William McCutchan Morrison papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
Washington and Lee University, Leyburn Library
Special Collections and Archives
James G. Leyburn Library
Washington and Lee University
204 W. Washington Street
Lexington, VA 24450
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Tom Camden
Phone: (540) 458-8649
Phone: (540) 463-8109
Fax: (540) 463-8964
Restrictions:

This collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

The materials from Washington and Lee University Special Collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user assumes full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used should be fully credited with the source.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William McCutchan Morrison Papers (WLU Coll. 0149), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.

Summary

Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet 3 document cases
Creator:
Morrison, W. M. (William McCutchan), 1867-1918
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William McCutchan Morrison Papers (WLU Coll. 0149), Special Collections and Archives, James G. Leyburn Library, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains correspondence, sermons, personal notes, and photos of Dr. William McCutchan Morrison. The majority of the letters were written by Morrison to his mother, Mary A. Morrison. A number of letters were written by him to his siblings. Miscellaneous family papers are included as well, such as a letter by an unidentified Liberty Hall Volunteer. The correspondence is largely about his dealings and life in Congo, primarily regarding his missionary work. The included photos are of life in Congo during the missionary work of Morrison. Researchers should be advised that the collection includes images of the Congolese people which bear witness to the physical brutality they suffered under the regime of King Leopold II of Belgium. The sermons are Dr. Morrison's theological teachings. Some sermons were written in what Morrison described as the "native" language.

This collection guide does not account for the various artifacts that were donated alongside the papers. The artifacts will be assessed and described at a later time. They include a Congolese shell-beaded mask, textiles, a carved decorated wooden cup, Congolese bow and arrows, iron arrow points, iron spear point and a hatchet and other small items. There is also an American Civil War period Confederate manufactured leather cartridge box and sling likely used in the Civil War by Morrison's father James L. Morrison or more likely his uncle Heny R. Morrison who served in the Washington College's Co. I, 4th Va. Infantry.

Morrison's iron trunk for his papers while in Belgian Congo is also included in the collection.

Morrison's uncle, Henry Ruffner Morrison, was in the Liberty Hall Volunteers unit and is mentioned in the letter.

Biographical / historical:

Dr. William McCutchan Morrison was born near Lexington, Virginia on November 10, 1867. He attended Washington and Lee University and graduated in 1887, later graduating from the Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky in 1895. He was sent to the American Presbyterian Congo Mission and worked there until his death in 1918. Dr. Morrison published the Grammar and Dictionary of the Buluba-Lulua Language in 1906. He publicly condemned the exploitation and mistreatment of the Congolese people under King Leopold II. The Belgian state-run Kasai Rubber Company sued Morrison and his colleague William H. Sheppard for libel in 1909. Their acquittal led to several reforms. Both he and his wife, Bertha Stebbins, are buried in Luebo, the town in the Congo where they lived.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Morrison descendants in March 2025
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard