Morris Berthold Abram | |
|---|---|
 Abram in 1988 | |
| Born | June 19, 1918 |
| Died | March 16, 2000 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, civil rights activist, United Nations Representative, University President |
| Known for | Civil rights efforts; presidency of Brandeis University; work as representative to European Office of the United Nations; chairing philanthropic, political, and arts organizations |
| Notable work | The Day is Short |
| Spouses | Jane Isabella Maguire
(m. 1944–1974)Carlyn Fisher (m. 1975–1987)Bruna Molina (m. 1990) |
Morris Berthold Abram (June 19, 1918 – March 16, 2000) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist, and for two years president of Brandeis University. In 1953 he successfully sought the Democratic nomination for Congress from the Fifth District in Georgia, urging the desegregation of schools, but lost the election in 1954.
Abram is best remembered as a civil rights attorney who successfully waged a fourteen-year struggle, from 1949 to 1963, to end a Georgia electoral rule that effectively gave disproportionate weight in primary elections to whites at the expense of blacks. He briefed Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who successfully argued against the rule before the U.S. Supreme Court; it was struck down in 1963, with the court finding that "within a given constituency there can be room for but one constitutional rule – one voter, one vote."