Ira Nelson Morris

{{Infobox ambassador

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| image = Ira Nelson Morris.jpg

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| office = Minister of Sweden

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| term_start = July 13, 1914

| term_end = April 3, 1923

| predecessor =

| successor =

| president = Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding

| office1 = Commissioner general to Italy

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| term_start1 = 1913

| term_end1 = 1913

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| president1 = Woodrow Wilson

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1875|3|8}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, US

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1942|1|15|1875|3|8}}

| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, US

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| resting_place = Rosehill Cemetery and Mausoleum

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| spouse = Constance Lily Rothschild

| relations =

| children = 2, including Ira Victor Morris

| mother = Sarah Vogel Morris

| father = Nelson Morris

| relatives = Edward Morris (brother)
Abram M. Rothschild (brother-in-law)
Edita Morris (daughter-in-law)

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| education =

| alma_mater = Phillips Academy (1892)
Sheffield Scientific School (Yale University) (1895)

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Ira Nelson Morris (March 8, 1875 – January 15, 1942) was an American author and diplomat appointed the United States Minister to Sweden, serving from 1914 to 1923. In 1913 he was appointed the Commissioner General to Italy, on behalf of the Panama–Pacific International Exposition.

Early years

Ira Morris was born March 8, 1875, in Chicago, Illinois, to Sarah (née Vogel) and Nelson Morris. His father was a meat-packing executive and founder of Morris & Company.{{sfn|JVL}}{{cite book|url=https://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00000592/00001/443?search=nelson+morris|title=History of the Jews of Chicago|pages=423 |publisher=Jewish Historical Society of Illinois|date=1924}} His brother was Edward Morris.{{Cite web|first=Nelson |last=Roth |title=Nelson Morris and 'The Yards' |publisher=Chicago Jewish Historical Society|date=Spring 2008 |url=http://chicagojewishhistory.org/pdf/2008/CJH_2_2008-web.pdf }} He attended Phillips Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, graduating in 1892. He then attended Sheffield Scientific School, part of Yale University, graduating in 1895.{{sfn|Men of Mark}}

Career

After graduation, Morris worked for his father in the meat-packing industry. He became involved in social problems and philanthropy, and was a member of the Chicago Peace Society and a foreign delegate to the American Peace Conference.{{sfn|Daily Jewish Courier|1914}} After leaving his father's company he served as the president of Union Rending Company; treasurer of Consumer's Cotton Oil Company; secretary of Fairbank Canning Company; and director of National Packing Company, the National Stockyards of St. Louis, and A.M. Rothschild and Company.{{sfn|Ingham|1983|p=979}}

In 1913, he was appointed the Commissioner General to Italy, where he helped the Italian government gain representation at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition.{{sfn|Daily Jewish Courier|1914}} On July 13, 1914, he was appointed the United States Minister to Sweden, a position he held until April 3, 1923.{{sfn|Historian}}

Personal life

File:Grave of Ira Nelson Morris (1875–1942) at Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago 1.jpg

File:Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida - Mrs. Ira Nelson Morris and her Children - A3216 - Hispanic Society of America.jpg.]]

In 1898, he married Constance Lily Rothschild, daughter of Victor Henry Rothschild, in New York City; they had two children, Constance Irene Morris and author Ira Victor Morris.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mofxdIJrKGAC&q=%22Ira+Nelson+Morris%22+Quindecennial+Record&pg=PA154|title=Quindecennial Record - Yale University - Sheffield Scientific School. Class of 1895|publisher=Leopold Classic Library|date=March 23, 2017}}

In 1921, while sailing to New York, on the Scandinavian-American liner United States, Morris saved the life of 19-year-old Ellen Neilson, of Brooklyn, in mid-ocean, when she was nearly washed overboard.{{sfn|American Consular|1922|p=16}}

Morris died in Chicago on January 15, 1942. His will included $150,000 for the construction of a mausoleum at Rosehill Cemetery, where he was interred.{{Sfn|Chicago Tribune}}

Namesake

The World War II Liberty Ship {{SS|Ira Nelson Morris}} was named in his honor.{{sfn|Williams|2014|p=122}}

References

Bibliography

{{cite news

|url= http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_4_1_0275

|title= Ira Nelson Morris, Second Jewish Ambassador

|date= 7 July 1914

|newspaper= Daily Jewish Courier

|access-date= 2022-08-14

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171116185239/http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_4_1_0275

|archive-date= 2017-11-16

|url-status= dead

|ref= {{sfnRef|Daily Jewish Courier|1914}}

}}

{{cite web

|url= http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/morris-nelson

|title= Morris, Nelson

|access-date= 16 November 2017

|ref= {{sfnRef|JVL}}

}}

{{cite web

|url= https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/morris-ira-nelson

|title= Ira Nelson Morris (1875–1942)

|access-date= 16 November 2017

|ref= {{sfnRef|Historian}}

}}

{{cite book

|last=Ingham

|first=John N.

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Suu9yUKdA8IC

|title= Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders, Volume 2

|date= 1983

|publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group

|isbn= 0313239088

|access-date= 16 November 2017

}}

{{cite journal

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qlM2AQAAMAAJ

|title= American Consular Bulletin, Volume 4

|date= 1922

|publisher= American Consular Association

|access-date= 16 November 2017

|ref= {{sfnRef|American Consular|1922}}

}}

{{cite book

|last=Williams

|first=Greg H.

|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=A5oWBAAAQBAJ

|title= The Liberty Ships of World War II: A Record of the 2,710 Vessels and Their Builders, Operators and Namesakes, with a History of the Jeremiah O'Brien

|date= 25 July 2014

|publisher= McFarland

|isbn= 978-1476617541

|access-date= 16 November 2017

}}