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==Early life==
==Early life==
Florence Elizabeth "Bess" Gearhart was born in [[Curllsville, Pennsylvania]], and raised near [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], the daughter of James Randolph Gearhart and Emaline Miller Gearhart. Her father was a Methodist minister, and as a girl she would sometimes play organ at the services he conducted. She attended the Columbia College of Expression in [[Chicago]],<ref name="LBObit">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9732861/independent/ "Bess Morrison Era Ends"] ''Independent'' (June 26, 1968): 28. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> and earned a Bachelor of Elocution degree from [[Nebraska Wesleyan University]] in 1902.<ref>Nebraska Wesleyan University, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uxZHAQAAMAAJ&dq=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&f=false ''Catalogue''] (1902): 111.</ref>
Florence Elizabeth "Bess" Gearhart was born in [[Curllsville, Pennsylvania]], and raised near [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], the daughter of James Randolph Gearhart and Emaline Miller Gearhart. Her father was a Methodist minister, and as a girl she would sometimes play organ at the services he conducted. She attended the Columbia College of Expression in [[Chicago]],<ref name="LBObit">[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9732861/independent/ "Bess Morrison Era Ends"] ''Independent'' (June 26, 1968): 28. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> and earned a Bachelor of Elocution degree from [[Nebraska Wesleyan University]] in 1902.<ref>Nebraska Wesleyan University, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uxZHAQAAMAAJ&dq=Bess+Gearhart+Morrison&pg=PA111 ''Catalogue''] (1902): 111.</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Bess Gearhart Morrison was a teacher in her teen years, at a small schoolhouse in rural Nebraska.<ref name="LBObit" /> She was best known as a speaker touring on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits, as well as churches, schools, teachers' institutes and professional meetings. She recited poetry, told stories, and reproduced whole plays from the platform, for audiences across North America.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA11-PA13&dq=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&pg=RA9-PA18#v=onepage&q=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&f=false "Readers Still Wanted"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (March 1919): 18.</ref> "She is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers and dramatic readers now on the platform," a California newspaper noted in 1919. "There is an atmosphere about her work that is helpful, healthful and invigorating."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22504769/bess_gearhart_morrison_1919/ "Bess Gearhart Morrison"] ''Woodland Daily Democrat'' (May 14, 1919): 4. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref>
Bess Gearhart Morrison was a teacher in her teen years, at a small schoolhouse in rural Nebraska.<ref name="LBObit" /> She was best known as a speaker touring on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits, as well as churches, schools, teachers' institutes and professional meetings. She recited poetry, told stories, and reproduced whole plays from the platform, for audiences across North America.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bess+Gearhart+Morrison&pg=RA9-PA18 "Readers Still Wanted"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (March 1919): 18.</ref> "She is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers and dramatic readers now on the platform," a California newspaper noted in 1919. "There is an atmosphere about her work that is helpful, healthful and invigorating."<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22504769/bess_gearhart_morrison_1919/ "Bess Gearhart Morrison"] ''Woodland Daily Democrat'' (May 14, 1919): 4. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref>


In 1918, she was tapped to head the drama program at the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA11-PA13&dq=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&pg=RA2-PA33#v=onepage&q=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&f=false "Leopold Godowsky to Conduct Master School"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (August 1918): 33.</ref> She also organized and coached other touring acts, such as "The Old-Fashioned Girls", a quartet of young women singing songs and wearing costumes from the era of the [[American Civil War]] for gatherings of veterans,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA11-PA13&dq=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&pg=PA63#v=onepage&q=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&f=false "The Old Fashioned Girls"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (September 1918): 62.</ref> and "The International Trio", a concert group of European musicians.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&lpg=RA11-PA13&dq=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&pg=RA6-PA36#v=onepage&q=Bess%20Gearhart%20Morrison&f=false "Over the Lyceum and Chautauqua Field"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (December 1918): 36.</ref>
In 1918, she was tapped to head the drama program at the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bess+Gearhart+Morrison&pg=RA2-PA33 "Leopold Godowsky to Conduct Master School"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (August 1918): 33.</ref> She also organized and coached other touring acts, such as "The Old-Fashioned Girls", a quartet of young women singing songs and wearing costumes from the era of the [[American Civil War]] for gatherings of veterans,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bess+Gearhart+Morrison&pg=PA63 "The Old Fashioned Girls"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (September 1918): 62.</ref> and "The International Trio", a concert group of European musicians.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rmjlAAAAMAAJ&dq=Bess+Gearhart+Morrison&pg=RA6-PA36 "Over the Lyceum and Chautauqua Field"] ''Lyceum Magazine'' (December 1918): 36.</ref>


Morrison starred in one silent film, ''The Miracle of Money'' (1920). In 1926, she played the central "World Spirit" in a missionary society pageant featuring children of various nationalities, in Lincoln.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22504938/bess_gearhart_morrison_1926/ "Pageant at Assembly"] ''Lincoln Journal Star'' (August 9, 1926): 2. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> She continued giving readings and performances through the 1930s,<ref>[https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/adl:420774/datastream/PDF/view "Mrs. Morrison to Read 'Shadows of the Years'"] ''The Clock Tower'' (November 23, 1933): 1.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22508852/bess_gearhart_morrison_1936/ "Tells Woman's Club of M'Guffy Readers"] ''Nebraska State Journal'' (November 3, 1936): 5. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> and into the 1940s.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22505129/bess_gearhart_morrison_1941/ "L. P. A. Sponsors Lecture March 11"] ''Fayette County Leader'' (February 27, 1941): 1. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref>
Morrison starred in one silent film, ''The Miracle of Money'' (1920). In 1926, she played the central "World Spirit" in a missionary society pageant featuring children of various nationalities, in Lincoln.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22504938/bess_gearhart_morrison_1926/ "Pageant at Assembly"] ''Lincoln Journal Star'' (August 9, 1926): 2. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> She continued giving readings and performances through the 1930s,<ref>[https://adventistdigitallibrary.org/islandora/object/adl:420774/datastream/PDF/view "Mrs. Morrison to Read 'Shadows of the Years'"] ''The Clock Tower'' (November 23, 1933): 1.</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22508852/bess_gearhart_morrison_1936/ "Tells Woman's Club of M'Guffy Readers"] ''Nebraska State Journal'' (November 3, 1936): 5. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref> and into the 1940s.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/22505129/bess_gearhart_morrison_1941/ "L. P. A. Sponsors Lecture March 11"] ''Fayette County Leader'' (February 27, 1941): 1. via [[Newspapers.com]]{{open access}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 20:08, 14 March 2023

Bess Gearhart Morrison, from a 1917 promotional brochure.

Bess Gearhart Morrison (June 24, 1875 – June 24, 1968) was an American actress and educator, and a speaker on the Chautauqua and lyceum adult education circuits.

Early life

[edit]

Florence Elizabeth "Bess" Gearhart was born in Curllsville, Pennsylvania, and raised near Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of James Randolph Gearhart and Emaline Miller Gearhart. Her father was a Methodist minister, and as a girl she would sometimes play organ at the services he conducted. She attended the Columbia College of Expression in Chicago,[1] and earned a Bachelor of Elocution degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1902.[2]

Career

[edit]

Bess Gearhart Morrison was a teacher in her teen years, at a small schoolhouse in rural Nebraska.[1] She was best known as a speaker touring on the Chautauqua and lyceum circuits, as well as churches, schools, teachers' institutes and professional meetings. She recited poetry, told stories, and reproduced whole plays from the platform, for audiences across North America.[3] "She is undoubtedly one of the best entertainers and dramatic readers now on the platform," a California newspaper noted in 1919. "There is an atmosphere about her work that is helpful, healthful and invigorating."[4]

In 1918, she was tapped to head the drama program at the Ellison-White Conservatory of Music in Portland, Oregon.[5] She also organized and coached other touring acts, such as "The Old-Fashioned Girls", a quartet of young women singing songs and wearing costumes from the era of the American Civil War for gatherings of veterans,[6] and "The International Trio", a concert group of European musicians.[7]

Morrison starred in one silent film, The Miracle of Money (1920). In 1926, she played the central "World Spirit" in a missionary society pageant featuring children of various nationalities, in Lincoln.[8] She continued giving readings and performances through the 1930s,[9][10] and into the 1940s.[11]

Personal life

[edit]

Bess Gearhart married Lorenzo Duer Morrison in 1900; they had children Donald (1902-1958), Margaret (1907–1962), and Elizabeth (born and died 1914). She was widowed in 1950 and moved from Nebraska to Long Beach, California.[12] She died in a nursing home in Whittier, California in 1968, aged 93 years.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "Bess Morrison Era Ends" Independent (June 26, 1968): 28. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  2. ^ Nebraska Wesleyan University, Catalogue (1902): 111.
  3. ^ "Readers Still Wanted" Lyceum Magazine (March 1919): 18.
  4. ^ "Bess Gearhart Morrison" Woodland Daily Democrat (May 14, 1919): 4. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  5. ^ "Leopold Godowsky to Conduct Master School" Lyceum Magazine (August 1918): 33.
  6. ^ "The Old Fashioned Girls" Lyceum Magazine (September 1918): 62.
  7. ^ "Over the Lyceum and Chautauqua Field" Lyceum Magazine (December 1918): 36.
  8. ^ "Pageant at Assembly" Lincoln Journal Star (August 9, 1926): 2. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  9. ^ "Mrs. Morrison to Read 'Shadows of the Years'" The Clock Tower (November 23, 1933): 1.
  10. ^ "Tells Woman's Club of M'Guffy Readers" Nebraska State Journal (November 3, 1936): 5. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  11. ^ "L. P. A. Sponsors Lecture March 11" Fayette County Leader (February 27, 1941): 1. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  12. ^ "Rites Set for Mrs. Morrison, Ex-Lincolnite" Lincoln Star (June 27, 1968): 21. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
[edit]
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