Legacy of Voices is an oral history project created in 2008 by Lara Spotts and Brian O’Donnell, inspired by their realization that to better understand their own lives, they could turn to LGBTQ+ community members who had gone before them. From 2008-2012, Lara and Brian recorded interviews with gay and lesbian elders over age 70 in New York, Pennsylvania, and Montreal. Hearing the stories of these elders with their passions and beliefs, failures and successes, and reflections moved Brian and Lara deeply, and helped them chart their own paths forward. Meanwhile, the actual interview tapes sat in a box in Brian’s closet for over a decade, until Brian discovered OUTWORDS—a unique opportunity for these remarkable, nearly-lost stories to be seen, heard, studied, and celebrated by queer people and allies around the globe. OUTWORDS thanks Lara Spotts and Brian O’Donnell for their visionary work, and for donating thirteen Legacy of Voices interviews to OUTWORDS.
Maurice Morris was born on October 22, 1909 in Brooklyn, New York. Both his parents immigrated to the US in their early childhood, his mother from Austria and his father from Russia. Maurice grew up in a family of 3 brothers and 1 sister, and his parents always encouraged their children to dream big and pursue any career they wanted, bringing home loads of books for all the kids to read.
Maurice seized every chance he was home alone to put on costumes and improvise dances to the opera singer Enrico Caruso. One day, his mother saw him and asked what he wanted. When he told her he wanted to dance, she put him into dance lessons. Through dance and socializing with other children in his neighborhood, Maurice always felt a strong sense of community and did not experience bullying nor being called a “sissy,” although he did experience discrimination for being Jewish, including in gay circles.
By age 13-14, Maurice knew he was gay because he was attracted to how other men looked, but he was never uncomfortable with it. His parents were always very loving, and even though he never directly brought it up to them that he was gay, he knew they were unconditionally supportive of him to be himself. He was comfortable exploring his sexuality around the city and often went cruising in Harlem as a teenager.
Maurice was in college throughout the Depression. He worked throughout the day and went to college classes at night, pursuing an English major. He lived at home, and as his father was a stagehand at the local theater, often helped out with productions. Maurice went on to become more involved in acting until health complications prevented him from physically exerting himself. He then worked a number of jobs until he ended up at the American Museum of Natural History, and continued to volunteer there into his 90s transferring books onto computers and digitizing the information.
Maurice saw life as a series of kindnesses, where compromise and humor were necessary to carry him through every challenge and celebration. He also insisted that these principles were necessary for his successful, lifelong partnership. After a series of relationships with men and briefer relationships with women, in his 40s he met a younger man at a cocktail party, who invited him to see a play together a few nights later. Shortly after, he moved in and they were inseparable ever since. They ended up building a house together, selling it, and using the money to travel the world. They were married on November 17, 2008, after 51 years together. His entire family came to celebrate the occasion with cookies and champagne.
