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Did you know? John Morton-Finney (June 25, 1889 – January 28, 1998) was an American civil rights activist, lawyer, and educator who earned eleven academic degrees, including five law degrees.
He spent most of his career as an educator and lawyer after serving from 1911 to 1914 in the U.S. Army as a member of the 24th Infantry Regiment, better known as the Buffalo soldiers, and with the American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I. Morton-Finney taught languages at Fisk University in Tennessee and at Lincoln University in Missouri, before moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, where he taught in the Indianapolis Public Schools for forty-seven years.
Morton-Finney was a member of the original faculty at Indianapolis's Crispus Attucks High School when it opened in 1927 and later became head of its foreign language department. He also taught at Shortridge High School and at other IPS schools. Morton-Finney was admitted as a member of the Bar of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1935, as a member of the Bar of the U.S. District Court in 1941, and was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972.
When Morton-Finney retired from practicing law on June 25, 1996, at the age of 107, he was believed to have been the oldest practicing attorney in the United States. At the time of his death in 1998 he was Indiana's oldest veteran. Morton-Finney was honored with numerous honorary awards and certificates, including one from the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989, in addition to being commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (1991) from the Governor of Kentucky and named a recipient of a Sagamore of the Wabash award from the Governor of Indiana. He also received distinguished alumni and graduate awards from Indiana University and was inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame (1991). In addition, the Indianapolis Bar Association and Butler University presents awards named in his honor.
Morton-Finney died on January 28, 1998, at the age of 108.
He was buried with full military honors at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana.
At the time of his death, Morton-Finney was Indiana's oldest veteran.
Morton-Finney was recognized during his lifetime for his public service contributions with honorary awards and certificates from Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (June 9, 1989), the Indianapolis Public Schools (May 22, 1990), Harvard University, the Indianapolis City Council (1995), and the Mayor of Indianapolis, in addition to being commissioned a Kentucky Colonel (1991) from the Governor of Kentucky and a recipient of a Sagamore of the Wabash award from the Governor of Indiana. Morton-Finney also received distinguished alumni and graduate awards from Indiana University and was inducted into the National Bar Association Hall of Fame (1991).
John Morton-Finney was born on June 25, 1889, to a former slave father and a free mother, George and Maryatta "Mattie" (Gordon) Morton-Finney, in Uniontown, Kentucky, and was one of the family's seven children. After the death of his mother in 1903, when John was fourteen, his father was unable to care for the children and sent them live with their grandfather on his farm in Missouri.
Prior to his enlistment in the U.S. Army in 1911, Morton-Finney was enrolled at Lincoln College in Jefferson City, Missouri. After his return to the United States in 1914, Morton-Finney resumed his studies at Lincoln College, where he met and married Pauline Angeline Ray (November 19, 1889 – September 3, 1975) of Geneva, New York. Ray was a graduate of Cornell University and a French teacher at Lincoln College. The couple moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1922 and, later, had a daughter, Gloria Ann Morton-Finney. John and Pauline Morton-Finney were married for more than fifty-two years.
In recognition to his years as a legal professional the Indianapolis Bar Association presents awards to local lawyers for their leadership in legal education in Morton-Finney's honor.
Butler University presents an award in Morton-Finney honor to students who demonstrate leadership in promoting "diversity and inclusion in their schools or communities.”
