Jacob Morris

Jacob Morris (born 1947) is a New York City activist and local historian responsible for many street renamings. He is the head of the Harlem Historical Society and the New York Freedom Trail, an organization which seeks to establish an official government tour of sites connected to the fight against slavery.

Historical activism

Since 2006, Morris has worked diligently to rename and co-name streets after accomplished Black New Yorkers, including Paul Robeson, Ella Baker,

The New York Times wrote that he showed "nonstop zeal" to advance these projects through the local system of community boards. This effort would be inspired by the successful Freedom Trail in Boston that is connected to the Revolutionary War.

Morris said that the trail plan "tells the truth about where we come from and the path we've taken to get to where we are today. We need to know this stuff: the adversity, the things that were surmounted." and the plan received support from Community Board 1 under Julie Menin. and the plan received support from Community Board 1 under Julie Menin. Even then, he wrote a letter to make sure the addition would be historically accurate and appropriate.

He also criticized the de Blasio administration for the placement of some its announced monuments, including for Elizabeth Jennings Graham, Billie Holiday, and the family of Albro Lyons and Mary Lyons.

Another goal of Morris is to name a street after Maya Angelou.

Family history

Morris was born in 1947 in Astoria, Queens. His family was Jewish Greek. The New York Times reported that almost all of his family was killed in the Holocaust due to the Nazi occupation of Greece. In the 1970s, Morris worked in real estate and owned different properties in SoHo, including a video rental chain called "Rare Bird." His tenants implemented a rent strike, forcing him in the 1990s to declare bankruptcy.

While his son Lincoln was in school, Morris started to get involved in politics when he learned that New York City public schools did not have to include in their reports the scores of students assigned as learning disabled.