Roland S. Morris

Template:Short description Template:Infobox officeholder Roland Sletor Morris (March 11, 1874 – November 23, 1945) was an American lawyer and diplomat. He was one of the founders of the Philadelphia-based law firm Duane Morris in 1904 and served as the United States Ambassador to Japan from 1917 to 1920.

Early life and education

He was born in Olympia, Washington in 1874 and graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1892.<ref name=Princeton>Roland S. Morris Papers, 1855-1988 (mostly 1915-1929), Princeton University. Accessed September 11, 2023. "Morris attended the Lawrenceville School before entering Princeton University in September 1892."</ref> He received his A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1896 and his L.L.B. degree from the same school in 1899.<ref name=LOC>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

In 1904, he became a member of the law firm Duane, Morris and Heckscher.<ref name=LOC/>

He was appointed United States Ambassador to Japan by Woodrow Wilson<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> on August 1, 1917 and served in that role from October 30, 1917 to May 15, 1920.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On September 20, 1917, a special dinner event was held to honor Morris in his new position as Ambassador to Japan. This event was attended by six hundred guests, including most members of Philadelphia judiciary and other active civic members of the city. The speakers at this diplomatic gathering included: Thomas B. Smith Mayor of Philadelphia, Aimaro Satō Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., Frank Lyon Polk (Counselor for the U.S. Department of State), Alexander Mitchell Palmer (soon to be U.S. Attorney General) and Robert von Moschzisker (Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1921 and Chief Justice from 1921 to 1930). Other prominent guests included U.S. Senators Boies Penrose and Philander C. Knox. The event took place at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Morris conducted a series of negotiations with Kijūrō Shidehara, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, to address alien land laws which limited the ability of Japanese immigrants to achieve full citizenship in the United States.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Morris maintained good relations with Japanese colleagues after his stint as ambassador and welcomed diginitaries such as Tsuneo Matsudaira to present to the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce in 1925.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

He collaborated with Thomas Garrigue Masaryk during World War I in a question about the Czechoslovak Legions.<ref>PRECLÍK, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (TGM and legions), váz. kniha, 219 str., vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karviná) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement in Prague), 2019, Template:ISBN, page 19 - 25, 84, 99, 113, 114, 142</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1934, he lost the Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Senate primary to Joseph Guffey, who was subsequently elected.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He was one of the founding partners of the law firm of Duane Morris, in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He was interred at the Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>