By Cynthia Harris
Title: Richard L. D. Morse papers (Addition), 1912-2005
Primary Creator: Morse, Richard L. D. (1916-2000)
Extent: 72.0 Linear Feet
Arrangement: This collection is arranged into 10 series by type of material: 1) Biographical, 1940-1999, undated; 2) Literary Works, 1934-1996, undated; 3) Correspondence, 1949-2000, undated; 4) Subjects, alphabetical, 1934-2001, undated; 5) Photographs and Negatives, 1939-1998, undated; 6) Slides, undated ;7) Media, 1962-2000, undated; 8) Artifacts, 1979-1989, undated; 9) Oversize, 1951-1999, undated; 10) Printed Material, 1912, 1930-2005, undated.
Date Acquired: 01/01/2010. More info below under Accruals.
Subjects: Consumer movement
Languages: English
Richard Morse was born in Grinell, Iowa, on December 27, 1916. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin (1938), conducted graduate studies at the University of Chicago, Iowa State and Columbia University and received a Ph.D. from Iowa State University (1942). Following distinguished service with the U.S. Navy in World War II, Morse held teaching positions at Iowa State (1945-47), Florida State University (1947-55), and Kansas State University (1955-87), where he served as professor and head of the Department of Family Economics.
With a background in family and home economics, Morse served as a lifelong advocate for families and consumers and, eventually, became nationally and internationally known as a giant in the field of protecting consumer rights. Many of Morse’s most notable accomplishments involved his tireless efforts to have legislation passed on the federal and state levels to benefit citizens in the areas of truth-in-savings and truth-in-lending, including serving as a consumer and banking counselor for the United States Congress and Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. A "crusader" for the consumer, Morse held numerous important positions on the local, regional, and national levels including, President of Consumer Education and Protection Association for Kansans, twenty years of service on the Board of Directors of Consumers Union, appointee to Presidents John Kennedy’s and Lyndon Johnson’s U.S. Consumer Advisory Council, a founding member of the Kansas Citizens Council on Aging, member of the Governor's Advisory Council on Aging, and Commissioner of the Manhattan Urban Renewal Agency. In 1987, Richard Morse donated his personal papers to the Special Collections Department of K-State's Libraries and collaborated with the staff to establish the Consumer Movement Archives as a repository for the collections of consumer leaders and organizations.
Following Richard Morse's retirement from K-State in 1987, he and wife, Marjorie, dedicated their time and energy to improving the K-State Libraries through their service as co-chairs of the Essential Edge fund-raising campaign (1988-1993), leaders in the Friends of the K-State Libraries organization, and by enhancing the collections and programs of the Special Collections Department. In recognition of their financial support of Special Collections and involvement with the Consumer Movement Archives, the Richard L.D and Marjorie J. Morse Department of Special Collections was named in their honor in 1997. During K-State's commencement activities in 2000, the College of Human Ecology bestowed its initial Public Policy Award upon Richard Morse, and a Marjorie J. and Richard L. D. Morse Family and Community Public Policy Scholarhip was established jointly by the Libraries, College of Human Ecology, College of Business Administration, College of Arts and Sciences, and Leadership Studies. Reports written by scholarship recipients may be viewed on the Kansas State Research Exchange (K-REx).
Richard Morse passed away on June 3, 2000. Marjorie Morse followed a few years later, dying on March 4, 2003.
Repository: Morse Department of Special Collections
Accruals: This is an addition to the original donation made by Richard L. D. Morse.
Access Restrictions: No restrictions.
Use Restrictions: The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel law as they apply.
Physical Access Note: No restrictions.
Technical Access Note: The cassette tapes, video tapes, computer disks, LPs, and Reel-to-Reel tapes will require an appropriate player, viewer, and speakers.
Acquisition Source: Nancy Morse
Acquisition Method: Donation.
Appraisal Information: Documents arrived after the original donation of Richard L. D. Morse's papers.
Related Materials:
NOTE: Richard Morse's original donation is in the process of being added to the Archon system. Currently, the finding aid for the materials is located at http://www.lib.k-state.edu/depts/sc_rev/findaids/pc1987-11.php. The Richard L.D. Morse Papers (1933-1995) spans 115 linear feet (218 boxes), consisting primarily of correspondence, academic files, documents relating to advocacy groups and both state and federal legislation, published articles, printed material, newspaper clippings, speeches, and subject files. The papers have been organized into twenty-five separate series with respect to the original order of the papers. The series are: 1) Correspondence, 2) Kansas State University Correspondence, 3) Iowa State University Academic Records, 4) Florida State University Academic Records, 5) Kansas State University Academic Records, 6) Truth-in-Savings, 7) International Organizations, 8) National Organizations, 9) State Organizations, 10) Conferences, 11) Literary Works-Dissertations at Kansas State University, 12) Literary Works-Thesis Reports at Kansas State University, 13) General Literary Works, 14) The Federal Executive and Legislative Branch Office, 15) State of Kansas Government Documents, 16) Richard L.D. Morse Speeches, 17) Alphabetical Speeches by Others, 18) Reports and Publications-Printed Material, 19) Studies/Research-Printed Material, 20) Homemaker/Home Health Aid Service Reports-Printed Material, 21) Newsletters/Bulletins-Printed Material, 22) Newspapers and Clippings-Printed Material, 23) Subject Files, 24) Study: Savings Advertisement Analysis, 25) Journals and Magazines.
The following selected sources provide additional information on Consumer Movement:
Agan (Anna Tessie) Papers
American Council on Consumer Interests
American Council on Consumer Interests (Metzen Addition)
Americans for Fairness in Lending
Brooks (Thomas) Collection
Brunn (George) Collection
Consumer Federation of America
Dartland (Walter T.) papers
Hawkins (Nancy) Collecion
Kiesling (Roy) Papers
Mason (Florence) Collection
Meyer (Louis S.) Papers
National Consumer Law center (NCLC) Records
Shields (Currin V.) Papers
Williams (Alma) papers
Wilner (Dorothy K.) Papers
Preferred Citation: [Item title], [item date], Richard L. D. Morse papers, Box [number], Folder [number or title], Morse Department of Special Collections, Consumer Movement Archives, Kansas State University Libraries.
Processing Information: This collection was processed at the series level.
