The City of Tallahassee has officially renamed a road after Leon County Sheriff’s office trailblazer, Major James Morgan Jr. at a ceremony on Monday.
Morgan joined the Leon Sheriff’s Office in 1967. He was just the third Black deputy hired there and eventually became the department’s first black Detective, Lieutenant, Captain and Major. He passed away in 2019.
Several elected officials, dozens of law enforcement members, and Morgan’s extended family were in attendance Monday when Municipal Way was renamed Major James Morgan Jr. Way. Several people spoke, including retired LCSO Major Carl Bennett, a friend of Morgan’s.
“At the beginning of his career, major Morgan encountered many roadblocks. He could not patrol white neighborhoods. He could not arrest white citizens. He could not even do a traffic stop on a white citizen. All he could do was patrol Black neighborhood and arrest Blacks,” he said.
When Morgan joined, the office was segregated. Bennett said Morgan cleared the way for other black law enforcement officers.
“When he would lecture to students at FAMU in criminal justice, they would oftentimes ask, why did you stay and tolerate such racism? He informed them that he tolerated racism because he had a family and also because he wanted to make it better for those who follow behind him,” he said.
Several members of Morgan’s family spoke, including his brother, Albert Bouie.
“He saw his job as an opportunity to protect and serve the whole community of Tallahassee with compassion and dignity. Yes, he broke through the glass ceiling using authority to build people up instead of tearing them down,”
The renaming was previously approved unanimously by the Tallahassee City Commission.