Making the Difference
The Hugh Morton Collection
Picture A Lifetime
By Hope Baptiste
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| Hugh Morton |
The famed Mildred the Bear atop his own Grandfather Mountain. The fabled “Mile-High Swinging Bridge.” The battleship USS North Carolina. The beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway in the fall. A Michael Jordan high-flying slam dunk. Wildflowers. The Old Well in the spring. The Cape Hatteras Light House.
These pictures are worth a thousand words, and with them the late Hugh Morton spoke volumes. He spent most of his life capturing memorable moments on film so they could be shared and treasured. Today, Morton’s legacy lives on in the University Library’s North Carolina Collection (NCC), a fitting tribute to Morton and an appropriate place for the more than 500,000 photos he amassed over a 65-year career, the vast majority chronicling Morton’s relationship with Carolina and the culture and natural beauty of his home state.
Urged by Bill Friday, UNC president emeritus and close friend, Morton agreed that his vast collection be donated to the library. In 2006, Morton’s wife, Julia, carried out his wishes that served to significantly increase the depth and breadth of the NCC photographic holdings available for viewing, study and research. “The Morton Collection, added to our already outstanding photo archive, has made UNC the broadest and deepest source of photographic images of North Carolina in the 20th century,” said Sarah Michalak, University librarian. “What a treasure trove for scholars, for students and their teachers, for people researching local or family history—for everyone with a strong interest in our state.”
That is no surprise, as Morton’s North Carolina ties run deep and wide. Born in Wilmington, N.C., on Feb. 19, 1921, to Julian Morton and Agnes MacRae Morton, Hugh Morton enjoyed a special relationship with North Carolina. As a child, Morton traveled the state with his family and developed what he had described as a much fuller experience of the state. A gifted photographer with a keen eye, he was also a powerful voice when it came to issues that pitted progress and development against environmental conservation. Morton inherited Grandfather Mountain from his grandfather and namesake, Hugh MacRae, in 1952 and worked earnestly to protect the land and other tourist sites throughout the state, including Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and the sand dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, to name two. He received numerous awards, including from the White House, for his photography and environmental conservation efforts.
Morton got his start in photography, like most other activities or leadership roles he was involved in, by chance. As a teenager at summer camp, he was dubbed a junior counselor and ended up filling in for an absent photography teacher. His first assignment was for the Charlotte Observer when it needed a photo of a young golfer who was also at the camp. Morton began doing sports photos for his high school publications and then, as a freshman, for UNC student publications, including The Daily Tar Heel. Later he served as a combat cameraman in World War II for which he earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Back home, he went on to photograph six presidents, numerous U.S. senators and every North Carolina governor since 1942. His photos appeared on the cover of Newsweek and were featured in Time, the Saturday Evening Post, Sports Illustrated, Collier’s, Life and National Geographic, among others.
Though he left UNC in 1942 for military service, after his return Morton rarely missed a UNC football or basketball game—a passion spanning decades. His legendary photos not only document the past, but also enable future Tar Heels to experience that past as well. Ever the dedicated Tar Heel fan and guardian of Grandfather Mountain, Morton even managed to get former UNC men’s basketball Coach Dean Smith and then-assistant Roy Williams to pose for golf pictures with his beloved Mildred the Bear. Smith said of the memory, “That made me a little nervous, but [Hugh] thought it was fun.”
Morton’s influence firmly resides in the library and in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where he is enshrined in the North Carolina Public Relations Hall of Fame and where a distinguished professorship will inspire future scholarship and teaching of the highest caliber. Established by Julia Morton to celebrate her husband’s life and accomplishments, the Hugh Morton Distinguished Professorship will help the school recruit or retain an outstanding educator and provide scholarly, research or instructional support for its holder.
“My main purpose for establishing this professorship is because there really is no other ‘watchdog’ standing between the citizens of North Carolina and Raleigh and Washington, so it’s important that today’s journalism students know how to ask the hard questions,” Julia Morton said. “What’s more, I can think of no better way to honor Hugh than to enable others to experience and appreciate what he held dear—Grandfather Mountain, the state of North Carolina and the UNC experience.”
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