Morris selected for Servant Leadership award

Mountain Brook resident Philip Morris has been chosen as a recipient for Servant Leadership in the third annual Vulcans Community Awards. The awards recognize residents who exemplify civic pride, leadership and progress within the seven-county metro area in five award categories.

Morris was nominated for the award by Robert Thompson, president of the Alabama Center for Architecture. He said Morris always has been so helpful to their organization, and his knowledge of architecture and the history of Birmingham is highly valued. 

Thompson said he knew of Morris for years before actually meeting him, and he got to know him personally through their mutual involvement with the American Institute of Architects and the Alabama Center for Architecture.

“I firmly believe that no one in the state has been a greater champion of the culture, history and beauty of Birmingham than Philip Morris,” Thompson said. “He has brought the importance of design excellence and the value of cultural richness to the entire city. His rare combination of design sense and gift of communication has allowed him to elevate the entire city’s understanding and appreciation of the importance of art, design and culture.”

The honor came as a surprise to Morris, who has been retired since 2000. He said he always had an interest in the design arts: what shapes a city and its places, including architecture, city planning and preservation.

“I knew I was interested in architecture and design from day one, and I would later end up focusing on that,” Morris said.

After graduating from Rockhurst College, Morris began working in the newspaper industry in Oklahoma, spending his early years at The Daily Oklahoman/Oklahoma City Times and The Oklahoma Journal.  He educated himself in the architecture profession, talking to designers and planners and then writing about their work.

“My goal was to report and editorialize the design arts, and to make people aware of how the leadership, designers and volunteers can affect the shape and character of a city,” he said. 

In the fall of 1969, Southern Living magazine offered Morris the position of building editor. He accepted the job and helped shape the magazine in its early years. He would later advance to building and landscape editor, senior design editor, and finally serve as the magazine’s executive editor from 1976-91. 

“Being the homes editor at the start, I wrote about larger issues of urbanism in the South, like preservation. I’ve managed to make those things work together in terms of my career interest and a vocation helping people have more beautiful places to live in,”  Morris said.

For his work with civic interests, Morris has received a number of awards and recognitions, including the Alabama Humanities Award, an Honorary Membership into both the American Institute of Architects and American Society of Landscape Architects, the Professional Award in Communications for “Designs on Birmingham” from the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the Birmingham-Southern College Medal of Service.

His affiliations throughout the Birmingham area are extensive, including Vulcan Park Foundation (board of trustees), Birmingham Historical Society (past president), Birmingham Botanical Society (past trustee and current design committee), American Architectural Foundation (past board member), Mountain Brook Villages Design Review Committee (chairman), Operation New Birmingham (past president and chairman emeritus), Design Alabama (founding board member emeritus), Horizon 280 Association (founding board member) and Friends of Linn Park (founding board member).

After his time at Southern Living, Morris served as the editor-at-large for Southern Progress Corporation, (which included Southern Accents, Southern Living and Coastal Living) from 1991 until his retirement in 2000. He describes it as a satisfying place to spend a great deal of his career.

“I think Southern Living helped the South realize you can have growth, but also have historic neighborhoods at the same time. It doesn’t have to be either/or. I think we really did help shape the larger South,” he said. 

One of Morris’ last projects was being on the advisory board for Railroad Park. He also stays active with the Vulcan Park Foundation, advising its architectural walking tours. In retirement, Morris continues to write about design from the comfort of his home. He said he is pleased with the progress Birmingham has made. 

“We all worked so hard to make things happen, and much of it has come to fruition. It’s very satisfying for me and others,” he said. 

The Vulcans Community Awards recipients will be honored at an awards dinner Nov. 3 at The Club. All proceeds from ticket purchases will support Vulcan Park and Museum’s mission to preserve and promote Vulcan as the symbol for the Birmingham region, advance knowledge and understanding of Birmingham’s history and culture and to encourage exploration of the region.