John Morton Finney - February 3, 2025

Today, February 3, 2025, Lyles Station Historic School and Museum applauds the impressive life of Dr. John Morton-Finney, a true Renaissance man and lifelong scholar. Finney was born in Kentucky in 1889. His parents George and Maryatta prioritized education for their children; poetry readings and political debates took place every evening. After his mother’s death when he was fourteen, his father was unable to care for the seven children and sent them to live with his grandfather in Missouri who encouraged the children to continue in school. John needed little encouragement from anyone else, choosing to walk 12 miles a day each day both to and from school. He joined the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment in 1911, a Buffalo Soldier as members of the all-Black calvary regiments were known before World War 1, serving in the Philippines and rising to the rank of Sergeant. He applied for an officer’s commission in 1913, but was rejected due to his race. His commander told him he would not be able to go to the officer’s club. He replied he wanted to be an officer, not go to their club. General John Pershing awarded him a citation for his service in the Philippines, and he was honorably discharged in 1914, then returned to the States and completed his first college degree from Lincoln College in Missouri. His first teaching job was at a one-room school in Missouri—then World War 1 erupted and he rejoined the Army, serving in France. Following the War, he returned to his studies at Lincoln College, completing degrees in math, French, and history. French class provided him with more than a degree. He fell in love with the teacher, Pauline Ray from Cornell University. They married in 1922 and moved to Indianapolis where he taught in the Indianapolis Public School System and served as principal. Crispus Attucks High School opened in 1927, and Principal Matthias Nolcox hired Morton-Finney as its first teacher. Fluent in six languages, he served as the head of the foreign languages department for thirty years, teaching German, Latin, Greek, and French, along with history and math. Under his guidance, he taught his students to respect their history and culture and that they could not use racism as an excuse for failure. Morton-Finney continued his academic pursuits, in the field of education earning his Indiana Public School Superintendent’s License and then earning the first of five law degrees in 1935. Not one to sit on his academic or legal laurels, he practiced law before the United States Supreme Court at the young age of 83 in 1972 and continued to practice law until he was 106. A life-long learner, he once explained, “I never stop studying. There’s always lots to learn. When you stop learning, that’s about the end of you.” When he died two years later, he was recognized as a veteran, the last surviving member of the World War 1 Buffalo Soldiers, and Indiana’s oldest living practicing attorney. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery with a full-honor military memorial service.