Frederic Morrow made history on July 9, 1955 after he was appointed as the first Black executive to serve in the White House. Under President Dwight Eisenhower, the New Jersey native was the Administrative Officer for Special Projects from 1955 to 1961.
Morrow was born in 1909 in Hackensack, attending high school in the Bergen County city. He attended Bowdoin College from 1926 to 1930 but didn’t complete his studies in order to work and help support his family. He took work at the National Urban League before becoming a field secretary for the NAACP.
In 1942 during World War II, Morrow enlisted in the U.S. Army but was never deployed. He achieved the rank of Major before he was discharged in 1946. Two years later, Morrow earned a law degree from Rutgers University; he was also awarded an L.L.D. degree from Bowdoin in 1970, according to historical accounts.
In 1952, the Alpha man began working under President Eisenhower in a low-level position. When the opportunity came in 1955 for him to become the first Black aide to a president, the road ahead would prove tough, as race relations were tense, along with the fact Morrow was the lone African-American White House employee of significance.
After leaving the post, Morrow went on to eventually become the first Black vice president for Bank of America before retiring in 1975. Morrow passed in 1994.
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