Tommie Morton-Young

Tommie Morton-Young is an educator, activist, author, and historian. After becoming the first African-American to graduate from George Peabody College for Teachers, she went on to work as a librarian and professor in both education and library science. Her human rights activism and work preserving African American history has earned her recognition by a number of organizations in Tennessee.

Education and career as educator A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Morton-Young attended public schools and earned her undergraduate degree cum laude from Tennessee State University.

Morton-Young has worked at a number of government and higher education organizations, including researching for the U.S. Navy Library and transliterating Russian at the Library of Congress. She served as director of the NAACP's Parent Education/Child Advocacy Project. Morton-Young co-chaired the Greensboro Coalition for Unity & Justice, a group of community activists that held demonstrations against the Ku Klux Klan in 1987.

As chairperson of the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, she initiated hearings on pay equity for women and minorities and school placement of students.

Morton-Young has written books on a variety of subjects, including on works on after-school activities for at-risk children, Tennessee history, and African-American history and genealogy. She is the owner and operator of a tour company that focuses on the African-American history of Nashville.

She received the Peabody College Distinguished Alumna Award in 2010; Peabody Dean of Education Camilla Benbow praised her for using "her education to strengthen the lives of children, families and communities, especially those who too often are marginalized". Other recognition includes a 2006 Athena Award from Nashville CABLE (commending professional women), the 2010 Legacy Award from the Scarritt Bennett Center for efforts in eradicating racism, and the Tennessee Achievement Award (from Governor Don Sundquist).