner for an unprecedented 26 years. In this role, Morris sought to save the famous Doric columns that adorned the main entrance to Penn Station. While Morris, in this respect, served as one of the few dissenting voices during the early planning of the destruction of the first Pennsylvania