Mrs. John L. Morris (Marjorie)

Duane's take

The way this marker tells it, here's the story of Mrs. John L. Morris, and I'm passing it along straight from the official record.

Now, most people, if you gave them a blank stretch of West Texas and asked what they saw there, they'd say dust and sky and maybe a pump jack or two. Marjorie Morris looked at that same stretch and saw Elizabethan England. That right there tells you something about the woman.

She was educated at North Texas State University, and she landed on the English faculty at Odessa College, out there in Ector County. You might think that's where the story settles down into something quiet. You would be wrong.

In 1961, the college named her Teacher of the Year. That same year she was honored as an outstanding teacher in Texas colleges. Two honors, one year, and she was just getting warmed up.

Because Marjorie Morris was the originator and promoter of the Globe of the Great Southwest. Say that again slow. The Globe of the Great Southwest.

A replica of the Globe Theater in England, the very house made famous by the plays of William Shakespeare, and not just any replica. The marker calls it the world's most nearly authentic replica. Out in the Permian Basin.

Out in Odessa, Texas. And if that weren't enough, she also founded the Permian Basin Museum. And she founded the area Writers' Roundup contest.

Both of them sponsored by Odessa College, the same institution that had the good sense to call her Teacher of the Year. In 1967 she was recognized in the Outstanding Women of Texas series. Which, honestly, feels like the rest of Texas finally catching up to what Odessa already knew.

Marjorie Morris looked at West Texas and built Shakespeare a new home. Not a bad legacy for an English teacher from Odessa College.

What the marker says

Originator, promoter of the Globe of the Great Southwest, world's most nearly authentic replica of the Globe Theater in England made famous by the plays of William Shakespeare. Mrs. Morris was educated at North Texas State University and joined the English faculty at Odessa College. In 1961 the college named her "Teacher of the Year." She was honored 1961 as an outstanding teacher in Texas colleges. She also founded the Permian Basin Museum and area "Writers' Roundup" contest, both of which are sponsored by Odessa College. Outstanding Women of Texas series - 1967