Explorations in Black Leadership

Co-Directed by Phyllis Leffler & Julian Bond

Moron, Alonzo (1909–1971)

Born in the Virgin Islands, Moron enrolled at the Hampton Institute Trade School in Virginia at 14, working odd jobs to support himself. From 1928 to 1932, he studied sociology at Brown University, graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa before receiving a Masters from the University of Pittsburgh in 1933. He served as commissioner of public welfare for the Virgin Islands, before returning to the United States and getting a law degree as a Rosenwald Fellow at Harvard in 1947. He returned to the historically black Hampton Institute as a general business manager, ultimately becoming the first black president of Hampton in 1949, taking it from a trade school to university during his tenure.