James H. Morrison - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Morrison died of a heart attack after a series of strokes. His last residence was in Loranger in northern Tangipahoa Parish. He is interred at the Episcopal Church Cemetery in Hammond. U.S. 51, a main north-south thoroughfare through Hammond, was renamed Morrison Boulevard in honor of the congressman.

Morrison donated his congressional papers to the Archives and Special Collections Department of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond. His photographic collection of national leaders, family, and campaign events are displayed in the Linus A. Sims Memorial Library in what is called the "Morrison Room". Linus A. Sims, the founder of Southeastern University, was the father of Morrison's former law partner, Joseph Sims. After the donation of his papers to SEU, Morrison valued this donation at $1.6 million dollars and attempted to take a income tax reduction of over $61,100 over a five-year period. The United States Tax Court held that Morrison failed to establish the claimed deduction. On appeal, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the Tax Court.

Morrison patronized the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies at Southeastern University. In 1995, Dr. John Miller, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, inaugurated the annual James H. Morrison Lecture on Politics and Government at Southeastern. Political figures from both parties have delivered Morrison lectures, including former Democratic U.S. Senator John B. Breaux and Jack A. "Jay" Blossman, Jr., the Republican former chairman of the Louisiana Public Service Commission.