Black History
The Only African American Whose Signature Has Ever Been On The Country’s Money
Take a close look at Azie Taylor Morton’s name. Perhaps, you recognize it. For a span of 20 years between the late 1970s and close to 2000, money in United States bore her signature.
Morton remains the only African American to ever serve as the Treasurer of the United States. President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the position.
Taylor was born in Dale, Texas, on Feb. 1, 1936. Her hometown offered few opportunities, but she was not deterred. Her mother was deaf and mute, and Taylor attended the Texas School for the Blind, Deaf and Orphan even though was not blind or deaf. She enrolled at the school because there was not one for African American teenagers. She graduated at the top of the class when she was 16.
In 1952 Taylor enrolled at Hutson-Tillotson University which was an all-Black school in Austin, Texas. After graduation, she attempted to attend graduate school at the University of Texas but was denied acceptance on the basis of “insufficient undergraduate courses.”
Taylor taught at a school for delinquent girls until she was hired as the assistant to the president of Hutson-Tillotson. After working at the university for a few months, she joined the Texas AFL-CIO as an employee. President John F. Kennedy invited her to work on the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity in 1961.
Taylor’s historic career achievement came in 1977 when she accepted President Jimmy Carter’s invitation to serve as the nation’s 36th treasurer. She served for four years.
After her work in Washington, D.C., Taylor returned to Texas. In 2003 she suffered a massive stroke at her home and died the following day. She was a pioneer, a wife and the mother of two daughters.
In Arkansas a formerly all-Black school, Ouachita County Training School, has launched a national fundraising effort to restore the campus following its designation as a site on the National Register of Historic Places. One of the first corporate donations to OCTS, located in Bearden, Arkansas, came from the Katherine Anthony Foundation.
Anthony’s nephew, Steve, and CEO of Anthony Timberlands, presented a $10,000 check to the historic committee.
“We are happy to support the work of the Greater Bradley District Association and the Ouachita County Training School committee in their efforts to maintain the infrastructure and grounds of the training school, which is such an important part of the Bearden community,” Anthony said.
The National Park Service listed OCTS on the prestigious register in 2023.
“Since we received the news, we have been excited and motivated to raise the fund necessary to preserve this part of our history!” Virginia Ashley, committee president said. “We recognize the pivotal role OCTS played in educating several generations of young people who started right here and went on to contribute greatly to the Black middle class and the world.”
The gift of education
For education advocates, December holds a special place in American history. During the Christmas Season in 1952, the Supreme Court first heard arguments to eliminate segregation in the nation’s public schools. But, it took two more years before the Court issued its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, declaring segregation unconstitutional.
During the 1950s, OCTS educated Black students in the small southern town south of Little Rock, which became known internationally for The Little Rock Nine and their efforts to integrate Central High School. In Bearden, several Rosenwald Schools had consolidated to create the larger OCTS campus that educated students from the first through the 12th grades.
“I have such wonderful memories of my days as a student at OCTS,” recalled Pearlie Newton, a retired educator and executive director of the OCTS historic committee. “My dad helped pour concrete at the campus, my husband and I met there and it was in one of the classrooms that my goal to become an educator took shape.”
Despite the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision eliminating “separate but equal” schools, OCTS remained segregated until 1971 when it merged with the white school district in the area. An association of Black Baptist churches known as the Greater Bradley District Association purchased the campus for use as its headquarters.
Pastor and Association Moderator, Verna Thompson, said, “We are excited about the renovation and look forward to holding our church services and meetings in a modernized facility that holds so much historic significance.”
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