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Augustus Newbold Morris (February 2, 1902 – March 30, 1966) was an American politician, lawyer, president of the New York City Council, and two-time candidate for mayor of New York City.
His father, a cousin of the author Edith Wharton, and mother built Brookhurst in Lenox, Massachusetts, on land bought in 1906. In 1986, when the home was sold by his relatives, "it was the first single-family home in town to be sold for $1 million and it was one of the last Gilded Age cottages still occupied by the family that built it."
His paternal grandfather was Augustus Newbold Morris (1838–1906) and Eleanor Colford Jones (1841–1906). His grandmother's parents were General James I. Jones (1786–1858) and Elizabeth (née Schermerhorn) Jones (1817–1874), the older sister of Caroline Schermerhorn Astor (1830–1908), also known as "The Mrs. Astor." He was descended from the prominent Colonial-era Morris family of the Morrisania section of the Bronx.
He was educated at Groton School and at Yale University, where he was a member of the Scroll and Key Society.
Morris entered electoral politics in 1935, when he was elected to the New York City Board of Aldermen representing the Silk Stocking district. He ran unsuccessfully for president of the board in 1936, but after it was reorganized into the New York City Council the following year he was elected its president, serving from 1938 to 1945 under Mayor La Guardia.
In September 1938 he served as acting mayor of New York City while La Guardia was out on a 3 week trip through the East and West Coasts, during which the 1938 New York City truckers' strike started.
Morris ran for New York City Mayor in 1945 and in 1949. He also served on the New York City Planning Commission from 1946 to 1948. He was instrumental in founding City Center Theater in 1943 and the New York City Opera in 1944. He served as board chairman of the New York City Center until his death.
Sunday folk music was regularly played in Washington Square Park on Sundays until April 9, 1961, when Morris rejected the folkies' application for a permit with no explanation. A riot ensued with many of the folk singers being arrested by police and placed into paddy wagons. Some people suspected that local real estate interests were involved, wanting to rid the park of and other "undesirables," as some called them. But whether Morris had been influenced by such interests was never determined. The riot and arrests themselves got plenty of newspaper coverage, with one headline proclaiming "3,000 Beatniks Riot in Village." But the hysteria faded quickly.
Morris served as Commissioner until January 15, 1966, when he retired. He was replaced by Thomas Hoving.
After their divorce in 1940, his first wife remarried in 1949 to Harry William Seckel.
On August 1, 1942, Morris married Constance (née Hand) Jordan (1909–2008), youngest daughter of renowned American judge Learned Hand. She was divorced from Lt. Robert Jordan and the mother to actor Richard Jordan (1937–1993) and Constance Jordan. The wedding ceremony was performed by Mayor La Guardia in Gracie Mansion."Son Born to Newbold Morrises" The New York Times, May 12, 1944 Together, they were the parents of:
He died of cancer in New York City on March 30, 1966, two months after his term as Commissioner ended. He left an estate worth more than $1,000,000.
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