The University Record, February 18, 1998
Raleigh Morgan Jr.
Raleigh Morgan Jr., professor emeritus of Romance linguistics, died Jan. 29 following a lengthy illness. He was 81.
Morgan held a Ph.D. from the U-M and was an authority on French Creole and dialects in the New World. He was a faculty member from 1965 to 1987, and continued teaching his popular course on “French in the New World” following his retirement.
His study of languages began with French at age 13 and led him to various locations in North America, Central America, Europe and the Caribbean. He studied the medieval roots of Quebecois as a Fulbright Scholar in Montpellier, France.
Morgan was the author of The Regional French of County Beauce, Quebec, as well as authoritative research papers on French linguistics and articles for professional journals and other publications.
He served with the U.S. State Department in a number of posts, including director of the U.S. Cultural Center in Cologne, Germany (1956–57) and deputy chief of cultural operations, American Embassy, Bonn (1957–59). He also served as associate director of the Modern Language Association’s Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C.
Morgan was a member of the Visiting Committee on Germanic Languages and Literature, Board of Overseers at Harvard College in 1972–80. He belonged to numerous professional and other organizations, including the Linguistic Society of America, International Linguistic Association, Society of Caribbean Linguistics, Societe de Linguistique Romane, Modern Language Association, Phi Beta Kappa and Kappa Alpha Psi.
He was vice chair of the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission in 1977–82 and had chaired the Council for the Humanities.
Morgan was born Nov. 12, 1916, in Nashville, Tenn., and graduated from high school at age 16.
His wife, Virginia Moss, preceded him in death in 1993, as did his daughter Phyllis Adrien.
He is survived by daughters Carol Russell (Donald) of Rockville, Md., and Jill Burrows (Stanley) of Cambridge, Mass.; grandchildren Gwyneth and Jeremy Bragdon of Ann Arbor and Donna, Joan, Jeanette and Suzanne Russell of Maryland; and great-grandchildren Anais Bragdon-Ducasse and Giovanni Russell.
Memorial tributes may be made to the American Diabetes Association or to the U-M for a scholarship to be established in his name.
Submitted by the estate
