Elburn Scholarship Fund

Mrs. Morris was born Julia Elizabeth Callis in Syracuse, NY. She received her teaching degree from the University of Wisconsin and began her career at a high school in Elburn. She became associated with the community theater group called the Elburn Players and for 15 years was their director. In Elburn, Julia met Charles Lee Morris and they married in 1928. She gave up teaching shortly after her marriage. During the 1938-39 school year she taught 5th and 6th grades at the Elburn Elementary School where she also coached drama and speech. In the 1950s she was pressed into service teaching English at the high school. When her husband died, Mrs. Morris returned to her studies, and earned a master’s degree in library science at NIU. She held the position of Reference Librarian in Glen Ellyn until her retirement in 1970. Julia Morris founded the Girl Scout Troop in Elburn and she helped found the Fortnightly Literary Club. She served 25 years on the Elburn Library Board and the Red Cross Board of directors. In 1985, Mrs. Morris established the Elburn Scholarship Fund, the fruition of a dream she shared with her husband.