Muriel Morisey

During the 1970s, Muriel Morisey played an integral role in two congressional offices. In 1971, she began her career in Washington, DC, as a constituent case worker and press secretary for Walter Fauntroy, the first African-American Delegate from the District of Columbia. By 1975, she was senior legislative assistant for Representative Shirley Chisholm of New York, the first African-American Congresswoman. In this interview, she describes her work in the U.S. House of Representatives during this transformative decade in American political history.

Morisey highlights the way the growing number of women and African Americans in Congress began to shape political debates not only on the House Floor but behind the scenes in congressional offices. She reflects on Representative Chisholm’s political philosophy, her pragmatic approach to bipartisan legislation, and her willingness to delegate responsibility and empower the women on her staff. Morisey chronicles the emergence of new social and professional networks for African-American staff members and discusses the relationship between Fauntroy and Chisholm and their respective congressional districts. In addition, she recalls her work as a research assistant for the House Judiciary Committee’s impeachment investigation of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974. Throughout the interview, Morisey provides insight into the experience of women staff in the House and the political aspirations of the African-American community in the 1970s.

• Transcript (PDF)
• Deed of Gift (PDF)

Muriel Morisey began her career on Capitol Hill in the office of District of Columbia Delegate Walter Fauntroy in 1971. During the next seven years, she worked on the impeachment investigation of President Richard M. Nixon, completed a law degree, and served as a close aide to Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm of New York in the U.S. House of Representatives. This was the first chapter of a long and distinguished career in which she excelled as a congressional staff member, lawyer, and academic.

Muriel C. Morisey was born in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1947. Her parents were both college graduates from families with deep roots in the South. Her mother, Juanita Pope Morisey, had a long career as an educator, and her father, A. A. Morisey, was a trailblazing African-American reporter who broke the color barrier at a previously segregated newspaper in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Before she was 10 years old, her family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so that she could avoid the segregated schools of North Carolina. She went on to study history at Harvard University.

Morisey was briefly employed as a newspaper reporter before working on Maryland Congressman Parren Mitchell’s first House campaign in 1970. Soon after, she joined Fauntroy’s 1971 special election campaign to become the District’s first Delegate in nearly 100 years. This led to a full-time position in his congressional office, where her responsibilities included constituent case work, office management, and press secretary duties. She left the Hill in 1974 to enroll in law school at Georgetown University. During the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation of President Nixon and the Watergate break-in, special counsel John Doar hired Morisey as a research assistant to organize and process confidential documents pertaining to the case.

In 1975, Representative Chisholm hired Morisey as senior legislative assistant in her Capitol Hill office. While still in law school, Morisey concentrated on speechwriting as well as research and legislation on education policy. A trusted member of Chisholm’s staff, she often worked directly with other congressional offices to develop legislation and express Chisholm’s legislative goals.

After law school, Morisey departed Capitol Hill for a legal career. At the Department of Justice, she worked as an attorney in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and later became legislative counsel in the Civil Rights Division. In 1983, the American Civil Liberties Union hired her as a policy advocate for civil rights issues in Congress. She moved on to Harvard University in 1985 to assist the university administration with higher education policy issues. In each position, her work frequently brought her back to Capitol Hill to meet with Members of Congress and participate in hearings. In 1991, she joined the faculty of the James E. Beasley School of Law at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After 25 years of teaching, she retired in 2016.