True Life Tuesday: John Morton-Finney

The story of John Morton-Finney is an amazing one. hw was a lawyer, educator and civil rights advocate who earned 11 degrees during his lifetime. It sounds like this man was quite an amazing person.

John Morton-Finney was born on June 25, 1889 in Uniontown Kentucky. He was one of the 7 children born to freed slave George and freed woman Maryalta "Mattie" (Gordon) Morton Finney. His mother passed away in 1903 and his father was not able to care for the children. He sent them to live with their grandfather in Missouri.

In 1911 when he was 22 he enlisted in the Army. He was a member of the famous Buffalo Soldiers and was stationed in the Philippines. He moved up the ranks but was denied an officer's commission due to racial discrimination. He also served in France during World War I.

In 1914 he returned to the United States and enrolled in Lincoln College in Missouri. While there he met and married Pauline Angeline Ray who was a French teacher at the school. They were married for 52 years and had one daughter. The degrees that John earned were in law, French, math and history. He was fluent in French, Latin, Greek and Spanish and was conversant in German and Portuguese. 

Eventually John and his wife moved to Indianapolis. There he was a teacher in the Indianapolis Public Schools for 47 years. While teaching he would help students with life skills, applying for scholarships and he invited president's of black colleges to speak to students. He also practiced law in Indianapolis. He was admitted to the Indiana bar in 1935. He retired from practicing law on his 107th birthday. 

John Morton-Finney dies on January 28, 1998 at the age of 108. He was buried with full military honors in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. He received many posthumous awards. These included awards from the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court (1989), the Indianapolis Public School (1190), Harvard University (1995), the Mayor of Indianapolis and many more.