Azie Taylor Morton, 67; U.S. Treasurer Appointed by Carter
Azie Taylor Morton, 67, a former United States treasurer and the only black to serve in that post, died Sunday at an Austin, Texas, hospital after suffering a stroke at her home in nearby Bastrop, said state Rep. Dawnna Dukes, a longtime family friend.
Morton was appointed the nation’s 37th treasurer by President Jimmy Carter, and served from 1977 to 1981.
The treasurer reports to the secretary of the Treasury, the principal economic advisor to the president. Both officials’ signatures are featured on paper money.
Morton was born in Dale, Texas and graduated from Huston-Tillotson College in Austin. She worked as a schoolteacher early in her career.
She served on President Kennedy’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and was an observer for presidential elections in Haiti, Senegal and the Dominican Republic.
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