Exhibit chronicles alumna's storied life in the arts

Marcella Veneziale Staff Writer

A Poughkeepsie native forced from home by the exigencies of the Depression, a Naval enlistee during World War II, and an agent at the forefront of 20th century art: Priscilla Morgan ’41 has lived her life at the bow of modern history. A selection of papers donated by Morgan now comprises the exhibit “A Life in Art and Letters: Priscilla Morgan,” which opened Sept. 18 in the Library.

The exhibit, organized chronologically, begins with photos of her as a child with her parents, and a record of her family’s ancestry traced from the 17th century. The cases include theatrical scripts, a book inscribed by author and friend Ezra Pound, and photos with actor and director Warren Beatty, Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, composer Christopher Keane and artists Isamu Noguchi and Willem de Kooning.

“I get emotional talking about [the exhibit],” said Morgan. “I am very honored. I have a sense of pride, excitement, and honor.”

Former Vassar President Frances D. Fergusson, who prompted the exhibition, spoke at the opening reception on Sept. 15. “A friendship with [Morgan] is a life commitment,” said Fergusson. “[Morgan] keeps life exciting,” she continued, characterizing Morgan as full of “substance, intellect, wit, charm…beauty, and great taste.”

Born in Poughkeepsie in 1919, Morgan has led and continues to lead an eventful life. She was the daughter of a Poughkeepsie industrialist, Henry Morgan, who designed and manufactured car steering wheels for a local plant. During the Great Depression, Morgan and her family experienced a reversal of fortune and relocated to a New York City apartment in 1932.

She returned to her hometown as a freshman at Vassar in the fall of 1937. Morgan said that the exhibition is in honor of her mother, Marian Morgan, who ensured that Morgan attended Vassar in spite of the family’s financial hardships.

“All of my memories of Vassar are fond memories. Except for taking physics my freshman year,” said Morgan. Besides a scrape with that science course, Morgan’s years at Vassar helped build the confidence necessary for her career. “It taught me the importance of scholarship and of reading, of keeping the brain active. Vassar had caché. I was very proud to go to Vassar and still am. It gave me an assurance that helped me go out in the world.”
World War II was at its height when Morgan graduated from college, and she found work at a prestigious advertising agency. She was eventually assigned to the radio broadcasting department and worked on programs such as We the People, March of Time, and The Kate Smith Hour.

But after her brother, a member of the Navy, pointedly asked her, “Aren’t you aware that the world is on fire?”, Morgan joined the Navy’s information office in Washington, despite the fact that she considers herself to be “the least likely person to be
regimented.” She married a heroic Navy Flyer, Lieutenant Ralph Waldo Cummings, after the war ended, only to separate from him seven years later. She found work with one of the hottest theater agencies around, Liebling & Wood. Her success there allowed her to branch off and form her own talent agency, the Priscilla Morgan Agency.

Morgan’s career was just taking off. Her personal conduct, combined with an inherent ability to detect the next big thing, drove her to succeed in representing creative talents in theater, television and film. Her client roster reads like a who’s-who of important minds of the mid-20th century: Ted Mosel, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Way Home (1960); David Shaw, one of the first writers for live television; and Arthur Penn, director of Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

She met the composer Gian Carlo Menotti in Rome in 1958, and through him became involved in Italy’s Spoleto Festival and the Festival Dei Due Mondi. After 16 years in Italy, she and Menotti tried to bring the Festival to Harlem and establish the Harlem Theater and Workshop. Though they couldn’t overcome the racial and economic tensions of the ’70s, they did eventually bring the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. to Charleston, S.C.

Morgan became intimately involved with sculptor Isamu Noguchi and remained his companion until his death in 1988. Morgan serves on the Board of Directors of the Isamu Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, Queens. An entire section of the Vassar exhibit—namely photos and letters—is devoted to their personal and professional relationships.

The exhibit’s final document is an essay about Morgan’s friendship by Willem de Kooning’s granddaughter, Emma de Kooning Villeneuve. Besides describing Morgan’s care for her friends, she summarized Morgan’s tenacity: “I admire [Morgan] because she has the job she always wanted because she worked hard for it.”

Peter Morais curated the exhibit, collaborating with designer Tomoko Kawakami Miho, design consultant Shoji Sadao, editorial advisor Susan Packard and archivist Sarah Morgan Hull, Morgan’s niece. The exhibit will run through Dec. 7.

For more information about the exhibit, visit specialcollections.vassar.edu/exhibits/priscilla_morgan/.