Azie taylor morton born

Today’s post was written by Billy R. Glasco, Jr., archivist at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

Since the dissolvement of the Freedman’s Bank, the peculiar history of financial institutions and the African American community has been woven into America’s cultural fabric.  This is why the appointment of Azie Taylor Morton to President Jimmy Carter’s administration was, and still is revolutionary.  On September 12,1977, President Carter appointed Azie Taylor Morton Treasurer of the United States.

Azie Taylor Morton was born in the rural town of Dale, Texas on February 1, 1936.  Morton once stated, “I was born to a mother who was deaf and could not speak.

I do not know who my father is or was. The first job I ever had was in a cotton field.” (Canfield, 2001)  Morton was raised along with 14 other children by her maternal grandparents in Caldwell County, Texas.  Like many areas in the rural South in the mid 20th century, there