7 minute read
Talking with One of Cannon’s First Families, the Morrisons
E.L. (Ed) Morrison*
Morrison Family Tree
John* and Helen Morrison
Bill and Jenny Morrison John and Peg Morrison
Hugh and Mary Margaret Morrison
Harris ’92 and Kate Morrison Knox ’94 and Betsy Morrison Margaret ’97 and Waldo Bradley Holt ’91 and Anne ’90 Morrison Helen ’98 and Ben Collins Hunter ’96 Morrison
Mary ’19 John ’26
Katharine ’27
Margaret ’32 Carter
Lawrence
Edward ’29 William
Jack
Helen Anna Ruth ’20
Molly ’21
Hugh ’28 Judd
Maggie
Ike Grace ’27
Eliza ’31
*indicates deceased
Talking with One of Cannon’s First Families, the Morrisons
The Morrison family represents three generations of Cabarrus Academy and Cannon School. Mrs. Peg Morrison began the “dynasty” when she started teaching Latin at the 65 Union Street location, back in 1972. Her sons, Harris and Knox, along with her daughter, Margaret, attended Cabarrus Academy with their cousins, Holt, Helen, and Hunter. The lineage continued with eleven Morrison grandchildren attending Cannon, along with cousin Mary.
For a magazine with the theme of #THISISHOME, we knew we had to get the Morrison take on life on Union Street to now!
#THISISHOME
Mrs. Peg Morrison’s yearbook picture, the first year she taught at Cabarrus Academy.
MRS. PEG MORRISON
How did you wind up in Concord?
“I married a local boy in 1971. We rented a duplex down on South Union and I met a new friend – Jane Spainhour. She was teaching Latin at Cabarrus Academy. I think I taught ’72 – ’74, when my first baby was born. I taught Latin (laughing), and I don’t know, don’t you just think of an old hag of teaching Latin?”
If you had to describe Cabarrus Academy in a word, what would it be?
“Home. It looked like a home, which was nurturing and warm. We did so little to alter the look of the home. We’d just put up a chalkboard, and close sliding doors that separated a living room and a dining room. There were desks, beautiful wood floors, science in the kitchen, kindergarten in the back sunroom. Art was down in the basement. And it felt like a home.”
About how many kids are there in ’72 –’74 when you were there?
“It was a pretty full house. I taught until the day my first baby was born – I just didn’t show up for work that day. One of the student’s daddies was my obstetrician. And she said, ‘I’m gonna call Daddy’s office. And so she did, and they said, ‘Yes! Mrs. Morrison had a baby boy this morning.’ And that was Harris. Knox came eighteen months later, then Margaret.”
Five years later, Harris went to kindergarten at Cabarrus Academy, just up the road from his house. Peg began her tenure on the Board of Trustees, and the group hired Dick Snyder as the new Headmaster.
At what point did people start talking about growing and changing location?
“We knew we needed to raise the money to build a new school. And that was when I came on board as a Development Director. It was exciting to move from 65 Union Street to the current location--we had new amenities, like a cafeteria, and all the spaces we needed. Before the moms had to bring in the lunches!”
Even after her retirement, Peg stayed involved with the school by serving on various committees. She recently returned to campus to give a talk to staff, alongside Dick Snyder and Marie Morgann ’01. She is also often on campus to see her grandchildren!
Other members of the Morrison family were quick to weigh in on their time at Cabarrus Academy/Cannon School as well!
Holt married another Cabarrus Academy alum – Anne Wampler ’90. Here the two enjoy an alumni event.
ANNA RUTH MORRISON ’20
While Cannon felt like home in a lot of ways, having family members who also attended Cannon while I was there made it feel like home on an even deeper level. The fact that my school and family lives had the opportunity to mix was something so unique and special. No matter where I was going, nine times out of ten I would hear, “Ruthie!” echo down the hallway and my cousins’ pounding footsteps coming towards me before being tackled by a hug. It always made my day a little brighter.
HOLT MORRISON ’91
When I was at Cabarrus Academy, I recall feeling like a king the day it was my turn to walk to the basement (really a dark cellar) and get the milk, juice and ice cream for the class. And because we didn’t have a cafeteria, lunches were often brought in by mothers en masse from local restaurants. I also recall walking as a class to the library a couple of blocks away for books and being bussed to what was then the Boys Club for PE by Mr. Lockwood—an institution in the day!
When my daughters (Anna Ruth ’20 and Molly ’21) began, Gay Roberts was Head of the Lower School. Gay had been my first-grade teacher, and one of the most impactful women on my early years, probably because she saw past the rambunctious little boy I was through to the sensitive kid she nurtured. It’s wonderful knowing that each of my children can ride by and look at the old Cabarrus Academy building with pride (and some disbelief!) and tell their friends their parents went to school back when Cannon was in a house in downtown.
For the Morrison family, FAMILY has always been a “core value” imparted by my grandparents and taken to heart with each successive generation. So, to see all of us partake of an institution that values that same sense of “#youbelonghere” is both humbling to watch and something to cherish as our family has experienced it over the years. Cannon is, at its core, an extension of family.
— Holt Morrison
KNOX MORRISON ’94
So much has changed since I started kindergarten with Mrs. Zuccarello at Cabarrus Academy in 1981. Of course, the old house on Union Street in Concord has no resemblance to today’s sprawling, proper campus. Kids at school with me were much more local to the Concord area than today’s regional representation. Sports, performing arts, and the core values all come to mind while contemplating the improvements and growth since my days.
The most obvious common thread tying Cabarrus Academy to Cannon School in these forty years is the caring faculty and staff. Our bus driver, Mr. Lockwood, Mrs. Nancy Smith at the front desk and Coach Safrit all have near clones in Mr. Ken McQueen, Mrs. Suzanne Howard, and Coach Gardin; it brings me great joy to reflect on these folks’ similarities and my children, Carter, Lawrence, and Edward’s friendships with them.
Always focused outside the classroom during my years in school, reflecting now through the eyes of a parent highlights the love offered me by Gay Roberts and Anne Turner Gibson, to name a few, compared to my children’s Barb Falkenbury, Deanna Dobbins, Kristen Stephens, Chase O’Brien, Mr. B (Paul Borowicz), and Carla Moyer, only naming a few. Betsy and I will always cherish these relationships.
Bright futures were built at Cabarrus Academy and they are still being formed today at Cannon School. I will always be thankful for my involvement with the school in these two phases of my life. Betsy and I are so appreciative of this love and care and look to the future for another exciting chapter.
It made me proud to be at Cannon, knowing much of my family had too, as if I was where I was meant to be and continuing the legacy. It always felt very comforting to see them around school!
Cannon raised me in more ways than one! Truly thankful for the person it helped shape me into today. I feel more prepared and more optimistic about the obstacles in life because of the lessons and support I received while there.
GRACE MORRISON ’27
I love that I always see my cousins in the halls, and that one is actually in the same grade as me, so we hang out all the time. Also, it’s really special that every night when we drive home, we pass the house that my dad went to school in, when it was Cabarrus Academy. I even have one of his old shirts that says Cabarrus Academy, which is really cool!
— Mary Morrison
Two generations of the Morrisons posed for us back in 2018 - the one school year that all third-generation Morrisons were at Cannon at the same time!
