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, his 107th birthday, 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 United States 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 present awards named in his honor.
Early life and family
Born Morton Finney on June 25, 1889, to a former slave father and a free mother, George and Maryatta "Mattie" (Gordon) 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 to 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.
Military service
Morton-Finney enrolled at Lincoln College in Missouri, but his education was interrupted by military service. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1911, becoming a member of the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment (a regiment of African American soldiers, better known as Buffalo soldiers) and served in the Philippines. Morton-Finney was promoted to the rank of corporal and sergeant, but was denied an officer's commission due to racial discrimination. He received an honorable discharge and returned to the United States in 1914. Morton-Finney also served as an infantryman in the American Expeditionary Force in 1918 in France during World War I. During World War II, he was cited for directing the rationing tickets program for African Americans in Indianapolis.
Education
Morton-Finney had a lifelong interest in education, earning eleven academic degrees in law, French, mathematics, and history. After his military service in the Philippines in 1914, he returned to Lincoln College in Missouri, where he resumed his education and met his wife, Pauline, who was also an educator at the college. His education was disrupted again with military service in 1918, this time serving in France during World War I, but continued his education following his return to the United States.