Dr. Lonnie Leotus "Lee" Morrison:

 Trailblazer of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)

Venus Williams. Pat Summitt. Jennie Finch. Lisa Leslie. Michelle Wie. Danica Patrick. All of these women have achieved unprecedented success in their respective disciplines, becoming idols to aspiring young athletes and household names to even the most casual American sports fans. What these phenomenal female athletes may not know is that they likely owe their athletic opportunities to a true trailblazer whose name most sports enthusiasts would not recognize: Dr. Lee Morrison.

Born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1926, Lonnie Leotus “Lee” Morrison was a self-proclaimed “tomboy” from the start, although organized sports opportunities for girls were relatively nonexistent.¹ In the absence of organized sports, Morrison spent her youth becoming an accomplished equestrian and trying every activity that even remotely involved athletics, including roller skating, bike riding, and thoroughly unorganized neighborhood baseball. Finally in high school, Morrison had the opportunity to try more traditional sports like swimming, tennis, and softball. She was hooked.²

Morrison began her career in athletics administration early, being elected president of the Women’s Athletic Association at Ward Belmont Junior College during her time as a student there. A strong proponent for the necessity of education, Morrison quickly earned her bachelor’s of science degree in education from Georgia State College for Women, her master’s degree from George Peabody College, and her doctoral degree in physical education from Indiana University. Armed with this impressive academic background, she set out to coach and teach, determined to help others, particularly women, achieve their dreams through education and exercise.

After spending time teaching in South Carolina, Morrison came to Virginia’s Madison College, now James Madison University (JMU), enticed by the fact that the school offered sports for women. Slowly but surely, she became involved in the Madison intercollegiate athletics program, coaching field hockey for 17 years, dabbling in the coaching of a number of other sports and eventually acting as director of women’s intercollegiate sports from 1972 to 1989. During her time at Madison, Morrison’s prowess and passion as a champion of women’s athletics began to gain recognition in the larger world of sport. Soon, major organizations beyond Madison began seeking Morrison’s talent and expertise.

Dr. Morrison played a pivotal role in the two events that significantly contributed to increased opportunities for female athletes: the interpretation and promotion of Title IX and the establishment of a collegiate national championship system for women’s sports. From 1970 to 1973, she acted as a founding member and the first president of the Virginia Federation for Intercollegiate Sports for College Women, an organization that spawned the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) of which she was also a president and founding member. The AIAW, a passionate and pioneering organization, supported and sponsored collegiate athletics for women so successfully that the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), historically opposed to overseeing women’s national collegiate championships, began to accept their merit and eventually sponsor them. Following this groundbreaking work, Dr. Morrison and a small number of athletic directors were summoned to Washington by the Honorable Joseph A. Califano, U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare, in order to assist with “properly” interpreting and promoting Title IX. Dr. Morrison’s outstanding and inspired work with this group paved the way for the modern era of equity and equality through athletic activities.³ Millions of women, young and old alike, have found their lives touched by the opportunities that Dr. Morrison’s work has afforded them.

As if these accomplishments weren’t stellar enough, Dr. Morrison has also been feted with numerous honors and Hall of Fame inductions. She has served in a number of roles on the United States Olympic Committee, acted as the president of the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport (NAGWS), and has been a speaker at the First International Congress on Women and Sport in the Americas. She has traveled to Germany, Venezuela, France, and Greece as an ambassador for the benefits of sporting opportunities for women.⁴

Though Dr. Morrison traveled the globe promoting the importance of athletic opportunities for women, JMU has always held a special place in her heart. In 2004, JMU honored her contributions to the university and the women of Virginia with the opening of The Morrison-Bruce Center for the Promotion of Physical Activity for Girls and Women, a community and research center that fully embodies all of the philosophies that Dr. Morrison has made her life’s work. Upon the Center’s opening, Dr. Morrison was asked what advice she might offer to today’s girls and young women. She offered these thoughts: “Include some physical activity in your lifestyle as young as you can and find groups (co-ed and female) for participation. And if you don’t know a sport or skill, don’t be bashful. More than likely the others are also. Be brave.”⁵

Dr. Lee Morrison has certainly been brave over the course of her 50-plus-year career in athletics administration. Never looking for a fight, but also never backing down from her convictions, Dr. Morrison and her colleagues have truly paved the way for the hundreds of thousands of young, female athletes who have benefited from Title IX and the newly available funding and support for women’s athletics. Female athletes, from those little girls busting a move on their first skateboard to the women on the Olympic podium singing the National Anthem, owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Morrison. The greatest honor they afford her is to instill courage, passion, and drive into the next generation of women in sports.

Notes

[1] Sean Coughlin, “Morrison a Pioneer for Female Sports,” Savannah Morning News, May 2, 2008.

2 “Lonnie Leotus ‘Lee’ Morrison—A Women’s Sports Rights Trailblazer,” Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame Biography, emailed to author, April 7, 2008.

3 Betty Jaynes, Nomination Letter—Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame, emailed to author, April 7, 2008.

4 Sports Accomplishments, Nomination Form—Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame, emailed to author, April 7, 2008.

5 “Dr. Lee Morrison,” Notable Women, JMU: The Morrison-Bruce Center for the Promotion of Physical Activity for Girls & Women, http://www.jmu.edu/kinesiology/cppagw/leemorrison.html 

This excerpt was written by Catherine Lahey.