Raymond C. Morrison

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Raymond C. Morrison — and friend, this is a story worth hearing. September 13, 1900.

A boy named Raymond C. Morrison comes into the world in Alworth, Illinois, born to Phillip Huntley and Edith Adella Morrison. Nobody in Alworth, Illinois could have guessed that this child would one day shape the green landscape of a Texas city — but that's exactly what happened.

On February 28, 1924, Raymond married Helen Estelle Steele. Then, just a few months later, on June 9 of that same year, he graduated from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. He and Helen would go on to have two children together.

A man with a new family, a fresh diploma, and the whole country spread out in front of him. Now here's where Fort Worth enters the picture. Come January of 1926, Raymond C.

Morrison stepped into a role that had never existed before in that city — Fort Worth's very first city forester. The first. No one had held the job before him, which means he was essentially building something from nothing, and what he built was considerable.

His most prominent works were an arboretum and a municipally rose garden in Rock Springs Park — and not just any rose garden. A nationally recognized one. The kind that put Fort Worth on the map in horticultural circles.

That park later became the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in 1934, and Morrison's fingerprints were all over it. But a man like Morrison doesn't stay still for long. In December of 1938, he resigned his position to form a landscape architecture firm alongside Eugene Carter.

And barely six months later, in July of 1939, he was named director of Holland's Southern Institute for Town Service — an organization initiated specifically to address the economic conditions of the South, problems that had been laid out plainly in the National Emergency Council's own report. Then March of 1941 brought another turn: Morrison became the federal coordinator with the Federal Security Agency's Office of Coordinator for Health, Welfare, and Related Defense Activities. The titles kept growing longer; the work kept getting bigger.

By 1947, he pulled back from the federal world and focused on his own business ventures — a soil company, and a turkey ranch. Now there's a pivot for you. From rose gardens to federal coordination to turkey ranching.

The man contained multitudes. In 1951, he came back into public service as the southwest regional representative for community services with the U.S. Air Force.

And somewhere in the midst of all this, during his time as chairman of the Educational Committee of the American Institute of Park Executives, he co-authored a book called Let's Go to the Park with a woman named Myrtle E. Huff. Beyond the titles and the positions, Morrison was known for his public speaking, his photography, his magazine and journal articles, and the various community groups he started.

He was, by any measure, a man who believed in building things — physical, civic, written, communal. Late in life, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Raymond C.

Morrison died of pneumonia on April 12, 1989. And his ashes were spread at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. The place he helped create.

The place that grew from a rose garden in Rock Springs Park into something the whole city tends and visits and loves. That's where he rests. Not a bad ending for the man who was Fort Worth's very first city forester.

What the marker says

Raymond C. Morrison was born on Sep. 13, 1900 in Alworth, Illinois, to Phillip Huntley and Edith Adella (Cleveland) Morrison. On Jun. 9, 1924, he graduated from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. Morrison married Helen Estelle Steele on Feb. 28, 1924, and they had two children. Morrison is noted for being Fort Worth’s first city forester, beginning Jan. 1926. His most prominent works were an arboretum and a nationally-recognized municipal rose garden in Rock Springs Park, which later became Fort Worth Botanic Garden in 1934. He resigned in Dec. 1938 to form a landscape architecture firm with Eugene Carter. Morrison was named director of Holland’s Southern Institute for Town Service in Jul. 1939 which was initiated as a way to address issues pointed out in the National Emergency Council’s report on the South’s economic conditions. In Mar. 1941, Morrison became federal coordinator with the Federal Security Agency’s Office of Coordinator for Health, Welfare, and Related Defense Activities. In 1947, he focused on his own business ventures including a soil company and turkey ranch. In 1951, he became the southwest regional representative for community services with the U.S. Air Force. During his term as chairman of the Educational Committee of the American Institute of Park Executives, he co-authored the book Let’s Go to the Park with Myrtle E. Huff. Morrison was also known for his public speaking, photography, magazine and journal articles, and the various community groups he started. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and died of pneumonia on Apr. 12, 1989. His ashes were spread at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. 175 Years of Texas Independence 1836 - 2011