Daniel Edgar Morgan (1877-1949) was born at Oak Hill, Jackson County, Ohio. His parents, Elias Morgan and Elizabeth Jones Morgan, were both descended from Welsh immigrants. Morgan attended Marietta College from 1893 to 1895 and transferred to Oberlin College where he graduated in 1897 with a B.A. degree. At Oberlin he was also elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He entered Harvard Law School and graduated cum laude in 1901.
Morgan's legal and subsequent political career began that same year when he came to Cleveland. He became a partner with the firm of Garfield, Garfield and Howe. James R. Garfield and Harry A. Garfield were the eldest sons of the twentieth president of the United States. Frederic C. Howe was a vigorous supporter of Cleveland's mayor Tom L. Johnson. All three partners were active in politics and early city reform movements.
This orientation to the political environment of Cleveland induced Morgan to seek and gain election in 1909 as councilman from the Twelfth Ward, a position which he held until 1912. In 1912 he became the first president of the City Club of Cleveland and the following year a member of the Cleveland Charter Commission. In 1913 he became a trustee of Goodrich House Social Settlement, becoming a trustee for life in 1935 in honor of his services. Through his involvement with Goodrich House, he came into contact with the Consumers League and was elected a trustee in 1916. In the 1930s and 1940s when the Consumers League needed support for gaining social welfare legislation, they found Morgan a strong friend.
Morgan again entered politics as a Republican candidate for the Ohio Senate, winning election in 1928. His record in the senate revealed that he could take unpopular and sometimes difficult positions. One notable instance was his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan and nativist groups that backed the Clark anti-alien bill. His voting record also revealed his concern with an urban point of view. In the senate with a majority of its members from rural communities, Morgan often encountered senators who did not adequately appreciate the problems of a large city in their enactment of legislation.
On January 14, 1930, Morgan was appointed by the City Council to the office of Cleveland city manager. As city manager Morgan addressed himself to major city problems such as unemployment, the improvement of sewage treatment facilities, the building of Municipal Stadium, and racial tensions at City Hospital. The unemployment problem grew increasingly severe in Cleveland as the Depression worsened. Morgan tried to cope with the problem by instituting work projects such as the replacement of the Warrensville tuberculosis hospital and improvement of the sewage treatment facilities. Morgan's administration used a large allocation to build a new treatment plant at East 140th Street and to improve facilities at the westside unit. Under Morgan's leadership, Municipal Stadium was built in less than a year. The project had originally been promoted by his predecessor, city manager William R. Hopkins, but continued legal problems and conflict over the site had delayed construction. One of the most difficult problems that faced Morgan was the charge of racial discrimination at City Hospital. He had promised the city's black councilmen that he would investigate such charges and act on the problem. After considering opposing arguments from the administration of City Hospital, he ordered the admission of black nurses and interns to the staff in 1930.
Daniel Morgan continued as city manager until November 8, 1931, when the office was abolished and the City returned to the mayor-council form of government. He was persuaded to run again as a mayoral candidate but lost the election of 1932 by a narrow margin to Ray T. Miller. In 1933 he campaigned for Harry Davis as the mayoral candidate who succeeded Miller to the office.
In 1934 Daniel Morgan conducted an energetic campaign for the office of Governor of Ohio. Because the leadership of the Republican Party became increasingly opposed to him, the confidence of Party leadership was given to Clarence J. Brown who soundly defeated Morgan in the bid for the Party nomination.
After his defeat, Morgan joined other Republicans in a call for party reform. For the next five years, he continued campaigning for candidates, using his influence as a Republican leader to effect change. In May 1939, Governor John W. Bricker appointed Morgan to fill a vacancy on the Eighth District Court of Appeals. Morgan had received unanimous support of Republican County Chairman, George Bender and the Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Bar Associations as well as civic organizations in this appointment.
During the last decade of his life, Daniel Morgan received numerous honorary awards for his long career in public office. After a long and difficult illness, he died on May 1, 1949.
The Daniel Edgar Morgan Papers, Series II, 1920-1932, consist of correspondence, reports, financial records, proposals, publications and newspaper clippings relating to Morgan's tenure as Cleveland City Manager.
The Morgan Papers provide exhaustive information on the functioning of the city of Cleveland, Ohio under the city manager form of government. The activities of various city departments, particularly those of Welfare, Safety, Finance, Public Utilities and Parks and Public Property are detailed in a number of the series. In addition to relating to the more mundane aspects of city administration, such as the purchase of vehicles, repair of streets and water supply system, the Morgan Papers provide extensive information on the problems of a municipality facing the Depression of the 1930s. In particular, the papers relate to city efforts to alleviate the unemployment occasioned by the Depression. Other topics touched upon by the collection include racial discrimination, ethnic political activity and building code revision.
The collection is arranged in forty series.
All photographs have been removed to the WRHS photograph and print collection.
The researcher should also consult MS 3069 Daniel Edgar Morgan Papers.
Processed by Darwyn J. Batway in 1977.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3676 Daniel Edgar Morgan Papers, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Transferred by the City of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1976.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.