Meyer Morton

Morton was born in November 1889 in Chicago. His birth name was Myer Isakovitz.[1] His parents, Martin "Max" Morton and Elizabeth "Bessie" (Schreier) Morton, were Russian Jews, his parents immigrating between 1879 and 1882. They became naturalized U.S. citizens in 1890.[2]

At the time of the 1900 United States Census, the family's last name was recorded as "Isacovitz."[3] At the time of the 1910 United States Census, the family had changed its name to Morton and was living in Troy, New York. The father was employed as a salesman at a dry goods store.[4]

Morton enrolled at the University of Michigan and received a law degree as part of the Class of 1912. While attending Michigan, he played on the freshman baseball and track teams. He was also a reserve player on the undefeated 1910 Michigan Wolverines football team as a sophomore and a member of the class football team as a junior.[5][6]

After graduating from Michigan, Morton returned to Chicago and worked as a lawyer there from 1915 to 1948.[7] At the time of World War I, Morton was single, living in Chicago and working as a self-employed lawyer. He was serving as a private in the National Guard, Illinois - 1st Cavalry.[8]

Morton also worked on Saturdays as a game official for the Big Ten Conference for 23 years from the 1920s to the 1940s.[7] After serving as the head linesman a game between Notre Dame and Northwestern in October 1926, Morton was criticized by Knute Rockne who felt that Morton had over-penalized the Fighting Irish team. Rockne recalled it was "the only time in my life I ever got sore at an official" and felt it was unfair that Michigan coach Fielding H. Yost was picking game officials for Notre Dame. In his history of the Michigan - Notre Dame rivalry, John Kryk wrote:

Meyer Morton, as Rockne well knew, was a Conference man. Worse, a Michigan man. Still worse, a Yost man. Indeed, Morton was a prominent member of the University of Michigan Club of Chicago, and his correspondence with Yost and others dot the Michigan files of the 1920s and 1930s.[9]

At the time of World War II, Morton was living in Chicago and working for the Chicago Flexible Shaft Co., a manufacturer of electrical appliances that later became known as Sunbeam Products.[10]

Morton died in 1948 in Chicago.

During his lifetime, Morton was one of the leading members of the "M" Club of Chicago.[9] In 1925, the club began a tradition of giving an award each year to the Michigan football player who showed "the greatest development and most promise as a result of the annual spring practice."[7] For many years, Morton traveled from Chicago to present the award in Ann Arbor. Beginning in 1948, after Morton's death, the annual award was renamed the Meyer Morton Award.[7]

The award has been presented to many of the legends in Michigan football history, including Gerald R. Ford (1932), Ron Kramer (1954), Jim Harbaugh (1984), and Desmond Howard (1991). A complete list of the past winners is set forth below.[11]